Bassekou Kouyate, a Malian griot (West Africa’s version of the traveling bard), takes the stage at Royce Hall at UCLA. Kouyate plays the ngoni (related to the banjo) along with his band, Ngoni Ba, and lead singer Amy Sacko. Opening the event is True Blues, a live music project by blues musician Corey Harris. The night starts with the twangy sounds of the African American South before leap-frogging across the Atlantic and ending with the ancestral sounds of modern West Africa. More information