Mali music reviews

I am not really quite sure of what you want me to do. However looking at the titles, i think this is a true Malawian song and many Malawians, like me, and those who like to listen to traditional music played using local instruments will fall in love with this album

I don't know why this CD is not better known. It has wonderful gutsy vocals and the acoustic band is a powerhouse. It's both energizing and soothing at the same time. For one of the best examples of the "new" traditionalism in Malian music, you can't do better than this!

If you like Senegal's Baaba Maal's acoustic outings, then you will love this CD. The Guinean Kante Manfila is one of the lesser known giants of African music. Few can play guitar with as much tenderness, sweetness and passion. His vocals are equally charming and moving. The music gently rocks and the whole recording has the sound of overhearing some really talented friends jamming on your front porch. A wonderful performance by a superbly gifted artist. GET IT!

Neba Solo's brand of music is nothing like typical Afropop, and scarcely resembles music of his Malian compatriots like Salif Keita, Habib Koite or Oumou Sangare. His band uses no electrified instruments, no special effects, no horn sections, no background vocals. Everything is played with two instruments called balafons (a traditional African xylophone) and three to four percussion instruments (gourd drums, scrapers, etc).

If this all sounds very old-fashioned and "traditional," think again. Solo (his real name is Souleymane Traore) has modernized the balafon-playing style that his Senoufo people have carried on for generations, making it more driving and melodic. And the balafon, usually relegated to playing accompaniment in typical African pop songs, comes into its own as an amazing solo instrument.

Neba Solo sings beautifully too, and has a knack for combining catchy refrains with rhythms that are 100 percent danceable. This isn't a departure from tradition: Senoufo balafon playing is generally meant to accompany dancing, and Solo's music is no exception. His songs are lengthy, some of them upwards of 10 minutes, and this allows the musicians to sustain trance-like grooves for several minutes. Listen for the moments toward the end of songs like "Cinporoko Nonougoro" when the drums kick into high gear, the tempo picks up and the song goes into overdrive. This is dance music at its finest.

It's too bad, though, that European techno DJs haven't been able to harness the energy of Neba Solo's music. Frederic Galliano has tried (on both of his "frikyiwa" collections) to remix two of the songs featured on "Kene Balafons," but he wound up just getting in the way with his ambient noises and filter sweeps. If you want the full intensity of the new wave of Malian balafon music, go to the source--Neba Solo in his unadorned glory.

Although Nimbus's Ivogun cd has far better sound,there are some rare and precious items on this disc that any lover of coloratura singing cannot afford to be without. The "Caro Nome" for instance,which Mme. Ivogun sings in german,is firmly,yet delicately executed,the tone brilliant and sweet,the fioriture lacy and flawless. It is meditatively treated. In an entirely different vein,Mme. Ivogun conveys well the rage and fury of the Queen of the Night,the smallness of her voice notwithstanding. She soars to the high F's in "Der Holle Rache" and in "O Zittre Niche displays a regal authority in the largo section and a virtuoso's technical assurance in the allegro. Ivogun's solos from Mozart's Seraglio are also a standout,with authority of manner compensating for any lack of weight. Ivogun's runs and roulades are perfectly even,and she tosses them at the listener with defiance and authority. This is a brilliant disc,a souvenir of another age,when singers could really sing. It is also interesting to note that Mme. Ivogun was the teacher of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. BUY THIS!

This unique CD is a rich collection of 19 famous arias and duets sung by Giacomo Lauri-Volpi, the most loved and envied tenor in Italy and abroad in the period 1920-1960. Preiser expertly transferred studio 78s in 1996. The booklet carries salient biographical notes and a listing of all the arias without being exhaustive.

The arias and duets were recorded over a span of 10 years, mostly during the World War II period. Surprisingly, Lauri-Volpi was still acclaimed in Europe in the late forties, 30 years after a spectacular debut with Puritani and Rigoletto in 1919.

Irrespective of time, between 1919 and 1948, the "solitary voice" (as he called it) preserved the limpidity, spontaneity, brilliance and heroic top notes, which made him famous. He sang opera by talking musically, with exact and precise tones as intended by composers. He stunned the world over with inflamed phrasing, ample and vibrant, adorned with feline bursts and celebrated squilli! Listen to his unmatched "...all'armi" from the great aria of Trovatore and "Nessun dorma" from Turandot.

This unique CD, a vivid evidence of his vocal qualities, also shows attentive and supreme characterization on the stage. I almost melted away listening to "E lucevan le stelle" (Tosca), "Non piangere Liu" (Turandot) and "Ch'ella mi creda" (Fanciulla), sung with a mixture of soft, muffled voice and thrilling top notes, conveying the Puccinian characters' emotions. His dramatic portrait of the moor in the suicide scene "Niun mi tema" at the very end of "Otello" is of Shakespearean stature! .

This artist's songs take me on mental journeys. Solo instrumental explorations and no loud wailing vocals. I know Toumani is more popular but this man just does it for me better. Great company if you have to be alone at night.

if this doesn't shut up damon's critics once and for all, nothing will. this is a wonderfully thought out labour of love, the best thing albarn's ever done for what it is. an effective hybrid of western(dub, brian enoishness) and real authentic african music wherein you can hear and smell the summer air sifting through these tracks. on top of the thick bass and other layers of sound damon sprinkles on the songs, he humms existentially within making for the most soulful, transcendental outcome that reveals the depth of which damon has been slowly been working to attain. this album is seamless and perfect; it couldn't be at all otherwise. gorillaz is nothing in comparison...

Malian music is some of the best music you will run across in Africa. The enchanting sounds of the kora takes you back to the once great empire of Mali. The empire beside egypt was one of the richest empires in Africa. Jelis or griots as the western world knows them still tell the tales of the great sunjata to mansa musa. The cd ecompasses on a mgacial journey and on empires that once were and still live in the imnds and hearts of the fabric of time. I recommend anybody interested into learning about Mali and the mende people pick up this cd.

This album is a superb example of the presitigious skills of one of Mali's numerous griots. Bassi Kouyate stands out among his contemporaries for he not only sings with a wonderful sweet baritone but plays with great virtuosity the tamani (talking drum) and feli n'goni (traditional four-string lute, as well as an instrument I've never heard a griot play before --the 12-string guitar. Bassi makes the 12-string sound like a kora as he plays Sunjata Faasa, and his skills on the 6-string are something to be reckoned with as well. If you want to hear outstanding music in the Mande tradition, this is a must-have CD.