Absolutely beautiful music. He records with an ensemble called Toumani Diabate's Symmetric Orchestra which consists of 50 or mucians(traditional instruments, electric instruments, strings, etc) and the sound is breath-taking. Check out the album Boulevard De L'Independeance.

Not sure what the name of this song is, or what album its from, but I like it.

Enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/wa...re=related

wow. maybe I should include a Jackson reference in the title.

The only work I'm aware of by him was on Bjork's last album. Maybe I should explore further.

GangstaFam said:

http://www.myspace.com/toumanidiabate

I forgot that he is on Volta. I got turned onto him via internet radio. I bought the album and all the songs were so good that I forgot which one I had bought it for:lol:

listen to tapha niang on the myspace link.
[Edited 3/4/08 13:08pm]

thanks for the suggestion, i'm diggin' this.

i threw him on my player and right away i was reminded of Youssou N' Dour's Immigres.

now that spring is here, i need to dig up some of my sonic sunshine and find catch up on the african sounds i've been missing over the years.

Just caught Toumani with his Symmetric Orchestra here in Seattle....They were wonderful!

jackmitz said:

Did he have the string section with them?

magnificentsynthesizer said:

No problem I've Been meaning to check out Youssou N' Dour. I always read positive reviews of his albums, but Ive yet to pick one up. He's got such a large catalogue tat its difficult to know where to start.

unkemptpueblo said:

Start with Immigres.

unkemptpueblo said:

I've got N'dour's album 'Egypt', on which he sings self-penned Islamic devotional songs with an Egyptian 'Arab classical' orchestra. Beautiful stuff, though not typical of N'dour's stuff.

I like what I've heard of Diabate, but I'm more into the late, great Malian guitarist Ali Farka Toure, who played a music with strong blues overtones, but eerily coming out of his own Malian traditions. At times, Toure sounds like John Lee Hooker's long lost Malian cousin; which, in way, he was .

Some of the best, most 'fresh' music to my ears over the last 20 years or so has been coming out of Africa, mainly the west of the continent.

While there are definite connections between some African music and old time American blues and jazz, a lot of the modern African stuff certainly beats the hell out of most of what passes for 'jazz' and 'blues' coming out of America over the same period .

Miles said:

<-----Huge fan of Ali Farka Toure.

I was actually blessed to see him perform live and interact with him at a workshop before he passed.

I've been into him for a while...I have this CD:



Definitely worth a listen and an interesting story behind how it was made.

Miles said:

I've picked up quite a few compilations that support what you just said. Its unreal. Tons of psychedelic rock mixed with funk, jazz, traditional rythms..Theres this comp. called World Psychedelic Classics 3 that has tunes from the 70's, but the music sounds so fresh! You can hear Jimi, James and Miles all in the mix, so the American influence is obvious, but its like the music found its way back home and is a bit funkier because of it.

magnificentsynthesizer said:

Looking on Amazon for samples now.

cubic61052 said:

It's been this and New Amerykah non-stop for a few days, now. Is the background story in the huge booklet that came with the cd? Havent had time to read it yet. Its like the booklet that comes with The Best Best of Fela. requires a real time commitment

unkemptpueblo said:

You must get with the program. I've been a longtime fan of his.He takes Music L'Afrique, Jazz & Rock to the next level. He's musician's musician.

Miles said:

Do yourselves a favor and pick up 'Joko-The Link' by Youssou N'Dour (especially the import vinyl, if you can find it). It's a LOVELY album. Immegres is also fantastic!

Matter of fact, try to download most of his catalogue starting w/Eyes Open. You won't be disappointed.

unkemptpueblo said:

It is beautiful music. You should check out Jacques Schwarz-Bart. He is a french jazz saxophonist who also does african music well. He is excellent!

And, since we're talking Africa music...I CAN'T forget to mention Super Rail Band from Mali Their guitarist, Djelimady Tounkara is one of my favorite players in the world. Baaba Maal, also from west Africa, is fun as well. Boubacar Traore is an AMAZING African bluesman. King Sunny Ade played some wicked JuJu music. And my love for Fela Kuti, from Nigeria, is STRONG. I could go on and on....

And,to show what a World music geek I am...I went to see a group of Tuvan throat singers the other night (Huun Huur Tur). If you don't know anything about throat singing, check it out...it's fascinating.
[Edited 3/5/08 18:49pm]

Speaking of Fela Kuti, you also should check out his son Femi Kuti. Check this CD out.



Also check out CD/albums by Angelique Kidgo. She is also one of my favorites. Like Youssou, I have been raving about her as well on the Org over the years. This is her very first release on Island and great place to start.

unkemptpueblo said:

Yes, but I always find liner notes worthwhile on any intelligent CDs/music....make sure you read it and let me know your thoughts once finished.

I happened to like Funsho Ogundipe and his group Ayetoro. Brillant!

cubic61052 said:

I will defintely check it out. Thank You!

unkemptpueblo said:

Sounds interesting and worth checking out.

I forgot to mention one of my other favourate West African bands, Tinawaren, the Tuareg nomad group from northern Mali. They're a pretty funky band of desert revolutionaries, with connections to Algeria, Libya and Niger as well as Mali.

Like some of Ali Farka Toure's guitar playing (when he played in 'Tuareg mode'), their sound, especially in the guitars, is eerily redolent of John Lee Hooker; I know his records and those of other black American artists from Hendrix to JB were known out there, so there may be some US influence on them but, as Toure once said, while John Lee was as American an artist as you can get, with no direct connections with Africa in his lifetime, his guitar playing sounded Tuareg; John Lee must have been tapping into some heavy ancient voodoo, .

In point of fact, John always said he got his whole unique style (including his trademark 'boogie') from his stepfather Will Moore, who hailed from Shreveport, Louisiana (tragically for posterity, Moore never recorded, though he reportedly knew and played alongside Mississipi blues gods like Charlie Patton, Son House etc), which is nearer the sea than Mississipi...

But I digress; the Hooker is my alltime favourate bluesman and music artists. I feel a thread coming on .

MsLegs said:

I loves me some Fela - I like Bob Marley and his 'revolutionary' lyrics, but Fela's raps make Bob look like a wishy washy liberal . 'Zombie' .

I love the story Bootsy Collins tells about when he went to Lagos, Nigeria with the James Brown Band. The similarities between James and Fela's musics, and the 'issue' of how much Fela borrowed from James and vice versa, not to mention their personalities, both being, shall we say, explosive at times ... So, the vibes when the two funk masters met were pretty ...

Also much respect to the great Tony Allen, Fela's longtime drummer, who's done some good solo albums in recent years.

And Femi's album 'Fight to Win' is a good modern Afrobeat record, with some impassioned singing and lyrics from Kuti Jr on there - the legacy goes on.

Miles said: