Moussoulou

Oumou Sangare

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 21, 1999)
• Original Release Date: 1989
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Nonesuch
• ASIN: B00001SIBE
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #79,364 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  Music > World Music > Africa > Mali

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Heard wailing away on the soundtrack to the screen adaptation of Toni Morrison's Beloved, Oumou Sangare has in the '90s been a vital force on the folkie side of Afro-pop. Long difficult to find in the Western world, this reissue of Moussoulou, Sangare's 1989 debut, is the jewel that put the Malian pop star on the map, selling an astonishing number of copies and broaching subject matter progressive for that of her native country. Though the language barrier prevents most American listeners from grasping the full meaning of Sangare's discourse on moussoulou ("women"), the singer's expressively clear intonation and range coupled with complex acoustic arrangements speak across the divide with earthy strength and sublime beauty. The shapely curve of femininity itself is echoed in the rise and fall of vocals, the propulsive rhythm and harp, the circular bass and whittled violin lines, as well as the guitar's melodious blue notes. --Paige La Grone

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Five stars, but one hundred are few, April 26, 2000

By	Giulio Mario Rampelli (Rome, RM Italy) - See all my reviews

I love Oumou Sangare. Every time her Wassoulou music come out from my CD player I begin a travel inside the African universe, across the Mali region. Everything is beautiful: the sharp sound of kamelngoni, the soft support to melodie of violin, the counterpoint of the choir, the delicate strenght of percussions. But nothing can be compared to the Oumou's voice. To listen her is to love her. In that voice there is all the deep charm, the fresh sensuality, the strong soul of african women.

This CD is a miracle, born from the encounter between Oumou and the genius of Nick Gold's World Circuit label (who of you knows Nick only for Buena Vista Social Club?). Is the first Oumou's CD, wich sold 200.000 copies only in Africa. You can imagine the African people, without money for eating, doing the queue for buying their music and dream. Buy this CD, and then buy the second and the third of this lady. Five stars, but one hundred are few.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entrancing, January 22, 2000

By	Muselover (Dayton, OH USA) - See all my reviews

I've found this to be a very rewarding disc; recorded prior to "Worotan", Sangare's first American release, it has a freshness and energy I find somewhat less available in that recording. This is one of those CD's I find myself putting on constant play - I find my mind drifting to the lives of women across the ocean who hold up their families through the spirit evident in these songs. It's lovely, heartfelt music: rootsy, but not without it's share of African pop sounds. Imagine a female Baaba Maal - in his less glitzy years.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grind me a pound!, March 17, 2004

By	Rebecca Whiting (Beautiful Bell Gardens, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Rich, deep, and mellow -- Oumou Sangare's voice is like a premium cup of coffee. Interestingly enough, coffee was once used to stimulate monks to prayer by some brilliant Coptic abbott. Similarly, Sangare's music has a contemplative quality to it.

The music is simple enough: a basslike instrument, the low rumble of a drum, a higher violin-pitched instrument, and the firm ruler of them all, that is, Sangare's voice. The simplicity, the insistence of the rhythms, and the repetitive qualities of the music make it nearly trance-inducing.

This is beautiful music.