Last last Saturday night I hopped in a cab at the corner of Lombard & Columbus to ride out to a friend’s birthday party at Soluna in Civic Center, the same night as that Killers concert everyone was at. I commented on the cab driver’s music- a CD he was playing of this funky lute, slide guitar, with some indistinct African-style singing. It was really good, and I just looked it up- it’s In the Heart of the Moon.Ali Farka Touré (guitar and vocals) and Toumani Diabaté (kora), and Ry Cooder. (thanks Wikipedia!)

The music is Malinese. He’s from Nigeria though, but was into Malinese music. Climbing over the backside of Nob HIll on Washington St., he was telling me about the ruins there- I had seen photos, but he had visited- and the early civilization in the capital. I told him I had always wanted to visit Mali after reading reading “the Material World: A Global Family Portrait”, where Mali families had the least work time and most leisure time, and most emancipation. We talked about cuisine in Nigeria & Mali- millet is a staple in both, and language similarities- Bombara is spoken in Mali & Senegal. He hadn’t been to Bissap Baobob, but had heard about it. He commented on how most riders in his cab think he’s talking about Bali.

A few minutes before my destination I learned that he speaks Chinese and goes to Taiwan frequently. I said “Zai Jian” and got out.