Habib Koité and Sura Susso: Manding Melodies

Habib Koité and Sura Susso are playing The Stables on Wednesday 28 October, their first UK date together since their last tour. It's a collaboration presented by African Night Fever, the label and collective that champions African music and culture.

Both are modern griots — jeli in the Manding tradition — whose roots go back to the 13th-century Mande Empire. The set will draw on their album Manding Melodies, which they recorded in The Gambia and Mali with a guest appearance by Gambia's 'King of Kora', Jaliba Kuyate. It weaves traditional griot instruments like the kora, balafon and ngoni with modern sounds, so you'll hear the old sounds of the region sitting alongside newer ones.

Koité is a guitarist, singer and composer from Mali, and Rolling Stone has called him 'Mali's biggest pop star'. He's released nine studio albums and played more than 1,500 concerts worldwide, collaborating with Toumani Diabaté, Oumou Sangaré and Bonnie Raitt. Susso comes from a renowned Gambian griot family and has performed internationally with artists including Maximilian Baillie, Purbayan Chatterjee, Erik Truffaz and Abel Selacoe.

The show is in the Jim Marshall Auditorium at The Stables in Milton Keynes, starting at 8:00pm.