Mali Calling: Habib Koité Returns

For all the riches and diverse avenues of music making their way through Santa Barbara on this year’s concert calendar, sounds from outside the Western world — so-called “world music” — have been all too rare. Some of that lack will be addressed, in its own sweet West African way, when legendary singer-guitarist Habib Koité brings his group to Campbell Hall on Wednesday, October 30.

With his rippling guitar style, tinged by Western fingerpicking styles but with a strong link to his roots and in a Malian tuning, and his alluring, flexible, and troubadour’s vocal approach, Koité makes a special brand of musical magic. His is a vibrant, infectious sound, made broadly popular on career-fueling albums Ma Ya and Baro (both on the Putumayo label in 1998 and 2001, respectively), and very much intact on his most recent album, 2019’s Kharifa, bursting out of the gate with the undulating 6/8 pulse of “Wara.”

To hear this innately “live” music in a concert setting is to experience it in its purest form, making the Campbell Hall show a hot ticket. Koité and company — kora player Lamine Cissokho and balafon artist Aly Keïta — are presenting a concert celebrating Mandé Sila, described as “the way of the Mandingo empire, symbolizing languages, cultures, music, and the entire organology of West Africa.”

Koité is part of an elite list of important Malian musicians who have ventured out into the international scene and helped to train deserved focus on the culture of their homeland, including Salif Keita, Angélique Kidjo, Oumou Sangaré, Ali Farka Touré, and Fatoumata Diawara (who entranced at Campbell Hall last year).

After studying at Mali’s National Institute of the Arts, Koité performed on and taught guitar, landing on recordings by the likes of another famed Malian, Toumani Diabaté, before finally launching his own career in 1988, at the age of 30, and starting his band Bamada. Koité distinguished himself with a guitar style sometimes resembling the lute-like n’goni and kora. After the album Ma Ya super-charged his public profile, Koité intersected with music scenes beyond his Malian home base, working with artists as varied as Bonnie Raitt, Jenny Lewis, and the Art Ensemble of Chicago, and becoming the first African to appear on Late Show with David Letterman. 

In addition to the contemporary resonance of his music over the years, Koité has been insistent on respecting his notable lineage, descending from Mali’s Khassonké griot tradition. Much of his music includes textures of ancient, indigenous instruments from the griot zone, such as the harp-like kora and the tuned percussion instrument, the balafon — instruments on which both Cissokho and Keïta have earned rights as masters.

Consider, then, that the group’s Campbell Hall show qualifies as an all-star outing outta Mali. Enveloping rhythmic vibrations are guaranteed to occur, along with close-up exposure to a legend.

Habib Koité, kora player Lamine Cissokho, and balafon master Aly Keïta will perform at UCSB’s Campbell Hall on Wednesday, October 30, at 8 p.m. See artsandlectures.ucsb.edu.