Customer Reviews

Djelika

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

 

 

This album brings together three traditional Mali instruments; the kora (harp-lute), the balafon, a type of marimba or xylophone and the ngoni--a mandolin-like instrument with a flexible neck. The three virtuosi on this album are the kora master Toumani Diabate, Keletigui Diabete on balafon and Basekou Kouyate on the ngoni.

If you like "New Ancient Strings", something of a hit album in the World Music genre, you will be pleased with this offering. While the mix of instruments does not have the deep, hypnotic rocking style of the dual kora in "New Ancient Strings" the mix of the three traditional instruments is good to listen to. The music has a very traditional sound, yet is tuneful and completely accessible to any listener. The skirling harp riffs are shored up nicely by the "bones" of the balafon's wooden tonking, and the ngoni is fascinating--it's flexible neck produces half-tone notes like an ancient precursor of the bender or "whammy" bar on an electric guitar.

This music dates far, far back to the 13th Century kingdoms of Mali, and even before, when the kora was the hunter-harp. I wonder if King David's shepherd's harp didn't sound like the kora, and if the music to which the Psalms were sung sounded anything at all like this? We can only imagine about this, as music of the ancients is lost to us. But this sound is timeless, and I play my Toumani Diabate CD's over and over. They certainly speak to me and if the kora was the instrument David played to Saul, I can attest that it has tremendous powers to lighten the soul.

Folk-music based intrumentals from Mali. This disk works as both foreground and background music: the mood is contemplative but the playing is extraordinarily demanding - so the listener can either listen "hard" and be astonished by kora-player Toumani Diabate's virtuosity, or one can lay back and just let the music flow over you. The disk's production values are not the best, but it just adds to the air of authenticity of three skilled musicians interacting in the moment without the intermediation of studio trickery.

Toumani Diabate first came to general attention in 1989 when he played on the collaborative project "Songhai" with the flamenco duo Ketama and ex-Pentangle bassist Danny Thompson. Six years later there was a "Songhai II," and this album was recorded at the same time. It also includes Thompson and two other West African musicians. But Diabate is the star attraction here; he is the most renowned living master of the guitar/harp-like instrument known as the kora, and one sometimes can scarcely believe that there is not multi-tracking going on in the recording. The material is primarily traditional, but the level of instrumental play is so advanced that one rapidly becomes aware of being in the presence of a great talent. Fully recommended; not a '5' only because subsequent recordings by Diabate have been even better!

The stunning kora virtuoso Toumani Diabate has not produced a better album. Here his interplay with Keletigui Diabate and Basekou Kouyate creates a complex but pleasantly hypnotic sound, an excellent choice after hard labour of any sort. There is a wonderful unity to the album, but it is not repetitive. Like good "Cool School" jazz, do not look for jarring discontinuities here.

There may be some who still think that all Africa has to offer musically is the drums. While it is true that Africa has some of the most amazing percussionists - it has much more than that. This and other Diabate CD's are outstanding for not containing any drumming, thus sounding very light and gentle. The musicians here don't seem to miss the drums to much. The interplay of belaphone, ngoni and kora creates endless rhythmic combinations. This is very mellow music, a music for relaxing and contemplating. The tracks all start slowly and develop into reach sounds of musical freedom. I like all the instruments, while the kora is given center stage. I don't know if Toumani is indeed the greatest in the world and I resent such declarations. But he certainly has a lot to say on this instrument, as do the other musicians here. This is music for all humanity, gentle and elevating.

Yes, yes , yes, Toumani Diabate is an excellent kora player. But for me the reasons to listen to this album over and over again late at night as I write a new essay or story is the music's essentially jazzy nature -- still think jazz originated in America? Listen to this album. And then, of course, there is the extremely subtle vituosity of Keletigui Diabate on the balafon. The man is incredible! I saw him play with Habib Koite in Berkeley. Keletigui(say it real fast and you're probably almost pronouncing it right "KEH-LEH-ti-gwi") not only played incomparably excellent music on the balfon but also played a bit of violin (listen to him on Boubacar Traore's "Macire"). This album would not be nearly as good without his subtle skills on the balafon. Then, of course, there is a Kouyate playing the ngoni and Toumani on the kora...I could go on and on...

Mali is the source for a hell of a lot of great music and Toumani Diabate's is some of my favourite. It's just gorgeous: calm but complex, pleasant but not trite. Check the samples and if you like what you hear but wonder if the rest is as good, trust me, it is.

This is a hit-and-miss disc. I asked for and received it for Christmas several years ago and still have yet to fall in love with it. The problem being, at least in my opinion, is that in places it displays too much Western influence. At times it feels like some sort of smooth acoustic instrumental Afro-pop. Whereas fellow Malian musicians such as Ali Farka Toure and Oumou Sangare are able to incorporate a bit of Western influence into their music (such as song forms, etc..) and still sound deeply Malian, Toumani is less successful at this. Whereas Ali Farka Toure, Oumou Sangare, and Afel Bocoum's best work sounds as if it may have crawled up out of the sand of the Sahel, much of this disc sounds as if it were orchestrated in a sterile music studio.

That's not to say this disc is without merit though. Track #7 is excellent and there are other good moments scattered throughout, but overall I feel there are much better albums out there both in terms of kora albums and Malian albums. On the other hand, it's impossible to take anything away from stunning ngoni player, Basekou Kouyate, on this album. Toumani is indeed one of the best kora players on the planet but still I don't feel that he compares favorably to, say, Guinean master Djeli Moussa Diawara. Plus alot of the material here is like I said. Too smooth. But Basekou is excellent throughout. If only he had been consistently allowed to play on tunes as perfect as Tony Vander (track #7).