Boubacar Samake

Boubacar Samake, son of the late Malian music legend Sibiri Samake, carries forward the deep spiritual tradition of Mali’s donso (hunter) music — a lineage of ritual melodies and rhythms played for courage, healing, and connection to the natural world.
A virtuoso of the ngoni, the plucked lute at the heart of donso music, Boubacar is also one half of electro-afro innovators Siraba. He performs in this new line-up with Louis Campbell (electric guitar, from alt-folk duo Spafford Campbell), Ben Nicholls (bass) and master percussionist Seydou Kienou from Burkina Faso, whose djembe, calabash and karagnan bring a visceral, ancient pulse. Together they reframe this ancestral sound in a hypnotic, blues-tinged dialogue that bridges West African tradition and modern experimentation.