Invisible System is the pseudonym of English producer Dan Harper, who rose to fame with his Ethio-fusion albums. However, as the title of this album indicates, for 'Bamako Sessions', this time he shifted his focus to Mali, where in 1999 he worked as an aid worker, met his wife and became a father. Harper settled in Samé, a green suburb of Bamako where he surrounded himself with griot musicians like guitarist and percussionist Banjougou Koyaté, ngoni and tama/talking drum player Ousmane Dagnon, guitarist and calabash player Sidi Touré and guitarist Kalifa Koné (Salif Keita, Oumou Sangare...). The recordings took place in a rented house transformed into a recording studio by using mattresses as soundproofing material and the entire album was finished in about a month. The tracks on the entirely instrumental 'Bamako Sessions' range from extremely traditional and simplistic (opener 'Ndiaro', only featuring the ngoni sounds of Ousmane Dagnon, and 'Koroke Nommos', 'Dogoke Jeli' and closing track 'Mali Griot' which are in the same vein) to hypnotic mixes of traditional Malian instrumentation with western electro. Check out the delicious 'Banjougou', in which Seyba Kouyaté's kora is allowed to duel with the guitar of Bonjougou Kouyaté (who passed away right after the recordings, making this album his musical testament), and songs like 'Zéna', or the slightly psychedelic sounding 'Bamako' are also among the absolute highlights in the track list. Malian gem!