Customer Reviews

Source

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Aside perhaps from the necessary hype to introduce a Malian musician to Western listeners who don't know where or what Mali is, I don't hear much similarity to American blues music in this Ali Farka Toure release. Except maybe the pentatonic scale, but that's used in Japanese and other musics too. And certainly the comparison to John Lee Hooker is bizarre. In this album, Mr. Toure exhibits some serious guitar chops across a wide swath of tempos, rhythms and styles. Most important, his seemingly effortless yet complex guitar playing is employed over beautiful compositions, vocal melodies, percussion and singing. The first track, "Goye Kur" is a tour de force with ringing, fluid chorused guitar, a bright bold vocal chant and melody, rumbling and precise calabash percussion and a haunting njarka line that anchors the whole shebang. Hawa Dolo reminds me weirdly of Ben E. King and the Drifters doing a solemn, yet hopeful prayer song. The solo instrumental, Cinquante Six, has a nice Chet Atkins vibe with its delicate and nimble fingerpicking. Excellent recording, mixing and production top it all off.

I prefer this Farka Toure to "Talking Timbuktu " (with Ry Cooder). Each of the songs here has more draw for me then those assembled on Talking Timbuktu . The mood ranges from bouncy to swinging to brooding to mournful.

My favorite song "Hawa Dolo" is a haunting almost lullaby-like work without chorus or other accompaniment. I don't know what the song is about but it makes my heart stop.

If I was stuck somewhere and only could bring a couple of cd's, this would be one. It just has a great feel. Laid back, but you can still move to it. There's almost a blues feel to it. Just WONDERFUL!

I had heard about Ali Toure` and his virtuoso guitar work-it's not hype; the man can PLAY. "The Source", is a fantastic CD, and I can hardly wait to buy more of his CD's. He is living proof that you don't have to be from the Mississippi Delta to be a great Blues guitarist and to play with feeling.

I own most of Ali Farka Toure's recordings, but this was the first one I bought and, to my mind, still the best. This recording shows how the relationship between African and American music has been bi-directional. The (American) blues stems from African music, but it (as well as American jazz and Latino music) has also sent its influence the other way. You can hear a lot of this cross-fertilization in Ali Farka's music, together with Arab influences.

But what does it sound like? Robert Johnson of the Niger? Son House of the Sahel? The guitar playing is clear, penetrating and soulful, the accompaniment is spare, clean and rythmic and the singing is haunting and sublime. In addition to being a great guitarist, Ali Farka is a superb singer. Unless you speak Bambara, you can't understand it, apart from the occasional French bits, but that hardly matters. When you listen to Maria Callas singing La Boheme, you can't understand the words, but the meaning and the feeling come through loud and clear. Ali Farka's singing has the same effect.

Buy this record!

In response to the last review, this CD (1991) was cut before talking timbuktu (1994), and to my ears is in fact a much better record. Toure is with his own band here, with the celeb's just making token background appearences on a few tracks. The Ry Cooder session sounds like it is under a coat of post-production varnish, where as this record's sound is much more immediate and fresh.
Of Toure's "electric" discs in wide release, I think this is the most satisfying listen from start to finish, without the production overpowering the music, which is compelling even unaccompanied (such as on Radio Mali.)
Talking Timbuktu achieved its goal of making Toure a star in the west, but his other albums, which are not "crossover" records, are far more rewarding...

This Album is SO wonderful to listen to. Just beautiful sound rining, bouncing... it is hard to put to words. But this CD has some really wonderful sound. A pleasure to have playing while cooking a good meal with a friend, or just quitely kicking back after a long day. Restorative and takes you to a nice place.

What a gem. In the trancelike guitar lines you can almost hear the seeds of the blues, musical ideas that would travel from West Africa to the Southern U.S. and change music history. Ali Farka Toure takes us back to the source. Beautiful.

He is the man. Refreshing music. True heat and true feelings. No show neccesssary - just the pure guitar sound from Mali. There, great guitarists are born and trained since decades. The "Super Rail Band of Bamako" is a living proof since over 30 years.

"The Source" is a great start for anybody to get to know Toure beyond his collobarartion with Ry Cooder and a must for all, who know him.

You will never go to Tombuctu... you know that. So let this oasis come to you with this other-worldly music. All music is composed to translate the noise in one's head to something to be shared. In Ali Farka's fingers are nerves wired to the noise, heat and dust of this truly ancient civilization. Let Ali Farka's fingers slide over his favorite frets and over your brain's primitive cortex. Technology gave Ali Farka electircal amplification, it gave you the headphone. Put them both to work while you sit in a very comfortable chair and for a brief moment journey where the camel caravan's go, to where the background disturbances of "modern" life are minimal and where the soul is freely offered to a higher power for a good cleansing.