Malang Jobarteh

I adore kora music, and Malang Jobarteh plays gorgeously. I've passed him playing before, but I've never come across him when I had time to stop. But this time I did. I just stood and listened in the Union Square subway—his interwoven rhythms and melodies carrying me to a place of years past, when I used to pay a lot of attention to African music. And also carrying me forward, rooting in my mind and sticking with me when I needed to hear them. And also delighting me there in the moment, with the swirl of New York rushing around me.

That's all. Just the gift of noticing I could STOP and LISTEN to a musician of this caliber.