"Mali has produced some remarkable instrumentalists, from guitarist Ali Farka Touré to kora player Toumani Diabaté and n'goni star Bassekou Kouyaté. The blind musician Noumoussa Soumaoro, better known as Vieux Kanté, deserved to be added to that list, but he died in 2005 at the age of 31, just as he was about to release this long-lost recording".