03 December 2007
Newsdesk
Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni ba's debut album 'Segu Blue' has been voted 'Album of the Year' at the BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music.
Mali's new superstars Bassekou Kouyate, the ngoni master, and his band Ngoni ba, topped off an amazing year with the award,
Their debut album,'Segu Blue' has just been announced the winner of the 'Album of the Year - Critics Award', part of the annual BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music. Conducted by fRoots magazine, an international panel of nearly 300 writers, broadcasters, musicians, activists and people in the business were asked to vote for the definitive industry Album of the Year in the World music genre. 'Segu Blue' had to beat strong competition, including runners-up Andy Palacio's 'Watina', Orchestra Baobab's 'Made in Dakar' and Tinariwen's 'Aman Iman'. The news was first announced by Charlie Gillett, Mary Ann Kennedy and Lucy Duran on Saturday, 1 December 2007, on the World Routes show on BBC Radio 3 which also included a surprise session of the band.
In under a year Bassekou Kouyate's career has moved him from being a respected musician performing alongside artists such as the late Ali Farka Toure and Toumani Diabete into a World Music star in his own right.
Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni ba are also nominated in two other categories in the BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music: Best African Act and Best Newcomer (winners to be announced in spring 2008). 'Segu Blue' is number 3 in the World Music Charts Europe 2008, it is amongst Songlines magazine's 10 Best Albums of 2007 and amongst The Guardian's '1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die' .
They will feature on 'Later with Jools Holland' this Friday, 7 December, 11.35pm, on BBC 2.
BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/worldmusic/a4wm2008/nominees.shtml
