Blues From Mali

Description

The Dogon people of Mali are world-renowned for their animal masks and spectacular ritual dances. Their impressive knowledge of astronomy — with some festivals based on the orbit of Sirius B, a star invisible to the naked eye — has fascinated Western researchers for over a century. But has anyone ever heard the music of this mysterious people? Petit Goro is the very first musician to adapt traditional Dogon rhythms for a young, urban audience. A true Dogon pop star, he electrifies the open-air stages of Bamako, raising clouds of dust to the beat of his hypnotic grooves. His music sometimes evokes the rough and enchanting vamps of Mississippi Hill Country Blues, as if Junior Kimbrough and R.L. Burnside had migrated to the heart of the Sahel. With his pentatonic chords, deep Dogon chants, and a band that drives the trance with bass, guitar, and traditional percussion, Petit Goro embodies a powerful voice. He sings of cultural resistance, identity, and pride. As Dogon villages are regularly threatened by jihadist attacks, a renaissance movement is rising: the youth are rediscovering and reclaiming their animist traditions. In the streets of Bamako, they proudly wear their Dogon costumes. But Petit Goro goes further: he conveys their message to the whole world. He shakes up traditions, making them resonate in a new, visceral, essential Dogon blues.