National Geographic Music (National Geographic)

Author/composer Adama Yalomba, whose true name is Adama Traoré, was born in the mid-1970s in Kémacina, where his father, Samadji Traoré, was a farmer, artist and a virtuoso of the n'dan, a mystical six-string instrument that is traditionally played to welcome home those who have been abroad.

Yalomba is an excellent percussionist and string-instrumentalist (n'goni, n'dan and guitar), and he's played with Balazan of Ségou, a talented group from the Ségou region in Mali, and Bronkoni of Niono, another leading group from the area. —Courtesy Calabash Music