Mali music reviews

These guys are freakin' awesome. This album has a great energy to it, with heartfelt vocals and lovely rhythms. Buy this album, and then go to see them in concert. I don't know how they managed to do it, but they are even better live than they are on here!

This is one of the most incredible albums in my possession. I listen to it from beginning to end, and you know how difficult that can be these days. I recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone who loves music.

I first heard Amadou and Mariam on "Memphis to Mali." The music on this "best of" album is simply beautiful and reflects the range of their creativity.

A gently entrancing dance of two beautifully focused and masterful artists, from its first chords In The Heart of the Moon is irresistible. Modest, never showy, these two deservedly celebrated musicians engage in a hypnotically rhythmic interplay of two distinct but highly compatible instrumental voices. Fans of the hit album Talking Timbuktu, with the late Ali Farke Touré and Ry Cooder, may be hoping for stronger blues riffs, and could be prone at first to mild disappointment with this subtler pairing. One needs to give the deceptively simple repetitive patterns time to build, weave their spell, and enthrall you with a trance effect that is at the heart of traditional African music.

I imagine these two fine string players sitting out under a tree in a village square on a hot afternoon, playing... just playing, and listening intently to one another with a kind of reverent joy. Occasionally I hear an exclamation from one in Malian dialect or a few phrases sung, spontaneous moments that are the more precious for their rarity. A smattering of applause at the end of one number reflects the intimacy and immediacy of audience.

The album was actually recorded in a hotel room in the heart of Mali's capital city, Bamako, overlooking a river dotted with fishing boats. In three two-hour sessions the album was complete, every song recorded in a single take. Remarkably, this is the first time Farke Touré and Diabaté have played together. Yet Farke Touré's guitar and Diabaté's twelve-string traditional kora come together in a union meant to be, as if they'd always known one another. One will hold down a bass line, and with a nod let the other take off on an improvised solo. Then at a mutually intuited moment, the other will take over the sinuous lead line. Nick Gold, the American record producer who initiated the project, said that at the end of each song he realized he'd been holding his breath through the recording - the music was so hypnotizing.

Clearly Farke Touré and Diabaté have profound respect for one another. In the touchingly poetic album notes, Farke Touré reveals that they are from different tribes and different musical traditions in Mali. And while customarily it's rare for two players to perform together in this way, they did so with no borders, no competition, bringing to life a repertoire of songs from the 1950s and '60s with no rehearsal. Diabaté calls Farke Touré the "lion of the desert," the "prophet of the blues," and marvels that he could so effortlessly flow into music not of his own tradition. He says he first heard Farke Touré on Radio Mali when he was a child, and felt his music was strange, but great. For his part, Farke Touré calls Diabaté "a child who was born in my hands." Such is the magic of their music. Perhaps that birthplace was in the heart of the moon.

I don't speak any of the languages on this CD.....but the music speaks to all races and people in its sheer beauty....sounds corny....but its true....I LOVE this CD. One of the final master works from Ali.........check out the new release Savana (and see my review!)

This album is full of some of the most gorgeous music you'll hear. It has an incredibly natural sound- beautifully recorded. I played it at a dinner party recently and 3 people asked me about what was playing and then bought the CD.