Africa music reviews

This is a record with a pedigree. Jalamadi Tounkara's guitar fronts Mali's Rail Band (the group that served as the training ground for Salif Keita and Mory Kante in the late '70s and early '80s); Lafia Diabate replaced Kante as lead singer in the Rail Band as well. Bouba Sacko is an in-demand studio guitarist whose name appears on dozens of recordings by artists like Tata Bambo Kouyate and Ami Koita. They came together for one album and a tour, and this is the one precious memory you'll have of their collaboration. The guitar interplay is subtle, sinuous, and gorgeous. The voices swirl around it carefully and beautifully. Bajourou means "big string," referring both to the instruments but also to an underlying continuity of culture that the artists have woven together. --Louis Gibson

This is a record with a pedigree. Jalamadi Tounkara's guitar fronts Mali's Rail Band (the group that served as the training ground for Salif Keita and Mory Kante in the late '70s and early '80s); Lafia Diabate replaced Kante as lead singer in the Rail Band as well. Bouba Sacko is an in-demand studio guitarist whose name appears on dozens of recordings by artists like Tata Bambo Kouyate and Ami Koita. They came together for one album and a tour, and this is the one precious memory you'll have of their collaboration. The guitar interplay is subtle, sinuous, and gorgeous. The voices swirl around it carefully and beautifully. Bajourou means "big string," referring both to the instruments but also to an underlying continuity of culture that the artists have woven together. --Louis Gibson

He's never been a "Cheb" and he's never achieved the worldwide popularity of Khaled and Mami, but he is known as "le père du rai" and he is certainly one of the key innovators of the Algerian folk-pop style that became such a worldwide hit in the early 1990s. Taking a familiar folk-music style, Messaoud brought it into town, added a trumpet (unheard of), and tacked it to the now familiar combination of guitar, percussion, and cheesy electric keyboard to create North Africa's version of punk music. While others have continued to stretch the music into more and more European pop directions, Messaoud carries on the sound he created. These recordings, made in 1993 at SFB Radio in Berlin, show him at his best, with a stronger Andalusian sound than most rai, an emphasis on the acoustic percussion. Choppy electric guitar and a synthesizer right out of the early '80s complete the sound. Most popular rai artists concentrate on songs about sex, drugs, and defiance of social norms. These songs, however, are entirely about formal, usually unrequited, love, a throwback to the Arabic poetic tradition. Ouard Houari, a longtime Messaoud compatriot, offers understated, soulful vocals that fit the restrained passion of the music. --Louis Gibson