Bassekou Kouyate is one of Mali's greatest musicians and a master of the ngoni, a traditional West African lute. Bassekou – pictured here on the rooftop of a music school he's building in Bamako - has toured around the world and shared the stage with global legends like Bono; the two played together at the famed Festival in the Desert in Timbuktu just weeks before the 2012 conflict began. Photo by Molly Raskin
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