The fusion of pentatonic scales with African rhythm has resulted in the world’s hotbed of blues music. Putumayo noticed this trend in 1999 with Memphis to Mali, an eclectic collection of two diasporas meeting under one sound. Six years later they chop Tennessee from the title and head straight to the most unique blending of blue-based sounds around. The common bond, between both American and African styles as well as the eclectic collection of songs on Mali, is economic disparity. Whatever it is of this human spirit that causes hardship to produce such exquisite, soul-searching music is immediately apparent. Even the more joyous strains, such as Ramatou Diakite’s “Gembi” and Idrissa Soumaoro’s harmonica-driven “Ouili Ka Bo,” emit an air of melancholic greatness. There’s no irony that the quest is the destination, and tracks by Tinariwen and Issa Bagayogo show two entirely different takes on West African soul. The first, a band of Touareg desert dwellers, take electric blues back to Jimmy Page on the near-reggaeish call-and-response “Amassakoul ‘N’Tenee,” the title track from the band’s second release. An homage to desert life over fast-paced civilization, smooth calm pours from Ibrahim Ag Alhabib’s melodious lips. Bagayogo, aka “Techno Issa,” is equally suave on “Bana” as his digitalized kamale n’goni is backed by a swerving disco beat. But when seeking by a swerving disco beat. But when seeking the deepest crevice of Malian soul there is none greater than Putumayo’s own Habib Koite. Pulling “Kanawa” from his lustrous Baro, as well as a live rendition of “Saramaya” from the double-CD Foly!, no greater play between heartbreak and ascension exists. This master moves through worlds effortlessly.

-DB