Wande

Malian guitarist and vocalist Samba Touré was a protégé of Ali Farka Touré, having been a member of his touring band since 1997. Long before that, Samba Touré's mother was one of the first females to sing with Ali Farka Touré when he was initially creating his highly influential musical style. While mentoring Samba, the late master of Mali's desert blues encouraged him to develop his own unique playing style. Samba Touré followed the advice and has gone on to release a string of acclaimed solo albums, appearing as a guest on several other artists’ recordings and collaborations.

He has a biting electric blues guitar style and a satisfying voice which, on his newest album Wande, is backed by bass guitar, calabash, tama (talking drum), ngoni (lute), and sokou (fiddle). The stripped-down nature of his group emphasises the spontaneity of his guitar playing, with the rippling tones of the talking drum providing a strong rhythmic drive.

Seven of the nine songs were composed and arranged while in the recording studio and it was recorded in just two weeks, with minimum overdubs, giving a very natural and relaxed feeling to the session.