Hear some buoyant music from Mali, Bourkina Faso, Senegal, and more on this New Sounds program. We'll hear the latest release from Toumani Diabate's Symmetric Orchestra, one of Bamako's most popular bands. Their name refers to a balance between tradition and progress, and their contagiously danceable tunes range from age-old Mandé standards to Cuban-Senegalese salsa.

Then there's the driving and energetic "West African Snap," by the World Saxophone Quartet, a most unusual jazz combo, who have been playing together for nearly 30 years, and whose repertoire has ranged from blues to funk, to an album of Jimi Hendrix covers in addition to their latest release, "Political Blues."  There's also music from Bourkina Faso by singer and djembe (a drum carved from a tree trunk) master Amadou Kienou. Plus, selections from the final recording by Ali Farka Touré called "Savane."

PROGRAM # 2574, “West African Snap” (First aired on Wed. 7/26/06)