I seem to see certain of my favorite African musicians whenever I take a trip away from Japan. I have now seen Senegal's Cheikh Lo in several European cities and in Co^te d'Ivoire, and am about to see him again at a festival in South Africa.
Unfortunately I haven't been able to share my Cheikh Lo enthusiasms here much, since fate hasn't yet brought him to Japan. However, another musician, whom I have heard and had my heart melted by in Africa, Canada and France, is now headed for these shores. Mali's Rokia Traore will be here as part of the 10th annual Festival Halou, on the same bill as the equally mesmerizing Cesaria Evora from Cape Verde.
In the West, most of Mali's best-known musicians, such as Salif Keita and Ali Farka Toure, are men, but in Mali it's mostly women who are the superstars, from the wailing praise songs of Mali's most revered female griots Kandia Kouyate and Ami Koite to the electrifying power of its Wassalou performers such as Oumou Sangare.