Mandali
Stern's Africa, 2000
When Africando began in 1993, the idea was to revive the careers of veteran African salsa singers using top-flight Cuban and Puerto Rican musicians in New York. Four albums later, the group stands as one of the most vital acts in the African salsa craze it helped to launch. Guest singers on the newest session include Malian superstar Salif Keita, Congolese vocalists Kofi Olomide and Lokua Kanza, and Senegal's vastly underrated Thione Seck. Africando veterans Medoune Diallo (Senegal), Sekouba Bambino (Guinea), Gnonas Pedro (Togo), and Ronnie Baro (Cuba/U.S.) also contribute here. Boncana Maiga's punchy, playful arranging and the band's flawless execution make the music brisk and powerful throughout, although the persistent up-tempo son feel becomes a bit relentless. It's the vocal performances that distinguish each track with vivid idiosyncrasies. Kanza morphs cheery Afropop into transcendent Afro-Cuban music. Olomide purrs in the manor of classic Congo rumba. Keita retrofits a number he first sang with his 1970's band Les Ambassadeurs. More successfully, Bambino and Seck marry the passion of West African griot singing with the crank of Afro-Cuban dance music. Seck's track, "Sey," is as good as any Africando effort to date. In all, a fine realization of a winning formula. Banning Eyre
Contributed by: Banning Eyre
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