Mali is considered the cradle of modern music: the blues, reggae and Cuban music all have their roots in Mali. The slave trade brought the rhythms and melodies to the US.
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For 13 years, Malian musicians have held the Festival au Désert in the south Saharan city of Timbuktu. But political unrest in the country has made it impossible to stage one of the biggest and most important music festivals on the continent.