Segu Blue

Bassekou Kouyate | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 11, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Out Here Records
• ASIN: B000LSA8HG
• In-Print Editions: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #85,334 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Segu Blue introduces the ngoni player Bassekou Kouyate. Bassekou has collaborated with many musicians in and outside of Mali. He played in the Symmetric trio with Toumani Diabate on kora and famous Keletigui Diabate on balafon. He was part of the Kulanjan project recorded with Taj Mahal. He is one of the key musicians on Ali Farka Toure's posthumous album `Savane' which was released july 2006. Most recently, he toured with Ali Farka Toure leaving a lasting impression on the audience as the band's solo ngoni player. The ngoni is one of Africas secrets still to be discovered. It is the key instrument for Griot culture. The album was produced by Lucy Dur n, recorded at studio Bogolan in Bamako by Yves Wernert and mixed by Jerry Boys (the man responsible for recording and mixing Buena Vista social Club amongst others) in London. Out Here.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A gem !, April 10, 2007

By 

gizgoogmai (London, England UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Segu Blue (Audio CD)

This is a gem.
Bassekou Kouyaté is Mali's leading player of the ngoni, a simple desert lute that looks like a stocky cricket bat.
It's West Africa's oldest string instrument and the ancestor of the banjo.
Cognocenti may know Kouyaté for his contributions to Ali Farka Touré's magnificent last album, "Savane", but here he's centre stage as leader of a ngoni quartet.
In a way it's possible to think of this as sophisticated chamber music with intricate lines delicately interweaving plus the female vocals of Ami Sacko and Zoumana Tereta.
One of the most gorgeous tracks is an instrumental with Toumani Diabate on kora even more entrancing than those Toumani did with Ali Farka Touré.
Laid-back music of the highest order.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars one of the best recent records coming out Mali, May 29, 2007

By 

almosthappy (San Diego, CA, California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Segu Blue (Audio CD)

For fans of the late Ali Farka Toure, Bassekou Kouyate's virtuous ngoni playing should not sound completely foreign, as he has appeared on quite a few songs on Toure's amazing posthumous album Savane. Some other familiar Malian musicians were also featured on this wonderful record, including kora player Toumani Diabete. These beautiful instruments provided an intricate, organic, and extremely beautiful backdrop to a variety of vocal styles. For fans of Malian music, this is especially a rare treat. Segu Blue calls to mind recordings of Ali Farka Toure, Toumani Diabete, and Amadou & Mariam, without resorting to simple imitation. From start to finish, Kouyate and his musicians managed to pull off an album that's both upbeat and melancholy, melodic and hypnotic, traditional and inventive. Everything including blues, a psychedelic jam session, and even an Asian sensibility are being evoked. In my opinion, this record should appeal to anyone who enjoys good and authentic music, period. Hopefully, US distribution will pickup so price will come down.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Phenomenal, April 18, 2008

By 

Robby Krell (Sea of Tranquility, Luna) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Segu Blue (Audio CD)

This record is outstanding. I don't know why it hasn't caught on as well as, say, Tinariwen or Salif Keita or Baaba Maal. Maybe these guys haven't been around as long as those others but they are, IMO, as good. That's high praise but they deserve it.

This group develops a warm, organic Afro-beat sound using solely acoustic instruments, as far as I can tell. The pieces have a hypnotic rhythm that is augmented by the rich vocal work (sometimes from female guest singers, other times from the men themselves). The songs seem to average four or five minutes in length but they are the kind of rolling, easygoing tunes that I wish went on forever. In spirit they remind me a bit of Tinariwen, if that means anything to you; they are kind of trance-inducing and dreamy, although the music is multilayered and complex and has, at times, a bite to it. Oh heck--listen to the samples! They describe themselves better than I can describe them. And the samples are perfectly accurate representations of the songs as a whole.

If you have any love of the artists I mentioned above, or others such as Rokia Traore, Pape and Cheikh, Ba Cissoko or Ali Farka Toure, I think you will enjoy this album immensely. Production values are excellent and the album, like most African pop records, is generous in its length (over 60 mins I think).

Highly recommended.