There's music everywhere in Mali. Entire villages can be dedicated to music in one form or another. In post Twelve: Welcome To Kirina, we got to see a village of griots, the traditional West African storyteller, praise singer and musician. Hunters in West Africa have their own music and instruments. In this clip we have Ablo, a hunter musician performing with his musical partner who can be barely seen sitting behind Ablo. There are also several other local musicians who, from time to time, play along with Ablo's songs. The hunter's harp, sometimes called the doson n'goni or just n'goni is not to be confused the the kora or the traditional guitar like n'goni. The hunters harp is a lute-like instrument of 6 to 8 strings with a very distinctive tuning and sound.
Ablo is an astounding musician. One of the best hunter musicians I've had the chance to see perform. His ability to improvise combined with his quick whit and biting sense of humor makes his performances compelling, fun, funny and more often than not X rated. Of course not speaking a word of Bambara I get all of this in translation.
This video was shot in almost complete darkness in a little cafe in Segou. I used a small consumer camera to record the performance however the audio comes from a semi professional recorder I had placed close to the performers. There's a dream like quality to Ablo's music which is reflected in the nighttime landscape of Mali.
Ablo was very excited that I was documenting his songs. He and I tried to meet up during the daytime so I could shoot some of his songs with my professional camera gear but we were never able to put that meeting together. I hope I run into Ablo again.