Saturday, March 15   10:00 p.m.
Copa   (217 Congress Ave)

  Lobi Traore & Joep Pelt - I Yougoba
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For some years, singer, guitarist and songwriter Lobi Traoré has been playing music that is described by his audience as 'Bambara Blues'. For his lyrics, Lobi uses many ancient wisdoms of the Bambara, the largest ethnical group in Mali, which he accompanies with spicy guitar riffs. Weekly, the Bambara Bluesman plays shows in Bamako, that last until early in the morning, and make the urban audience move on the hot dance floors. Despite the fact that Lobi has been working with artists like Damon Alburn (Blur, Gorillaz), Ali Farka Touré and Bonnie Riatt, and enjoys a massive popularity in Mali, he is relatively unknown outside the nation's borders.

Singer, guitarist Joep Pelt (1979) started traveling the south of the US in his teens to play music with bluesmen like R.L. Burnside and T-Model Ford. After having released several albums in Holland, Joep left for Mali in 2004, in search of new imput. There he played with artists like Ali Farka Touré, and met up with Lobi for the first time in the lively music scène of Bamako.

The two musicians decided to record an album together, for which Joep returned to Bamako in 2006. The cd 'I Yougoba' was released in the summer of 2007, when Joep and Lobi toured different music festivals in Holland such as North Sea Jazz, Festival Mundial and Oerol. The result of their work is a swinging mix of Lobi's Bambara Blues, funk, soul, rock and afropop. Get ready to dance; I Yougoba!