A kora player in West Africa was captured by enslavers and transported to a North American plantation, where he met an ngoni player, a balafon player, and a griot. They sang to instruments made from scratch. Forbidden to sing anything else, their children sang Protestant hymns with their own varations. Then their grandchildren developed the banjo and took up guitars to pass their music on. With electric guitars, their grandchildren's grandchildren recorded their music. When Tuareg nomads in West Africa heard those recordings, they blended their traditional music with electric guitars to create desert blues. And last night, I again heard Tinariwen play their music so rich in sounds and history. (Andrew Shields, #111Words, 11 June 2025)