The UK Telegraph has an article about the griot tradition and how it continues in Mali today: The timeless sound that entranced the world.

Arriving in Mali can be a sobering experience. Even without the griots, the country has produced an amazing amount of extraordinary music - Ali Farka Toure's desert blues, Radio 3 Award winner Rokia Traore, feminist diva Oumou Sangare, Tuareg nomad band Tinariwen, to name only those who have made a particular impact over the past year. Yet Bamako's mudbrick sprawl, choked in red dust and the fumes of tens of thousands of beaten-up French cars, doesn't immediately give the impression of a great musical city.