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authority and a veteran’s sense of his place in every so often outclassed by – jalimuso Mai
the musical scheme of things. Last time he did Kouyate, a powerful, strident female singer
it with his own album was in 2003 when the from Guinea.
back-to-roots affair Kassi Kasse garnered a
With a pleasantly relaxed production,
Grammy nomination, and plaudits aplenty
Abdoulaye’s voice clear as a bell and Peter
surely await Manden Djeli Kan, its equally
Fand rumbling away on bass, these eight
accomplished follow-up.
evolving, involving acoustic praise songs
Manden Djeli Kan is not as resolutely tra- might be performed by a disparate band of
ditional as its predecessor, but the instrumen- nationalities, but it’s utterly convincing in its
fRoots readers each
tal core remains acoustic. Moriba Koita’s evocation of the relaxed musical empathy
florid ngoni style is the centre – light, melod- that is behind the best West African tradi- buy an average of
ic, almost kora-like at times – with guitarist tional music. And the title track, an efferves-
Fantamady Kouyate an ever-present comple- cent ten-minute unfolding of the Mande clas-
50 CDs a year!
ment. Busy mid-tempo percussion sits high in sic Sara, is about as good as anything I’ve
the mix, adding a rhythmic hardness not heard out of West Africa this year.
always apparent on modern Malian albums
www.fulaflute.net
rooted in tradition; and bolon, balafon and
Virtually all
diligently placed electric guitar and bass com-
Con Murphy
plete the instrumental picture, with a tri-
our worldwide
umvirate of female backing singers adding
melodic elasticity throughout.
UISCEDWR
readership have
And over, around and above it all, there’s
Fish Cat Door Yukka Records YRCD04
that satin-smooth voice – confident, authori-
tative, and almost faultlessly spotless in tone.
Uiscedwr have been
internet access and
There’s an economy to Kasse Mady’s delivery
to hell and back in the
– he doesn’t hit extremes, even when declam-
last few years since
buy the majority of
atory is called for. It’s all delivered with
their live-wire singer/
restraint, a difficult trick to pull off without
fiddle player Anna
sounding bland, but something he’s been
Esslemont was diagnosed with the rare auto-
their CDs online.
doing with consummate brilliance since the
immune disease Aplastic Anaemia, which ulti-
1970s. Highlights include the rolling, sensual
mately led to a bone marrow transplant. This
Only 2% buy
opener Bandja, the sparse, percussion-led
and various personnel changes along the way
Allah Doundé and the slow, unfolding
have stunted the spectacular rise initiated by
downloads.
Nankoumandjian, which features Toumani
their spectacular triumph at the 2002 BBC
Diabate on kora. The only bum note is the ill-
Young Folk Award.
advised attempt to add ‘modern’ flourishes That said, don’t imagine for a second
fRoots readers buy
of jazzed-up electric guitar and watery Ham- there is anything downbeat about this, their
mond organ, although the only number that third album. Far from it, with Anna very much
gets completely submerged in those effects is at the top of her game again, it’s an album of
very few other music
Kaninba. Skip past that track, and these occa- joy, defiance, solidity and triumph; even when
sional mild instrumental transgressions are Anna bluntly addresses the practical problems magazines – and the
forgivable enough. Indeed, it all adds a cer- of her medication in bittersweet fashion on
tain charm to an album with a pleasingly Prescription Junkie, she does it with engaging
maximum crossover
unfussy, naturalistic feel. humour and self-deprecation. And any bitter-
Abdoulaye
ness in the music is reserved for the champion
“Djoss” Diabate is
Irish dancer savaged in Tip Tap Baby (“I took
with any other music
Kasse Mady Diabate’s
all the flak and still I didn’t crack/ even
New York-based
washed the shirt that clothed your back”). title is only 28%.
brother (Banning
The sentiments may be heartfelt – and their
Eyre describes him as the best African singer
version of Jim Malcolm’s despairing ecology
operating in the US). Abdoulaye has a similar
anthem Neptune is haunting enough – but
They are heavily
vocal style to his brother but with a marginal-
there’s a brightness about them that gives this
ly rougher edge and thinner tone, leaving
record an optimistic, summery feel.
him slightly lower on the goose-pimple-rais- The backbone, as ever is the flowing Essle-
influenced in their
ing scale. But we’re talking very high stan- mont fiddle – dipping in and out of her classi-
dards here, and when he really lets go, the cal pedigree without a trace of self-conscious- purchases by fRoots,
results are similarly clear and true. His vocals ness or contrivance – and Waterford’s Cormac
are framed by a deft arrangement of acoustic Byrne, he of the flying bodhran, who gave up
and most keep their
instrumentation (balafon, kora, ringing his place in the glory-glory march of the Seth
acoustic guitars and percussion) played by the Lakeman band to commit to the Uiscedwr
group of Americans and ex-pat Canadians renaissance. With them here is James Hickman,
back issues.
and West Africans that also comprise much of a subtle dextrous guitarist in the role previous-
Fula Flute (whose Mansa America was ly occupied by Kevin Dempsey. Hickman lends
reviewed in fR311). And he’s aided – and a subtle under-carpet to the more exuberant
To uniquely target the most
tune play of his colleagues while showing
dedicated folk, roots and world
Uiscedwr
some particularly nimble fingerwork and an
appealing taste for bluegrass on the rousing
music CD buyers, call our
tune Germs. The genius move, though, was to
induct the inestimable Karen Tweed on
advertising manager Gina
accordeon, her presence giving the whole
sound an extra dimension and providing an Jennings on 020 8340 9651 or
adroit foil for the Esslemont fiddle. Tweed’s
tune The Unstep – from her days with the email ads@frootsmag.com
Kathryn Tickell Band – really flies as it launches
the rest of the band into the Crucked Reels set.
That said, one of the best tracks is E.S.P,
This space should be yours!
which strips the sound right down as the oth-
ers temporarily vacate the premises to allow
Esslemont and Byrne to show their virtuosity –
bizarrely recording as a duo for the first time
in their seven years together – and creating
enough sparks to prove that if all else fails, the
pair of them are an enthralling partnership.
Oh, and if you’re still wondering how to
pronounce their name, the album title should
help (the F and T are crossed through…).
f
www.uiscedwr.com; via Proper.
Colin Irwin
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