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Dubbed "the Tina Turner of Mali" by the British music magazine MOJO, Amy Sacko has a successful solo career as well as her role as the lead singer of Ngoni Ba, the band led by her husband, master ngoni player Bassekou Kouyate.
Sacko was born in the city of Kayes in northwestern Mali, the daughter of a popular local singer and guitarist. Raised in Kayes and Dakar, Senegal, Sacko was taught to sing in the traditional griot style by her aunt Fanta Sacko, one of the first popular female singers in West Africa. Sacko's debut album, Ben, was released in Mali in 1997, but it was her second album, 2002's Mali Denw, that was her popular breakthrough; the title track spent ten weeks at number one on the Mali pop chart, and its popularity spread through the world music scene. Performing live across several continents, Sacko also collaborated in the studio with German jazz musician Leni Stern, singing lead vocals on Stern's 2006 and 2007 releases Alu Mayé (Have You Heard) and Africa, and with American jazz singer Dee Dee Bridgewater on her 2007 album, Red Earth. After the release of the debut album by Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba, 2007's Segu Blue, Sacko released her eclectic third album, Dakan, in early 2008. ~ Stewart Mason