Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba: Blues From Mali at Roulette
April 14. 8PM. $30-35.
Bassekou Kouyate plays the west African lute known as ngoni, and his band is called Ngoni Ba. Kouyate, who is from Mali, is considered one of the great masters of the instrument today, but that hasn’t stopped him from also being an innovator. So while Kouyate keeps an ancient tradition alive, he also expands it to include people like banjo player Bela Fleck, the Kronos Quartet, the blues guitarist Taj Mahal, and rock star Damon Albarn. Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni Ba play on Friday, April 14, at Roulette in Brooklyn, celebrating Bassekou’s latest album, Miri (2019).