Bassekou Kouyate & Amy Sacko

The legendary Malian musician tours the UK for the first time as a duo with revered griot singer and exceptional vocalist Amy Sacko.

Bassekou Kouyate is the undisputed master of the ngoni, a traditional and historic small West African instrument somewhere between a banjo and a lute. His incredible career spans four decades, five albums, and collaborations with artists such as Taj Mahal, Ali Farka Toure, Toumani Diabate and Damon Albarn. He has toured the world with his band, Ngoni Ba, to critical and commercial acclaim.

This project sees Bassekou performing as a duo with his wife, the revered griot singer Amy Sacko. Her ‘voice of spearing urgency, improbable range’ has ‘a power that jolts like electric shocks’ (The Sydney Morning Herald). Their first chart-topping album together as a duo, ‘Djudjon, L’Oiseau de Garana’ (2024), connected past and present, centring on their adventurous life journey together.

Tonight, the Garana natives invite us on an intimate journey into their musical universe. They travel to the source where it all began for Bassekou and his other long-time companion, his ngoni. Amy and Bassekou blend ancient texts with new stories, sung in Bambara and Peul, exploring love, legacy, and hope. Their deeply personal, expressive, chamber-style forges a rare closeness between artists and audience.

This is a unique and intimate opportunity to experience a performance that reaches to the very heart of Mali.