National Geographic Music (National Geographic)

With these recordings, made in the field in Mississippi and in Mali, Corey Harris explores a musical link that unites two continents. Eight of the fifteen tracks on 'Mississippi to Mali' come from sessions with Ali Farka Touré and two of his musicians in Niafunke. Four more tracks were recorded in Mississippi, where Harris worked with harmonica legend Bobby Rush and veteran blues drummer Sam Carr, and also with Otha Turner's Rising Star Fife and Drum Band. Turner himself had died just a week before the sessions, so his 12-year old granddaughter, musical prodigy Shardé Thomas, played the fife and sang in his place on two tracks, adding a cross-generational element to this album's ambitious cross-continental dialogue.
Never mind the ancient roots of the blues; this is fresh, vibrant music of today bridging the realities of living traditions on two continents.

— CalabashMusic.com