|
|
 |
CD Review
|
| Click Here to go back. |
Sing Out!, CD Review >>
It's been far too long since Mali's Habib Koite released a studio album, although in the interim he's been touring all over the world, which produced an excellent live set three years ago. Raised in the griot tradition (the griots are the hereditary caste of musicians, historians and storytellers, the repositories of tradition), he's also a stunning guitarist, although, unfortunately, you don't hear enough of that here-- instead, his instrument is simply part of the ensemble. He's always been acutely aware of the tradition--well, several of them--in Mali and made it the basis of his sound, even as his songs are very accessible to Western ears. This time around, although all that remains the core, he's filled out the sound, bringing in five backing singers to subtly beef up the vocals, as well as strings on "N'teri" and a horn section (led by the great Pee Wee Ellis) on "Africa." Otherwise it's largely business as usual, with some excellent songs, lovingly performed--Koite is a persuasive singer, and his griot upbringing is evident in his singing style--but with interesting touches that seem exotic, like the way a violin pops its head over the parapets here and there or the antelope horn that introduces "Nta Dima," bringing an old folk instrument into modern music. It's startling, but quite effective. Stylistically, he covers all of Mali, with the opener, "Namania" in the dansa style from Keyes and "Barra" inspired by Niafunke (the home of the late great Ali Farka Toure). But two tracks catch the ear above the other. "Africa," a plea to Africans to take charge of their own future, uses Latin horn charts in a sound that has at least an oblique reference to the early days of Mali's own Super Rail Band, while the album's closer, "Titati," offers that rarest of things-- a Koite solo guitar track that showcases some of his wonderful fingerpicking skill on a piece derived from an old Mandinka love song. It's a gentle, acoustic number, ineffably Malian and lovingly detailed, and the perfect end to a disc that covers the traditional, the political and the personal ("N'ba" for his late mother) in equal measure. A Most welcome return to the scene.
--CN 01/01/08 >> go there
|
| Click Here to go back. |
|
 |
|
|
|
