Drisa Kone was born in 1960 in Kourouba, a small town some 100km to the south of Bamako. Kourouba is situated close to the towns of Kangaba and Keyla. It is assumed that Kangaba had been the capital of the great medieval empire of Mali (13th-16th centuries), and Keyla is the seat of the most respected lineage of Kuyate jeli (griots) who hand down until today from mouth to ear the epic of Sunjata Keita, the hero-founder of this empire. Kone was sent to Bamako in 1973, in order to start an apprenticeship with the late grandseigneur of Bamako jenbe drumming, Yamadu Dunbia (1917–2002). At this age, he already knew to play the jenbe, to play dunun. and to dance in his native village style. In Bamako, he turned out Dunbia's most loyal apprentice, acoompanying his master and patron for over 14 years without daring to buy his onw jenbe, i.e. to work on his own account. He also turned out to be Dunbia's most successful apprentice: Kone taught and performed a lot in Europe since the early 1990s: Austria, France, Spain, Netherlands, Germany ... Kone is the most internationally minded player featured on this CD. During the studio sessions presented here (tracks 1-11), however, he performed with the intention to honour his former master, Yamadu Dunbia, and the great style of duo playing he shaped in the 1970s. Let us thank Drissa Kone for keeping the tradition of grandmaster Dunbia. "i hakili ka di kojugu. I ni baara."