Customer Reviews

Je Chanterai Pour Toi

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the soundtrack to the French film about one of the greatest African artists of our times. If you have ever wondered about the origins of the American blues, listen to KarKar, as he is known in Mali. Thematically the songs are extraordinarily intelligent, metaphysical, ontological, existential. One of the things Americans have lost, regardless of their cultural heritage, is the sense of nuance that made a turn of phrase a philosophical and heartbreaking treatise. While US singers, regardless of race, seem to exalt in the bloody obvious, losing any grasp on subtlety, this man virtually oozes the sublime and the sophistication of a life fully informed with tragedy, passion, inspiration and joy. His guitar playing is exquisite, his voice one of a solitary visionary crying out into the wilderness.
This disc has a very ambient feel. There are field recordings made in the villages of Mali, in the streets of Timbuktu, sometimes with legendary colleagues such as Ali Farka Toure, or on stage in concert with his daughter, Rokia Traore. You hear audiences celebrating an icon, you hear children listening in rapture. The wind, the dust, the sounds of Northern Africa blow mystically through this disc. It is a wonder.
Perhaps a DVD of this film will be released in North America. I am moved beyond words by the songs on this disc, the voice, the guitar playing. Do yourself an enormous spiritual favour, and pick this up. You'll never listen to music in the same way thereafter.

I love Boubacar, but this CD was disappointing. Most of the best songs on the CD I already have from his other CDs and those recordings are better. This one has a lot of noise from the movie that I could do without.
I HIGHLY recommend getting Karkar's other CDs: 'Sa Golo' and 'Macire'.
The DVD sounds great based on comments from the other reviewers - I would love to get a copy of that!

This is 62 and a half minutes of some of the most beautiful, mesmerizing music you are likely to hear. Fans of Toure and Malian music in general should rejoice. The film (by Jacques Sarasin) will be coming out in the US in early '04 -- it's also quite wonderful.

Boubacar Traoré is an incredible musician, and this album (as well as the movie it's from) were very inspiring.

The album is great! Boubacar Traore is playing and signing with so strong emotions that you feel yourself to be in Timbuktu.
There are other famous musicians playing with him in this album, like Ali Farka Toure.
This is one of the best albums of a Malian that I listened to.