Moussa Diakite - Blue Magic

74 year old Moussa Diakite's forthcoming third Album Blue Magic was written during the 2020 COVID lock down. A situation that served to intensify Diakite's feelings of isolation given he had no way to see friends and family in Mali. A nation that, after 15 years of conflict since a Military coup in 2008, remains politically unstable amidst a widespread humanitarian crisis that has seen hundreds of thousands of Malians displaced and living in poverty.Diakite spent his foundational years playing lead guitar in the internationally acclaimed 'Rail Band'. One of the first bands to combine elements of Cuban, Congolese and Jazz with West African rhythms, melodies and instrumentation, 'Rail Band' went onto sell out stadiums across the world whilst serving as a launching pad for illustrious solo careers for many of its members. This included lead vocalist Salif Keita, who went onto release 20 + critically acclaimed albums featuring everyone from Weather Report founders Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter to Carlos Santana (Amen) and Diakite himself.Following his time with the 'Rail Band', Diakite spent 5 years playing lead guitar in Grammy Award-winning Kora player Toumani Diabate's (Taj Mahal, Bj�rk, Ali Farka Tour�) live band before spending a further 5 years touring the world with Salif Kieta.Since moving to Australia Diakite has put together an impressive list of sold-out headline shows and festival credits ranging from Womadelaide and Woodford Folk Festival to Darwin Festival, Bellingen Festival and Mullum Music Fest and released 2 albums featuring a veritable who's who of both West African and Australian musicians, from Toumani Diabate to Oli McGill (Cat Empire).Flickered throughout with lashings of love, nature, respect, and unity � ultimately, Blue Magic is an album underpinned by Diakite's reflections on the ongoing struggles of his homeland. With core tracking of the album done in Sydney with Wassado, Diakite then took the tracks to Africa to have traditional West African instrumentation added by some of Mali's finest musicians. The result is an album resplendent with Diakite's trademark sparkling melodic Afro-blues funk groove. Pin perfect polyphonic melodies harmonising effortlessly, Blue Magic demonstrates exactly why Moussa Diakite is held worldwide as the master of his craft.