Guitari Baro, meaning “Guitar Conversations”, is a groundbreaking instrumental trio showcasing extraordinary virtuosity. The ensemble features three renowned griot musicians from Guinea and Mali: guitarists Gaoussou Kouyaté and Kerfala Diabaté, joined by master balafonist Lassana Diabaté (former member of Toumani Diabaté’s Symmetric Orchestra, member of Afrocubism, and leader of renowned Malian group Trio Da Kali). Their project features musical conversations across their shared Mande-Griot musical heritage, drawing on the entrancing regional styles of the Mande repertoire, while also referencing idioms from jazz, Congolese rumba, Guinean dance bands and Cuban music, evoking the past and present in sublime,futuristic ways. In November 2024 in the Dakar neighbourhood of Mamelles, three musicians met and shook hands for the first time, which led to a new friendship and new recording – a fascinating self-titled debut album “Guitari Baro”. Definitely one of the most exciting and innovative projects in the last few years that OFFest will be privileged to promote. Showing how only three instruments, two guitars and a balafon can tell thousands of stories just through their sound, continuing the tradition of West African poets, musicians and storytellers known as griots.