All of you who want a day out in London, how about this? As you know I have been far and wide to see Bassekou Kouyate, and have been plugging the Amazones on my radio show, all we want is some Malian weather and it will be a fantastic day... see you there!

Press release
 read more »

THE ROUGH GUIDE TO THE MUSIC OF "NORTH AFRICA" THE ROUGH GUIDE TO THE MUSIC OF "South & East Africa" THE ROUGH GUIDE TO THE MUSIC OF "West Africa" THE ROUGH GUIDE TO THE MUSIC OF [AFRICA].General Releases THE ROUGH GUIDE TO THE MUSIC OF [Asia & Middle East] Mali is the crown jewel of West Africa a vast, magnificent country with ancient musical traditions and many of the continents best loved musicians.  read more »

Last week, on 10 April 2008, at the BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music 2008 winners announcement ceremony held at London's Dingwalls, Bassekou Kouyate was declared 'Best African Act' and made a surprise appearance to pick up the award.  read more »

London, UK - Two fascinating musical projects which explore the roots of the Blues from America to Africa as parf of Barbican's Contemporary Music Programme Spring 2008. Blues: Back to the Source, with Otis Taylor and Bassekou Kouyate will take place Monday, 28 April at 8pm.
   read more »

The BBC World Music Awards for 2008 were announced last week, but they're absurdly difficult to find on the BBC website, so for your enjoyment and convenience, I share them here. The

The Network Anthologies 1: Ambiances du Sahara - Desert Blues 1 The Network Anthologies 2: Rves d' oasis - Desert Blues 2 The Network Anthologies 3: L'pope Tzigane - Road of the Gypsies The Network Anthologies 4: Echos du Paradis - Sufi Soul The Network Anthologies 5: Golden Afrique I&II The Network Anthologies 6: Souffles de l'me - Balkan Blues The Network Anthologies 7: The Diaspora of Rembetiko -Greek Blues The Network Anthologies 8: Hommage A Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan The Dream Journey Continues Desert Blues 3 Entre dunes et savanes It is 10 years since the label Network began recording artists from the Sahara, Sahel and neighbouring countries. The journey to the serene side of African music has since been awarded international prizes, has been in the charts for months and is regarded as the best-selling compilation of African music of all time (fRoots). Many stars from the countries around the Sahara have allowed themselves to be inspired by the Desert Blues. For Desert Blues III, the editorial team has evaluated all the new releases of recent years and is now presenting the crme of musicians from 10 countries and their highly emotional ballads: including, super-stars Khaled and Souad Massi from Algeria; Malouma The Lady of the Blues from Mauritania; the poignant voice of Dhafer Youssef from Tunisia; Gigi, the current queen of Ethiopian soul music; expressive music from Mali by Amadou and Marian, Ali Farka Tour, Oumo Sangar, Rokia Traor with the Kronos Quartet; Fula Flute from Guinea; Tuareg music from West Africa by the successful group Tinariwen. And all of this is complemented by several completely new discoveries and first releases. A musical dream journey to the voices and vibes of the oases, the savannas, the caravans, the endless seas of sand and Tuareg campfires. Long-format double CD ..More than 2 hours playing time. The third element "Desert Blues 3," is no exception to this rule and is proposing 28 new pieces have in common their obvious similarities to the blues. A good twenty different artists more or less known (Cheb Khaled, Souad Massi, Malouma, Dhafer Youssef, Amadou & Mariam, Ali Farka Toure, Toumani Diabate, Oumou Sangare, Rokia Traor, Kronos Quartet, Tinariwen or Gigi Queen ' Addis Ababa and the Ethiopian saxophonist Getatchew of Mekurya) Anyway, this compilation is full of beautiful voice, melodies envoutantes or magic full of smells of Africa ... For the Tuaregs, travel means "learning to live". It is also the sentiment that prevails in listening to these 2 magnificent CD. A compilation at any point remarkable!  read more »

Berlin, Germany - WOMEX organizers announced today the second list of artists selected for the 2008 edition. WOMEX is the largest international conference dedicated to all aspects of world music, including its renowned showcases, panels and workshops, a trade fair and lots of networking opportunities.

WOMEX 08 Showcase artists:
- Astillero (Argentina)
- Aurelio Martinez (Honduras)
- Bassekou Kouyate& Ngoni ba (Mali)
- Beats in the Heart of Orient (Iran/India/Greece/France)
- Cimarrón (Colombia)
- David Walters (France)  read more »