Here is an excerpt from the interview:

Gerken: What comes to mind when you think of African guitar?

Strauss: The first thing I think of is ornamented but very groove-based stuff. It really varies with the region. If I think about Malagasy guitar and look at the way people play, it’s quite different from Malian guitar. When I’m playing guitar and trying to do African music, I’m looking at playing guitar like the harps of West Africa. So I’m playing a harp style where I’m doing big stretches and a lot of cross-picking. The two realms of West African music I’m most familiar with trying to play on the guitar are the kora and the kamale ngoni. The kamale ngoni is Wassalou music—from the southern part of Mali. It’s similar to the kora but it’s a smaller gourd and has fewer strings.

Read and view the full feature online at the Acoustic Magazine website or stop by the news stand to pick up a copy of the issue in print.

To learn more about the author, visit Teja Gerken’s website.

My guitar is being very warmly received here. Last Friday, Toumani invited me to open his show at The Diplomat, a popular concert venue here in Bamako. The audience was a sea of surprise, cocked heads at this white American fellow playing their beloved kora music on guitar. Faces turned to smiles and the entire audience got to clapping heartily to the rhythm of my playing. Tres bon! I’ve played with kora players, guitarists, ngoni players, a hunter playing traditional hunter’s music on a very rough gourd harp called called a simbi. More to follow…

Toumani has been keen to get me together to play with his son, Sidiki, who is a fine and celebrated kora player here. His band is at the top of the Malian charts, and their music includes rapping alongside the kora. We had our first collaborative session yesterday, and it was very fresh and felt magical. Toumani said it was as though a flock of birds flew into the courtyard as soon as we started to play. Sidiki’s playing is full of life. He plays the traditional music but he’s very open. We’re getting together a few times in the coming days and I very much look forward to seeing what transpires.

It is a whole other reality here, so many new experiences both here in Bamako and in my travels. One of the excursions was a trip to Segou with my friend and photographer Douglas, his sweetheart Jane Ann, and two Malian compadres. It was a big weekend in Segou as the annual Festival sur le Niger was taking place. The festival was certainly special, but the most inspiring part of the trip was our visit to the village of Segoukoro. A very old village and ancestral home of Biton Mamary Koulabaly, who created the first government of the Bambara Empire in the early 1700′s. An ancient and exquisite world to my eye, all made of earth, everything. You can feel the age of the culture in the people, their community, their kindness.

We were received by the chief of the village, Koke Koulabaly, the 29th descendant of Biton Koulabaly and actually chief of all Segou. After a time sitting with this calm and regal earthy man conversing through a translator, he summoned Abdoulaye Kouyate who is the griot of the village. Griots are the hereditary musicians of West Africa, born into griot families. Toumani Diabate is a griot.

Abdoulaye plays numerous instruments, his primary instruments being ngoni and guitar. He arrived with his guitar and we jumped right into Bambara music on our 2 guitars.Though my playing is very different from the Mande guitar style, I’m able to approach it in a way that retains the heart of the tunes. Many ah’s! and laughs from friendly staring faces, smiling as I joined in on the Bambara songs. A special kick for me when I included some of the West African rhythmic leanings into my improvisation… a smile and a nod from the chief.

Many more Mali stories to tell, which I’ll save for a future letter. I’m learning much daily – foundations of the kora that are inspiring my guitar playing and improvisation to deepen and grow, traditional songs, the venerable place the kora holds in the culture, the happiness and kindness of a people who materially have so very little. Toumani and his family have been gracious hosts of the first order. I’ve basically been living in a garden of music, a courtyard overflowing with kora music at all times of day and night, numerous griot kora players jamming and teaching their magic, women and children laughing, a constant flow of people and greetings, all generously sharing their soulful ways.

It’s been a kaleidoscope of culture and music thus far… More soon –>>

Lovely shows in Aberdeenshire, both solo and in collaboration with two great Scottish musicians, fiddler Johnny Hardie and percussionist/guitarist Davy Cattanach.

