Djudjon: L’Oiseau de Garana

Kouyate and his band Ngoni Ba have been ambassadors for Bamana jeli (griot) ngoni music since their debut in 2007. Now on their sixth, they’ve dropped the band name in favour of highlighting the wonderful Amy Sacko (Bassekou’s wife). A slightly odd move, as the band are still here and Amy only sings on half the tracks, but never mind. Djudjon is a tribute to Bassekou’s hometown of Garana, Mali, and it shows the group at their most stripped-back: no ostentatious guest musicians, no effects pedals. It grants the listener space to appreciate the interweaving textures of the ensemble, Amy’s powerful and subtle voice, Bassekou’s nimbly virtuosic ngoni – and his occasional use of a bottleneck blues slide on his lute. Bassekou and Amy aren’t breaking new ground, as they’ve done in the past, but this is still a lovely, solid set from the first family of Bamana ngoni.