BOUBACAR TRAORÉ

• country:
  Mali
• style(s):
  • Blues
• label:
  Lusafrica
• artist submitted by:
  Mad Minute Music

Mandingo blues roots from influential veteran guitar master.
In a life marked by forgetfulness and resurrection, despair and consolation, the malian Boubacar Traore, alias Kar Kar, has created a rich blues with eased sadness.
Boubacar Traore is a founding father of modern Mandingo music. His unique guitar technique stands at the crossroads between his kora influences and his intuitive affinity with the styles of the Delta blues masters of America's Deep South. In the '60s, in the heady days of independence, he was the first to play Mandingo-based music on electric guitar and a string of hits provided the soundtrack for the new freedom. But in 1968 the military coup saw him exiled from the airwaves and he returned home to become a farm worker. A brief return to music in 1987 was halted by personal tragedy and he journeyed to Paris to work as a labourer. It wasn't until 1990 that he began recording again. Now we have the chance to see a master at work.

Links

• Myspace page of Boubacar Traoré
• Facebook page of Boubacar Traoré
• Youtube video