Guitari Baro

42nd Druga Godba x Music of the World Series (Cankarjev Dom)

When we first heard Kankan Blues, which featured the extraordinary talents of the late, great Guinean guitarist Kanté Manfila and balafonist Balla Kalla, we could never have imagined hearing anything more striking and beautiful from the Mandinka musical tradition. But nearly 40 years later, that’s exactly what has happened.

The idea for the new trio, called Guitari Baro and featuring guitarists Kerfala Diabaté from Guinea and Gaoussou Kouyaté from Mali, came from probably the world’s most renowned balafonist, Lassana Diabaté (Toumani Diabaté Symmetric Orchestra, Afrocubism, Kronos Quartet, Trio de Kali). The project quickly caught the attention of journalist and producer Lucy Durán and long-time Youssou N’Dour manager Dudu Sarr, director of Dakar Music Expo.

Guitari Baro by Guitari Baro

(Dudu Sarr, under exclusive license to Chrysalis Records Limited, 2025)

Lassana Diabaté (balafon) / Gaoussou Kouyaté (guitar) / Mamadou Koussoube (guitar)

The music on last year’s eponymous album, which was recorded in Dakar, is a stunning homage to the Mandinka griot tradition, but also sits down and plays with Congolese rumba, jazz, Guinean dance rhythms and even elements of rock’n’roll. A paean to pan-African creativity for sure, but one that also highlights the richness and diversity of West African music in particular. Guitari Baro means ‘guitar conversations’, but it’s the interplay between the guitars and a balafon played by possibly the world’s greatest exponent of it that lifts this as high as anything you’ll currently hear on stage.

It’s certainly easier to describe where the music comes from than it is to convey a proper sense of how beautiful it is to listen to live. Happily, theirs is one way to find out: Cankarjev Dom, 27^th May, 7.30 pm.

Co-produced by Druga godba and Cankarjev Dom.