Great
kora players aren't rare in West Africa, but in
faraway, rainy Seattle the sound of the 21-stringed
griot's harp is considerably less common. If you're
looking for that taste of Mandinka music in Western
Washington, a good first step is to find out where
Kane Mathis is playing. The young musician -- who
also plays oud -- has spent years studying the kora
and the culture from which it comes. And he's at
the heart of these two new CDs.
When
I first saw Kane Mathis, he performed with a djembe
player and sang little. His new album with The Sahel
Band shows great leaps in musical confidence from
that time, as he sings strongly from the opening
notes of "Bantam Ba Kouyate" (wasn't that
the name of his first album?) and plays kora with
something approaching a master's flair, even if
he's a bit young for me to use that label comfortably.
The
band Mathis has assembled Sam Weng on percussion,
Nina Vukmanic on bass, Rusty Knorr on drums -- seems
to share his vision for music that's rooted in West
Africa while including modern sounds. Styles range
from kora-rock to highlife to desert guitar rock,
particularly on the scorcher "Sahel."
Mathis doesn't (yet) have a high profile in global
music circles and would probably recoil from direct
comparisons to musicians who come directly from
griot families, but for pure musical enjoyment and
this dance-inducing album is a match for any recent
African releases. If not for the bit of selfishness
in me that wants Mathis to stay nearby, I'd suggest
him as an inspiring opening act for anyone from
Angelique Kidjo to Tinariwen.
On
Just 4 U (named after a music venue in Dakar Senegal),
Mathis is a full partner in an Afro-jazz outfit
led by pianist Andrew Oliver and rounded out with
Chad McCullough on trumpet, Brady Millard-Kish on
acoustic bass and Mark DiFlorio, drums. They're
a tight combo, trading support roles and solos with
ease as they work through the albums 11 tracks,
ranging from traditional pieces to the whimsically
titled "The Funnel and the Vacuum Cleaner."
If
I have any quibble with the album, it's that the
trumpet often sounds like it was recorded in a different
room than the rest of the band, a small but distracting
issue. Given the frequent exchanges between kora
and trumpet, some of the music reminds me of the
sublime album Sira
by Ablaye Cissoko & Volker Goetze. A different
flavor emerges on "Segu," on which guitars
(by Mathis) and calabash take the listener to somewhere
near Ali Farka Toure's Niafunke. Then there's the
lilting soukous flavor of "Bina Na Ngai Na
Respect." And t\hey don't neglect the griot
tradition of praise songs; "Hidmo" pays
tribute to the Seattle restaurant that hosts weekly
African music nights. Different flavors, one amazing
CD that's sure to be embraced by both jazz and world
music fans.
©2010
Scott Allan Stevens, Earball Media
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Angelique
Kidjo : Oyo
(Razor & Tie)
buy CD/hear samples
Oyo
is not just a great album of truly global music,
it's a glimpse into the musical mind of a modern
music icon. One of the most successful contemporary
African artists, Kidjo has assembled for her new
album a fascinating array of cover songs, many of
which marked key points on her musical journey.
"This
is the story of my childhood," she says. "All
these songs brought me to where I am today, inspired
me to do the music I have been doing for many, many
years. This music has always been my Bible, the
thing that reminds me what is the mission of the
arts."
Kidjo's
musical cannon includes the first song she sang
in public, “Atcha Houn,” a traditional
melody she describes as “a kind of parade
music people sing when they gather together. I sang
it at my Mom’s theatre company,” she
recalls. “My Mom had to push me on stage to
do it, but that’s when my addiction to singing,
and to the stage, too, got started.” Also
in the mix are jazz, blues, R&B, even Bollywood
on "Dil Main Chuppa Ke Pyar Ka." And undoubtedly
one of the most spun tracks on the album will be
her cover of James Brown's "Cold Sweat"
with backing by members of Antibalas, despite its
surprisingly low energy.
James
Brown was a star and huge musical influence all
over Africa. And in Kidjo's world, a couple other
US pop stars also shone brightly, influencing her
future direction. Her cover of "Samba Pa Ti"
with trumpeter Roy Hargrove pays tribute to the
influence of Carlos Santana, just as she gave a
nod to Jimi Hendrix with "Voodoo Child (Slight
Return)" on her 1998 album Oremi. One of the
most compelling songs on the album is Aretha Franklin's
"Baby I Love You," with guest vocalist
Dianne Reeves. With other flavors including a tribute
to Miriam Makeba ("Lakutshn Llanga") and
an energetic reworking of the South African workhorse
"Mbube," Oyo has something for everyone,
even if it's not Kidjo at her edgy and original
best.
