Invisible System is the pseudonym and brainchild of producer extraordinaire Dan Harper, who rose to prominence with his internationally acclaimed Ethiopian fusion albums. This new chapter in his musical experimentation finds Dan returning to the musical powerhouse of Mali. 'Bamako Sessions' is an incredible coming together of some of Bamako's finest musicians with Dan's visionary production skills The recording sessions took place over a month inside a rented house, in-keeping with the true organic nature of the project, the musicians arrived at various times and jammed with Dan to produce tracks on the fly, some stemming from their initial ideas and some from Dan's - both parties keen to hear and work with the other's culture and style. As with previous Invisible System projects, everything is a first take and improvised on the spot making it spontaneous and real. The musicians involved in the project included Ousmane Dagon, an ngoni player who could effortlessly play both traditional and modern styles, renowned Malian singer/songwriter Sidi Touré and guitarist Kalifa Koné, who'd written, recorded and toured internationally with Salif Keita and Oumou Sangare. Remarkably, they managed to improvise forty-eight sketches/tracks in three weeks which were then sculpted, edited, mixed, produced and added with dub style bass by Dan in the UK after laying down some guitar, synth and beats in Bamako. This Riverboat release is an instrumental album of handpicked mixes from these sessions.
