It’s fair
to say I’d never heard of Bassekou Kouyate before listening to this album, and,
sometimes that can be a huge advantage.
No preconceptions as to how it should sound, no thoughts of it not being
as good as previous releases, just a purely honest and independent view. What I have found with Jama ko is a
collection of songs that left me very very impressed.
From the
Press Release information, he sounds a pretty sought after chap. Nominated for a Grammy with his last album, I
Speak Fula, which called for peace in his homeland of Mali, he’s recently
played with Damon Albarn, John Paul Jones and Paul McCartney.
For those
who don’t know (I do now), a ngoni is a large lute. Bassekou was taught to play it by his father,
Moustapha who himself was an accomplished musician though he never made any
recordings, believing that God would punish him if recordings were played after
his death. His mother, Yakare, was a
necessity at weddings in the Segu area – a well-known singer, ceremonies were
known to be cancelled if she wasn’t available to sing at them! She too was not allowed to record. The musical legacy continues in the Kouyate
family with all seven of Bassekou’s brothers and sisters being musicians,
Bassekou himself shocked his father when he displayed a talent for playing
tunes on the ngoni within minutes picking the instrument up. The guy clearly has a gift like no other,
and, listening to the album only endorses that.
You know
when you have a diverse album when the album could almost be a compilation, the
styles are so different – ‘traditional’ African, gospel, blues, even 60s
psychedelia influences.
Opener and
title track, Jama Ko (which means ‘big gathering of people’), gives us an
instant taste of what a ngoni passed through a wah pedal and cranked up amp
sounds like. Almost Spanish in influence
to begin with and moving into a delightful Summery Eastern feel with a great hook
in the chorus. A delightful tune. Sinaly continues in a similar vein, really
getting you into the feel and sound of the ngoni very early on. The vocals of lead singer Amy Sacko are
stunning throughout the album.
Dankou has
a male vocal courtesy of Zoumana Tereta, an almost freestyle, intuitive feel, and
dare I say, in a Hendrix style. Superb
work from Kouyate leading the other three ngoni players on the album. There’s an incredibly frenetic percussion
steaming away throughout Ne Me Fatigue Pas which only endorses the English
translation – Don’t wear me out. Again,
some stunning string work on several solo’s over a sometimes skiffle esque
beat. Amazing stuff.
Guest
singer on Kele Magni, Khaira Arby has a quite fantastic voice in her stirring
call for peace. That is all.
One of the
many highlights of the album comes in the form of the John Lee Hooker tinged,
Mali Koori (Cotton Song). A superb slab
of authentic blues with a Malian slant.
Again with the vocals of Tereta, this track is seemingly faultless. The melody will simply not leave you.
Jama Ko was
recorded in the capital of Mali, Bamako, with the inclusion of Bassekou’s Sons
Madou and Moustafa. It’s a call for
peace and unity and tolerance through crisis and the emotion of the album is
strongly felt on Wagadou. A quite
untouchable vocal which sends shivers down every inch of your spine. Haunting and powerful over a very sparse
backing allows the track to soar.
After a
short stay on your imaginary beach basking in the sun and taking in the easy
listening of Segu Jajiri comes a song in both French and English and featuring
the guest vocals of Taj Mahal together with Kouyate. A touch of Howlin’ Wolf thrown in for
exceedingly good measure on another bluesy track.
And all too
soon it’s over. You almost instinctively
know that Moustafa (sung by Moustafa) is a touching song. It just sounds sumptuous and is a tribute to
his parents for the life they have given him.
Time to hit the replay button on your cd player.
This is a wonderous album of quite brilliant
quality. If you’re becoming bored with
your usual fix of music, then I strongly recommend you listen to this. An early contender for inclusion in any Best
of 2013 listings.
Published on Louder Than War 27/01/13 - http://louderthanwar.com/bassekou-kouyate-and-ngoni-ba-jama-ko-album-review/
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