Te
Vaka : Haoloto
(Spirit of Play)
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CD/hear samples
Te
Vaka does not get around enough for my taste. Musically
their pan-Polynesian sound is wonderful, ranging
from boisterous log-drum dances and Maori haka chants
to sweet harmonized ballads. The New Zealand-based
group is also fantastic live, as I saw years ago
at the now-defunct WOMAD USA. Since then, though,
I've had to content myself with their recorded music.
This year might be different -- not only have they
released the new album Haoloto (which means
"free"), they also will be touring North
America during 2010. Specific dates have yet to
be announced, but keep an eye on their website.
Meanwhile,
the new album has their usual wonderful blend of
sounds, beginning with the subdued "Ata Fou
/ New Dawn" and "Mau Piailug" a tribute
to the Micronesian
man who is known as one of the best-known living
master navigators, able to sail the seas without
the aid of instruments.
Te
Vaka are at their best on songs such as "Tautaimi
(Your Timing)," where they blend log drums,
guitar, and their rich harmonized vocals delivering
a heartfelt message -- in this case about singing
from the heart. I also love the title track and
the hip-hop flavored "Kaluve Pepe." The
one English-language song "Well...You Lied"
has a great self-empowering message and strong delivery
by Olivia Foa'i, but sticks out as a pop-flavored
oddity among the otherwise Polynesian songs. That
small quibble aside, Haoloto's 15 diverse,
engaging tracks simmer with succulent island sounds,
and will keep me satisfied until I can see Te Vaka
live once again.
Naby
Camara & Lagni-Sussu: Kanteli
(self-released)
website
I
ran into balafon player Naby Camara the other day,
and he handed me this wonderful CD, named for his
home village in coastal Guinea. Despite trying to
keep tabs on the great African musicians in the
area, this album had passed me by since its release
in 2007. Which means that I've missed three years
of really stellar balafon tunes. I can't tell you
much about the album or song origins, since the
liner notes contain only the musicians names and
a few words about each tune. What I can tell you
is that this buoyant, rousing music is mostly made
up of traditional West African music, but also includes
some Western touches, such as the electric guitar
and drumset on "The Sharks of Guinea."
Camara's balafon is soft and clear, without the
heavy buzzing that is traditional in some styles.
So the sound is accessible, and the variety of celebration
songs and work songs keeps things interesting. The
bad news? Unless Naby hands you a copy, you may
not be able to find Kanteli. It's not on his website,
though you can find three earlier albums there,
and you can get his 2004 album L'union Fait la Force
from CDbaby. I'll mention this problem to him next
time I see him; this stuff is too good to keep hidden!
Invisible
System : Punt
(Harper Diabate Records)
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CD/hear samples
Ethiopian
music has been making the rounds in recent years
in different forms. Bill Laswell's inclusion of
Gigi with the group Tabla
Beat Science was a sweet vocal addition to a
somewhat technical electro-rhytm outfit. Gigi's
sister Tigist Shibabaw joined up with Bole
2 Harlem for some of my favorite Afro-fusion
dance music ever. And the continuing Ethiopiques
series and Mulatu
Astatke have given us many different flavors
of Ethio pop, rock, and jazz.
The
creation of Dan Harper, who spent eight years working
in Mali and Ethiopia (and worked on the album
A
Town Called Addis), Invisible System brings
another mutation in Ethiopian musical evolution,
with basic flavors familiar from these other albums
blended with a variety of trance, dub, downbeat,
rock, and electronic music. Fortunately, the additions
never quite overshadow the great roots of the music,
most distinctively the vocals and the fiddle lines.
Start with "Because of You, I Faced So Many
Challenges" and "Gondar" and then
move on to the more transmogrified songs, and you'll
discover a multifaceted album that ties together
unseen musical threads.
With
a little less sameness among the tracks (and some
editing of the indulgent extended guitar solo ironically
answering the musical question posed by the song
"What Have I Done Wrong"), this could
have been a great album. Instead, it feels like
an interesting evolutionary stepping stone on the
road to something potentially much better. Stay
tuned.
©2010
Scott Allan Stevens, Earball Media
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