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CD
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GKONE 2026CD
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$17.50
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 8/21/2026
The rhythm-driven album carries the listener through eight distinct compositions that draw on the deep kinship between Mande griot music and the blues, rock, and Latin styles that share its roots. Gaoussou was born into a family of griots from Sobra-Sandaman in the Kati district. He is nick-named Sobra after the place in the mountains west of Bamako where Gaoussou still returns to find inspiration, speak with the elders, and reconnect with the source of his music. The exceptional artist started with percussion at five, assisting his father, Adama Kouyat aka Diango, who played guitar. By six Gaoussou started playing guitar as well. When Gaoussou turned nine, Diango gave his talented son his own guitar and sent him to study with Karfa Doumbia in the Mandinka village of Kignema, near Narena. He then trained with Djelimady Tounkara of the legendary Rail Band to complete his formation as a professional guitarist. At twenty-five, driven by his fascination with the Songho blues tradition of northern Mali, he went on his own initiative to Niafunk, where he spent a year with the family of the late Ali Farka Tour. When he returned from the north, he became guitarist for the late Kasse Mady Diabate, and for the late Toumani Diabate, performing and recording with both. Few guitarists alive can claim that breadth of schooling -- the courtly Mande tradition, the Rail Band's electric sophistication, and the desert blues of the Niger bend, all absorbed first-hand. This is an album of surprises that never feels restless. The compositions are mature yet playful. Gaoussou has been listening to music from all over the world and makes musical quotes and hints mixed with his own imagination and with great taste. Sobra Dance takes the listener on an amazing journey from the rivers to the desserts of Mali and crossing the ocean to the Americas, from South to North.
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