Search - Bajourou :: Big String Theory

This is a record with a pedigree. Jalamadi Tounkara's guitar fronts Mali's Rail Band (the group that served as the training ground for Salif Keita and Mory Kante in the late '70s and early '80s); Lafia Diabate replaced Kante as lead singer in the Rail Band as well. Bouba Sacko is an in-demand studio guitarist whose name appears on dozens of recordings by artists like Tata Bambo Kouyate and Ami Koita. They came together for one album and a tour, and this is the one precious memory you'll have of their collaboration. The guitar interplay is subtle, sinuous, and gorgeous. The voices swirl around it carefully and beautifully. Bajourou means "big string," referring both to the instruments but also to an underlying continuity of culture that the artists have woven together. --Louis Gibson