chuks,
It certainly sounds as if you will need something to occupy your time in Hassi Messaoud. I guess you'll be flying from DAUH, Oued Irara. If you look at the pictures of it on Google Earth the airfield looks pretty big and the Base dHassi Messaoud is right on the southeast airfield perimeter. Unlike Nigeria, you'll need your woolly nightwear there too as I see it got down to only 4 degrees C yesterday night
. According to Falling rain the population within 4km is only 273 - somewhat different from Nigeria, as you say.
If you like the kora I'm sure you'll also be listening to Toumani Diabate (the first kora player to be awarded a 'grammy'!). Diabate also teaches kora at the Mali Conservatory of Music. If you ever manage to nightstop in Bamako, a visit to his club, Hogon will live in your memory for ever. You can hear a lot of his music on his release of July "Boulevard de l'Independance", named after a thoroughfare that bisects Bamako's dusty streets. The sounds range from Cuban-Senegalese salsa to horn-driven funk, but the kora is always at the heart. Amazon sell it and I listen to my copy a lot. He has made many recordings with other artists, including Ali Farka Touré and Taj Mahal. For me the some of the best kora music readily available is Nouvelles Cordes Anciens (New Ancient Strings) performed by Diabate and Ballake Sissoko, which was their interpretation of the recording made by their fathers in 1970, which is widely recognised as having introduced kora music to the world outside its Malian roots.
I look forward to your new posts taking us away from the day-to-day tales of woe from Nigeria.
SAS,
Ouaga hosts Le Festival Pan-Africain du Cinema et de la Television de Ouagadougou (FESPACO), the largest African film festival and biggest regular cultural event on the African continent. I love the place!
. Whilst Bobo-Dioulasso may seem a bit quiet on the surface after Ouaga, it is the cultural and musical centre of Burkina Faso and there are many pleasant little 'maquis', such as Les Bambous or Le maquis de l'Entente, where you can sink a few cold drinks and if you've had a few too many, maybe even you would like to danse to some zouk music
