CultureCritic talks to Bassekou Kouyate...

CultureCritic sat down with master ngoni player Bassekou Kouyate soon after his triumphant set at Glastonbury. Read on to discover more about his approach to songwriting, what he thought of the UK's biggest music festival and his plans to reform some of Mali's most serious social problems...

Having become an international ambassador of the ngoni, what do you think the future of the instrument is? Do you see its popularity increasing, along with its emergence in more ‘mainstream' forms of music?

That is what I have been working on for so many years. The ngoni has been around since before the birth of Jesus Christ. Now I hope that the ngnoi will be known outside of Mali and around the world. There are a lot of young people coming to Bamako (capital of Mali) to learn the instrument, people from America, Europe - Western people.

You started your own academy in Bamako. What was your reason for starting it, and how much involvement with it do you currently have?

The ngnoni is the national instrument of Mali, so Malians don't need to go to school to learn how to play it. My father was a ngoni teacher. He didn't have a school, but he taught children. I wanted to go further and open a school to all sorts of people. It is for everyone. My goal is to see the young people playing the ngoni instead of the guitar.

I imagine that your songwriting process is more group-based than solitary. Do you have a typical creative process?

I usually start by myself, working on melodies and such like, and then I invite Amy, my wife, and I share my work with her. Then I bring the band into the situation and the songs develop from there...

How important is improvisation to your music, both in terms of writing and performing live?

It is very important. The music is always open to modification. For the album, we rehearsed the songs and they were carefully structured. We knew what went where. For a live performance there's plenty of improvisation.

How significant was Toumani Diabaté to your career and your musicianship?

The first time I left Mali to play in a Western country, it was as a musician in Toumani's band - this was in 1989. I had been touring the world with Toumani from 1989 till 2001. And always as a ngoni player.

Did Ali Farka Touré help prepare you in any way for the success you have achieved?

Ali was a very big and important figure and always encouraged me. He said that my fingers were black diamonds, and that I had to do something with that talent. He said, "even if you don't have a producer, the world has to know how good you are, and know about your talent. Just go and do it, even if you don't have a record company." Ali actually tried to find me a record company at various points. He said, "everyone who needs a ngoni player calls you. Why don't you do something for yourself?"

Nick Gold was Ali's producer. Nick called me one day and said, "Bassekou, I need you in the studio tomorrow." I arrived and Ali was already in the studio. He said, "sit down, we are going to record." They set the microphones around the studio and we recorded. That's how Savane came about. Ali always pushed me, which was so important to my career.

You were a great success at Glastonbury recently. Was the experience as enjoyable for you as it evidently was for the audience?

We liked it very much, although it was extremely hot. We were actually a bit tired, as we had just flown from America and had jet lag, but the crowd gave us energy. We truly enjoyed the experience and the reaction of the crowd.

To what extent does Malian politics influence your music?

Music and politics are two different things. Of course, if politicians do something particularly bad, I can refer to it in my songs, but I prefer to keep these things separate. However, the politicians in Mali are very proud of what I have done for the ngoni. I have revived this instrument that was disappearing, so they honoured me with a medal, the Chevalier de l'Ordre du Mali, for the work I have done. The politicians heard about what I have done around the world, but they didn't see it actually happening in Mali. I therefore decided that upon the release of I Speak Fula I would share it with my people and our politicians and I did a big event with the president and the ministers. It was the first time that a president has been to the launch of an album since Mali became independent - that's how happy they are with me. It was on national TV, and the president talked about the things I have done for the instrument and the country. Imagine that Mali is a table with four feet: I now feel like I am one foot of the table. If I do something bad, it is Mali doing something bad - because of the medal. Although it is not necessarily good for me - I have to behave well. If I am a problem, it is a problem for Mali. It is Mali and I together as one entity.

As you are becoming more of a global star, do you think it will be difficult to maintain the sense of Malian identity that seems quite central to your music?

Well, we present our music and our instrument to the world. The ngoni is the oldest instrument in Mali. We took it to America and they developed it into the banjo, which became the guitar... but I am happy with my instrument. We changed the wood so that it is less fragile, but otherwise it is just a ngoni. I show the ngoni to the world - that's what I do, and I don't see that changing. I want the world to know about the ngoni. That's it.

Are there any contemporary western musicians you particularly admire and might like to collaborate with?

I am very open to collaborations. The Buena Vista Social Club invited me to collaborate, but I couldn't make the session because of some visa problems at the time. The producer, Nick Gold, is re-doing the sessions and there is a new CD coming out as a result.

There are more and more people interested in the ngoni. I have already played with Taj Mahal, Bela Fleck, Africa Express, Nick McCarthy from Franz Ferdinand, and when I was in America a few moths ago I played with a number of great blues musicians. I have jammed with a number of western musicians. However, I don't always know these people. - I just meet them and play. I actually changed the ngoni a little bit so that it is easier for me to play with western musicians. Bela Fleck is a beautiful banjo player. I did 33 concerts with him. Bela won two Grammys for Throw Down Your Heart, his last album, for which he went around Africa and recorded with various musicians. Toumani is on it and I am on it, along with a number of other musicians. The collaborations are going well.

Are there any young ngoni players you can see becoming stars of the future?

Yes, my children. They have been learning the ngoni from a very early age and they have created a band. I can see them becoming better than their parents.

What can we expect next from you?

To look after my academy and make it even bigger, to carry on with promotion and touring and promoting the instrument around the world. I would also like to organise a ngoni festival in Mali.

My 28-year-old brother died in a motorcycle accident last year. He fell off and hurt his head and nobody helped him. Thieves took his money and his mobile phone. Nobody called his family. After hours had passed, someone took him to the hospital, but at the hospital, because he had no money in his pocket, they wouldn't treat him. They didn't try and contact his family. The next day he was dead, and the hospital just sent him to the morgue. We didn't know where he was. Now I want to create a foundation to raise awareness among young people who ride motorcycles - a lot of people in Africa ride them - about wearing helmets. People need to understand that when you discover a victim of an accident, you must help them, and the hospital must be told not to ignore people who have no money, and the police must be told to do their jobs. It's another project that I have, and I want to bring musicians and have a national concert in Mali in order to raise money to be able to finance this foundation.

The accident happened just after the recording of I Speak Fula. My brother was helping out during the recording of the album, driving people everywhere. I wrote a song for him, which is on the album.

I am very much involved with social projects. I am aware of the fact that I have this international thing going on, but I also want to help locally. I want to see things improve in Mali.

I Speak Fula is out now. To read about it, click here.