You might not immediately associate Lithuania with a collaborative project between an American blues veteran and an African griot, but the inspiration behind 'Griot Blues' came from Lithuanian entrepreneur Jay Svarplys who introduced the two musicians to one another (the whole story is nicely summarized in title track 'Griot Blues'). For this album vocalist/percussionist Baba Sissoko and vocalist/keyboardist Mighty Mo Rodgers were joined by three Italian colleagues (Luca Giordano - guitar, Walter Monini - bass, Pablo Leoni - drums/percussion) and as many Americans (Dale 'Dizzy' Williams - guitar, Darryl Dunmore - harmonica, Saint Willie - flute). Some of the tracks on 'Griot Blues' lean more towards American delta blues ('Mali To Mississippi', 'Drunk As A Skunk', 'What Is The Color Of Love?'), while other songs are more reminiscent of West-African griot music ('Donke/Dance', 'Djeli/Griot/Storyteller', 'Mo Ba') or are simply a combination of the two ('The Blues Went To Africa', 'Nalu/Mother'), with the sole exception being opener 'Shake 'Em Up Charlie', which has a slight reggae vibe.