Boubacar Traore: Kongo Magni. Christian Mousset, producer. World Village 468051.

Listeners who don't under stand Boubacar’s native tongue but read French or English are treated to short synopses of his lyrics in the liner notes to the sixth album he's completed since returning to recording in 1988. The seemingly simplistic sentiments-- "jealousy brings about problems and breaches between people," "the world has been made for people to love one another," "people pass away but life goes on," "it is unthinkable to imagine world without children, for they are the future of humanity” -- gain almost unfathomable depth via the 63-year-old Malian guitarist/singer's stark, subtly impassioned performances.

A favorite of and collaborator with Bill Frisell, Traore plays acoustic steel-string guitar and sings in a lovely, wise, and rugged tenor voice. He's backed by spare accompaniment on kamele ngoni (a six-string harp played by Yoro Diallo), harmonica, accordion, balafon, and various percussion, including calabash (expertly played by Kandiamoudou "Pedro" Kouyate, Bamba Dembele, and Emite Biayenda). And he draws you into a mesmerizing kaleidoscope of sparkling acoustic sounds that whirl up from the deep thump of a hollow gourd through the mid-range woody plunk of balafon, the warm ripple of harp, the bell-like chime of fingerpicked arpeggios, and the rich multiphonic wheeze of wind blown reeds.

The recording captures these details with deceptive clarity. Because of the drone-like chord patterns and tight harmonic weave, one tends to focus on Traore's splintered but soothing voice. Yet the closer you listen, the more you hear in a mix that permits discriminating perception of every instrument, each simultaneously isolated in its own space and intimately integrated with a patterned blanket of sound. Everything feels upfront but is actually placed in finely textured spread. Similarly, the more one tunes into Traore's singing, the more one intuitively grasps the profound feeling this former football hero and jacketed teen idol has for the land, people, and hard history of Mali, as well as his late wife, Pierrette, who's celebrated and mourned in "Dounia Tabolo."

DERK RICHARDSON

FURTHER LISTENING: Shem Ture, Justo Osala, and Enos Okola: Abana Ba Nasery, Habib Koite & Bamada: Muso Ko