Super Rail Band, "Kongo-Sigui"

In the rough and tumble of African music, this legendary electric dance band has seen its ups and downs since it began in 1970 in Bamako, Mali, with now-superstar Salif Keita as lead singer. Against heavy odds, the Rail Band rolls on, with nine, shimmering tracks as polished and energetic as any it has recorded. The current band is slightly paired down from the lineup that last went into the studio over seven years ago. The horn section is gone leaving the focus squarely on the band's high-flown vocals--now both male and female--bubbling percussion, and dense arranging for two guitars and bass.

Central to everything is the staggering guitar artistry of the band's most longstanding member, Djelimady Tounkara. Track after track, Tounkara's blistering, crystalline lines merge a kind of manic precision with a floating, relaxed quality that has led many to dub him the greatest of all African axe men. Support for that claim is everywhere here from the racing condemnation of the pirate trade in music ("Pirates") to a brooding exploration of Mali's mystical pre-history ("Kongo Sigui") to an R&B inspired celebration of destiny ("Dakan"). There's even a tasty acoustic number, featuring guest kora player Ballaké Sissoko. Tounkara is clearly the star, but today's Rail Band has no weak links. It remains one of the most powerful and smooth-running dance music engines anywhere.

Contributed by: Banning Eyre
Originally published in: Boston Phoenix