I think the two programmes had as a common theme the meeting of African and western music. Paul Simon (I love him!) let the vocal harmonies, complex rhythms and chords of the Zulus waft into his poetic ideas and the result in Graceland was magical.

Rita Ray (I warmed to her eventually after her first programme about Nigeria!) was apparently interested in the influence of African music on the Blues of USA, and in the way modern styles of western popular music have changed Malian styles of playing and singing.

The messages I got were that musically, when one culture encounters another, their music is influenced and transformed, often happily. But for purists of course, it can be sad to see traditions eroded.

I did want to see a bit more about southern Mali (where my husband's tribe the Senoufo originated) Although he was brought up in Ivory Coast, his family know many griots, and all weddings/funerals have griots in attendance.