'Miri’ is the fifth album by Malian ngoni maestro Bassekou Kouyate and the follow up to the acclaimed ‘Ba Power’ (2015) which saw a more electric approach, complete with distortion and wah wah pedal (as Mojo magazine says “in Kouyaté’s hands, the little lute, with its skin made from the head of a cow, becomes every bit as thuggish as a distorted Les Paul.”). ‘Miri’ (“dream” or “contemplation” in the Bamana language) sees Bassekou in a somber, contemplative mood, reflecting about life, love, friendship, family and his country in a time of crisis. Mali’s problems are plentiful: egoism in politics, Islamists, tensions between nomads and cultivators and climate change (including the Niger river drying up).

Malian ngoni master Bassekou Kouyate's more acoustic, rootsy follow-up to the excellent 'Ba Power'. Recommended...

By Adam