MUSIC A husky, foreign voice is singing over guitar, violin, harmonies, and exotic percussion such is the format for Habib Koite & Bamada, relative superstars of their scene. Forced to compare it to something, a listener might claim it tastes of Seal, with expert acoustic guitar doing outtakes from Graceland, while locked in a percussion warehouse, drinking red wine with players and singers.

DRUMMING Souleyman Ann plays drum kit and calabash (Mali gourd drum with a goatskin head), and Mahamadou Kone plays talking drum, dun dun (African bass drum), and more. The layered, repetitive rhythm parts lock the groove but tend to stay in 4/4 and away from Afro-Cuban beats. The dipping bass notes and offbeat percussion of "N'tesse" make for soft hip-shaking, while "Massake" breaks out of the 4/4 into a rollicking 6/8.

VERDICT Generally mellow, Afriki is exotic, lush, and will invigorate the percussion palettes of Western-fed drummers.