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  Various Artists: Chief Boima Presents: Lone Stars - Hipco and Gbema
  
  
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  Mamadou Diabaté: Courage
  
  Mamadou Diabate, the kora master, takes a fresh look at Mali instrumental music with his new CD Courage.
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  Various Artists: The Kankobela of the Batonga, Vol. 2
  
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  Sona Jobarteh: FASIYA
  
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• 
  Guelewar: Halleli N Dakarou
  
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• 
  Tinariwen: Tassili
  
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  Los Rakas: Chancletas y Camisetas Bordada
  
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  Cheikh Lo: Jamm
  
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  David Rudder: Random Notes
  
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All Reviews >>

Mamadou Diabaté’s new album Courage is refreshing, offering relaxed instrumentals which surprise you though their innovative rhythms and variety from track to track. Recorded in Bamako, Mali for the World Village label, Mamadou is joined on the record by Abou Sissoko (ngoni), Lansana Fode Diabaté (balaphon), Adama Diarra (calabash/djembe) and American Noah Jarrett (bass). The release pleasantly blends grooves and more structured arrangements. The ensemble plays exceptionally cleanly, staying locked into the time even through the many syncopated passages and varying time signatures.

The opening track, “Yaka Yaka,” sets the toneas Diabaté makes runs up and down the korawhile the rest of the ensemble maintains a slow beat. The mixing of fast and slow feels, and the tension this creates, is a key feature of the album.Another song,“Diayeh Bana,” begins like many othertracks with a virtuoso cadenza from Mamadou. He seamlessly transitions into a funky vamp with the bass. A simple staccato melody in the balaphon leads into Mamadou’s solo, followed by Lansana Fode Diabaté on balaphon, and then Sissoko on ngoni. All of the solos exhibit bebop-inspired runs and repetitions of choice licks.

“Dafina” takes a more simplified, mellow, folksong approach. Unlike the rest of the album, it opens with the ngoni by itself, improvising and then outlining a melody. The band comes in together with soft chords. The strength of this and other songs lies in the excellent blending between the minimalist bass lines, percussive balaphon style, and chords from the kora, which all serve to anchor the songs underneath the improvisational flourishes. The band is able to come together instantly, play a melody in unison, and then settle back into their respective roles. At times, the solos here and elsewhere perhaps too frequently fall back on fast runs which make no clear melodic statement apart from adding nice coloring. However, as a whole, the album offers intriguing variety in composition and improvisation alongside a tight rhythmic backbone.