Yesterday one of Africa's greatest and most dynamic singers and bandleaders, Amadou "Balaké" Traore, died in Ouagadougou, the capital of his native Burkina Faso, at the age of 70. In recent years he was one of the key vocalists in the veteran pan-African salsa juggernaut Africando, but starting in the 60s he was a true journeyman, settling in for spells in Mali, Ivory Coast, and Guinea, among other locales, finding his way within regional styles.…
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