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CD Review
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Down Beat Magazine, CD Review >>
Mali's Bassekou Kouyate makes going against the grain seem like a piece of cake, but he's doing it since he was teenager, working as a musician at the storied music club in Bamako's rail station. He's a master of ngoni, a brittle sounding plucked lute that's one of the true predecessors of the banjo. He's spent most of his career as a valued sideman, most notably with kora player Toumani Diabate, but when he formed his own project he rejected orthodoxy with a lineup led by four different-sized and pitched ngonis, rounded out by calabash percussion. His excellent second album I Speak Fula counfounds expectations again by turning up on the famous Seattle indie rock label Sub Pop. Although a number of high-profile guests make cameos-Diabate, Vieux Farka Toure and Kassy Mady Diabate among them-Ngoni Ba thrives on its own, delivering a rich, kaleidoscopic sound despite its limited intrumental palette, nailing both high-octane dance grooves and cascading, meditative fare. 06/01/10 >> go there
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