1. Ali Farka Toure: Yer Mali Gakoyoyo (4:48)
2. Nuru Kane: Niang Balo (3:44)
3. Lala Njava: Blues Song (5:39)
4. Dominic Kakolobango: Gueza Tabiya (4:11)
5. Tamikrest: Tamiditin (3:35)
6. Amadou Diagne: Jef Jel (4:42)
7. Dilon Djindji: Sofala (4:20)
8. Danyel Waro: Nailé (5:32)
In the twenty years since Malian guitar legend Ali Farka Touré won his first Grammy, a whole spectrum of African Blues has become hugely popular with a global audience. The shades of Blues on this Rough Guide range from the deep indigo of the Saharan nomads to a vivid Madagascan cobalt.
Compiled by Dominic Raymond-Barker
Africa is considered by many to be the home of the blues, both musically and spiritually. Musically the connection is particularly evident in the music of Ali Farka Touré and other artists from Mali and Saharan West Africa. Elsewhere, the link to the blues can be described as more spiritual – the intensity of the emotion comes across in the passion of the voices and the rawness of the music.
West Africa provides the first few songs on this Rough Guide. Ali Farka Touré himself said that he was ‘an absolute fool for the guitar’ in the 1970s when ‘Yer Mali Gakoyoyo’ was recorded for Mali’s national radio station, while ‘Dani Dou’ by his acolyte Samba Touré hints at the loping gait of a camel-train. Tamikrest and Bombino represent further variations of the blues of the Sahara.
Senegalese artists Nuru Kane and Amadou Diagne are joined by musicians from their adopted communities in France and the UK and it’s English guitarist Ramon Goose who provides the springy electric riff to accompany Modou Touré’s vocals in the West African Blues Project. Meanwhile, Zambian-born Dominic Kakolobango is joined by American Elijah Wald on the dual finger....... więcej