We had big fun putting together the music and joining our different styles into a burst of musical conversation and spontaneity.

The photo below is of me and Paul Anderson playing in Aberdeenshire.

Like Mali, Scotland is heart deep in music and warmth. Can’t wait to go back, hopefully in the fall.

It will be an honor to study with Toumani – he is one of Africa’s most sublime and celebrated musicians. While in Bamako, I’ll also be connecting with West African guitarists and other players of traditional instruments. My friend Scottish photographer Douglas Robertson will join me for some of the trip, as we venture out into the country with guitar, lenses, video cameras, and some field recording gear – to explore more of the culture and seek out traditional musicians in village settings.

As many of you know, for about a decade I’ve been directly engaging with West African music. I’ve collaborated in duos with Grammy-winning kora player Mamadou Diabate and with Wassoulou kamale ngoni (hunters harp) master Mamadou Sidibe, apprenticed myself to the multi-layered polyrhythmic foundations of the music, and I’ve been developing ways to translate music from traditional West African stringed instruments to guitar. It’s been wildly inspiring and influential both in my guitar playing and my compositions. My new CD, Planet Solitaire includes guitar versions of several pieces for the kora and kamale ngoni. This unusual approach has drawn interest in the US, UK, and among some established West African musicians.

My hope is that my time with Malian musicians will facilitate cross-cultural learning and magic through the universal language of music, though we’ll often have no common verbal language.

We’re kicking off a fundraising effort to fray some of the trip costs – for equipment, travel, a translator, and other expenses involved. If you’re interested in contributing to this cross-cultural artistic exchange, I’d be so appreciative.

 I arrived on Burns Night, celebrating Scotland’s favorite son Robert Burns, the great poet and lyricist who lived 250 years ago and whose language still speaks the heart of the people here. I got to step right into the Scottish hearth first night here  – my friends Douglas and Jane Ann host a great rootsy music series in their flat in Edinburgh and had a Burns Night celebration at their place. A lovely Scottish lass and singer Jake Cogan and her band filled the evening with Burns song and hearty good humor, while we filled our bellies with haggis and whiskey, and I chimed in with a couple of tunes.

Then off to play the Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow. Four nights and very modest sleep later, I have to say it is truly one of the best festivals I’ve ever been to. Fine musicians from many parts of the world playing at venues all over the center of the city, people gathering from all over Europe to take it in – all hosted with hearty Scottish color and warmth.

As part of the festival, I played a concert with the great Scottish guitarist Tony McManus. Wonderful to share the evening and to play some tunes together as well. He’s a fine musician and human, and it was all pleasure joining in some creative musical communication onstage. An audience member contributed the posted photo from the show. Later, I played another solo set at the Late Night Sessions in one of the lovely venues in the Royal Concert Hall to a warm and generous crowd.

The weekend was full of superb music. The musical bar is pretty damn high at Celtic Connections, and the vibe earthy – many sublime musicians, many hearty hangs and friendships made. Just some of the highlights were Nuala Kennedy and her band’s epic & almost theatrical show Friday night, Alistair Fraser and Natalie Haas’ exquisite musical camaraderie, rich in history and musical exploration, and some great 4am “craic” (craic not crack) with some spunky Norwegian compadres. One of the coolest things about the festival is that it seems to get a lot of its juju from having spirited roots in traditional music while also being very into creative approaches and collaborations across cultures. I really relate with that – roots are not separate from branches and the reaching is exhilarating, even evolutionary, as long as it taps the deep humanity root.

 I’ll be in Edinburgh this week, then after Saturday’s show I’m headed northeast to Aberdeenshire for a couple cool shows, one solo and one collaborating with some fine Scottish musicians, Johnnie Hardy and Davy Cattanach. More later –>>

I’ll do my best to keep the blog portion of the site updated in the coming months as I tour and study in Scotland and Mali… so check back from time to time.

Thanks to everyone for your support and best wishes for a great new year. May 2012 be 99% better than 2011!

- Walter