One of the greats of Mali blues, guitarist and singer Samba Touré, returns to Sweden with his trance-inducing trio for a long-awaited concert at jazz club Fasching.
Although Samba is not related to the legendary Ali Farka Touré, he is almost adopted into the legendary artist’s desert blues show, Samba’s mother sang with the desert blues legend and Samba was picked up by Ali Farka while playing with his own Farafina Lolo Band back home in Mali.
It was the early 90s. Now 55-year-old Touré is one of the greats with seven albums under his own name and a sound that both unites and distinguishes him from his predecessors.
Samba Touré’s blend of Niger Delta blues, traditional Songhai themes and Western influences represents an intersection where traditional Malian music meets North American blues – where Bamako neighbors the Mississippi.
Samba Touré’s upcoming album, Baarakelaw, “The Workers”, will be released in autumn 2024 and mixes traditional Malian music, blues-rock, psychedelic with love songs. In the song Baarakelaw, Samba Touré appears again as a kind of modern griot, who does not sing for distinguished ancestors or contemporary rulers but for the ordinary people who inhabit his daily landscape. He dedicates these songs to the too often forgotten or the overlooked.
The album also includes a tribute to his wife who passed away during Samba’s 2023 European tour.
“Touré’s hypnotic guitar grooves, unshakable vocals and commanding lyrics raise the music to a level of profound artistry”- Afropop
Everyone who is familiar with Samba Touré’s work agrees and now we welcome one of the world’s best desert blues artists to Kungsgatan 63.
Samba Touré – guitar, vocals
Djime Sissoko – ngoni, tamani
Souleymane Kan – gourd
