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CD Review
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Vail Daily, CD Review >>
Habib Koité & Bamada, “Afriki”
Habib Koité has occasionally been refereed to as the Jimi Hendrix of Africa, a comparison which is only bound to throw off listeners. Yes, Koité, another Malian, and who performed in Aspen this past summer, is a superb guitarist. But stylistically he couldn’t be more unlike Hendrix. Koité plays acoustic guitar and, with his gentle style, built on rolling, shimmering trills, it would as hard to imagine him with an electric guitar as it would Jimi with an acoustic. On “Afriki,” he is backed by a parade of musicians, from backing singers to percussionists to a string section, but this squad of players is all in the background, leaving the focus on Koité’s soothing voice and melodic guitar. Even on “Africa,” a typically uplifting song that encourages African self-reliance, where the horn section is led by former James Brown saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis, the sound is restrained.
By: Stewart Oksenhorn 10/13/07 >> go there
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