A Djinn and a Hunter Went Walking

The musical conversation that became A Djinn and a Hunter Went Walking began more than a decade ago.  Haïdara and Gold first thought of combining these two instruments from different Malian cultures while preparing to record the legendary vocalist Oumou Sangaré’s Seya for World Circuit. Despite their cultures’ geographic proximity, the instruments Neba Solo and Diakité play do not often interact: Neba Solo is from Kenedougou, where the balafon was traditionally played in the fields to inspire farmers, and Diakité is from the nearby Wassoulou region, where the culture revolves around hunting. Gold had heard a balafon player in a Bamako restaurant and immediately thought the sound of the instrument might complement Sangaré’s record.

They invited Neba Solo to the Seya sessions, where the rising bala star hit it off with the band, developing a strong musical rapport with Diakité, a donso n’goni veteran.  Sensing chemistry bubbling through ad-libbed music the two played warming up, Gold and Haïdara encouraged the two to explore further, and the session that became A Djinn and a Hunter Went Walking was arranged.  Neba Solo brought a balafon he had customized with an extended bass register, and Diakité brought his deepest donso n’goni.

As Ingrid Monson explains in her album liner note, which is drawn from her forthcoming Oxford University Press book the Voice of Kenedougou: Neba Solo and Senufo Sensibility in Malian Music, “Because the traditional songs they recorded were widely known in Mali, Haïdara at first planned an entirely instrumental duet album (to which Malian aficionados could hear the words in their heads).  One night soon after, in the same courtyard, Haïdara played the recordings to Nick Gold on a pair of huge speakers.  He was blown away.  To create some variety over the course of an album, they decided to add touches of vocals and percussion.  Neba Solo was inspired and made full vocal and percussion arrangements for every song.  This in turn inspired an invitation to the English musician Sonny Johns, who added touches of strings, mellotron, guitar, and bass.  Contributions were made in one country that inspired further additions in the other, a process which flowed easily into this unique album.”

With this release, Neba Solo and Benego Diakité, long known as “musicians’ musicians” in Mali, step into the spotlight, joining a long line of their fellow Malians who have received worldwide attention over the past several decades – including Salif Keita, Ali Farka Touré, Toumani Diabaté, Oumou Sangaré, Tinawiren, Songhoy Blues, Amadou and Mariam, Rokia Traoré, and Fatoumata Diawara – many of whom have worked with World Circuit and/or Nonesuch Records in the past.