Curious about the African roots of the blues, the Amsterdam blues guitarist Joep Pelt left for Mali. In the capital Bamako he met Lobi Traore who 'played the tiles off the roof' there. Pelt approached the guitarist to jam together. Initially communication was a bit difficult (Traoré did not speak English and Pelt did not speak French), but the musical spark ignited. Pelt left for the Netherlands
… again, but Mali (and especially Traoré) kept gnawing at him. Eventually the guitarist went to Africa with a minidisc player and a microphone and went back to Lobi. Most of the songs on I Yougoba ('Hey baby') are written by Traoré. The album is a solid mix of African desert blues and western rock. Pelt's fingerpick and riff work perfectly complements Traoré's smooth playing. I Yougoba is an album that Dutch and Malians can be proud of. (PdK)more
