Guitarist Boubacar Traoré - je chanterai pour toi

[James]

Discovered Boubacar Traoré today

"During the 1970s Traoré's popularity faded, until a surprise television appearance in 1987. Soon after this "rediscovery," Boubacar's wife died. Grief-stricken, he moved to France and did construction work to support his six children. While there, a British record producer discovered a tape of one of Traoré's radio performances, and he was finally signed to a record deal. His first album, Mariama, was released in 1990. Since then, Traoré has enjoyed international popularity, touring Europe, Africa, and North America."

There was a movie made about his life, that I really want to see.

[bops]

That's a nice doc. Netflix had it available for streaming for a while.

His voice is haunting and beautiful.

[Michel]

If you like Boubacar Traore, Karkar is his nickname: there is a book called 'Mali Blues', written by a Belgian writer called Lieve Joris. She is famous for her books about Africa, and she spend some time with the man in Mali. I love his style and appearance. He was a great footballplayer as well!
I don't know whether this book is available in English. At Amazone.com I only found French and German versions.....

Good luck

[e2c]

The book hasn't been in print here for a while, but it's fairly easy to find used copies online.

I haven't read it myself, but recall that there was a lot of controversy re. the author's portrayal of Karkar.