Kokanko Sata

about this album

Ko Kan Ko Sata is a musician from southern Mali. She plays the kamelen n'goni, a traditional eight-stringed lute, and is said to be the only woman who plays this instrument. Her self-named album features her singing and playing the kamelen n'goni, accompanied by balafon and flute. It has been released on Honest Jon's, a record label run by Damon Albarn. Her work is also featured on Damon Albarn's 2002 album, Mali Music. These recordings were made over six days, in continuous takes. There were no overdubs or subsequent additions: the songs came pouring out. Sata had been waiting for this opportunity, and it came two months after the birth of her third child. The recordings were made outside the dusty city centre, in the walled garden of the Makeleke nightclub, under a big shady tree. Sata invited the musicians and chose the songs herself. Sata selected a mixture of new compositions and songs from the traditional repertoire of the young hunters in the region called Wassoulou, south of the Malian capital Bamako, where she grew up (a tradition originally introduced to the wider world by the singer Oumou Sangare); and a variety of lineups, from solo to eight-piece, including balafon, guitar, flute and percussion. Sata's singing is a rush of deep, throaty, declamatory tones reminiscent of the early American bluesmen; and she plays the three-stringed hunters‘ harp — the kamelen n'goni — usually reserved for the men of the village. This instrument has gradually been incorporated int

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