Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)The magic of this cd is that it contains Ali's most "traditional African" music. As he says in the liner notes to his cd, NIAFUNKE, for a while his music became Westernized, basically Afro-Pop. Luckily for us, NIAFUNKE and RADIO MALI do not suffer from the Afro-Pop affliction.
This cd is entirely acoustic, as opposed to NIAFUNKE which has him on both acoustic and electric guitars. I want to clear one thing up from the Amazon.com review. The "violin" that is mentioned is the African njarka violin. The njarka is a one-string instrument that is about 9 or 10 inches long. I just don't want anyone thinking of the Western violin. Technically, the njarka is a rather crude instrument but it releases a glorious sound, as if the earth herself is singing. If you ever see Ali in concert (and you really should see him in concert!) you will hear the full emotional power of the njarka in the hands of a master.
Ali is the original musician who translated traditional Malian music to the guitar and then later melded this together with a touch of the blues. He is in great form on this cd. Just by listening you won't know what he is singing about (since he sings in his traditional languages) but this may actually be an advantage. You won't get caught up in analyzing lyrics or stories, you will simply feel him translating his emotions into music.
If you are completely unfamiliar with Ali's music (or any African music at all) then I suggest that NIAFUNKE may be a better choice. It has a bit more of the blues influence than this cd does, and for that reason alone I think it may possibly be a smoother transition into his music for people who are unfamiliar with him. In all honesty though, I'd recommend purchasing both cd's. They show different sides of the same man, are seperated by 2 decades, and both display the full passion and depth of the Malian musical tradition. Ali is an incredible songwriter on both cd's, you don't even need to know specifically what he is singing about to be completely moved by the manner in which he performs his songs.
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One of the most internationally successful West African musicians of the last decade, guitarist and singer Ali Farka Toure was approaching the age of 50 when his self-titled album came to the attention of the world music audience in the late '80s. Since then, he's toured in North America and Europe and recorded with artists such as Taj Mahal and members of the Chieftains. But it was his Grammy-winning 1994 collaboration with Ry Cooder, "Talking Timbuktu," that won him on a larger scale. Inspired by African rhythmic and musical traditions extending back for generations, this album features materials originally recorded for broadcast on Radio Mali from 1970-78, and loaned by the station's archive. It was these tapes that introduced Toure's unique guitar style to the attention of his countrymen. Once available in France on vinyl, these were among the very first commercial records of Malian music. Available briefly as an import CD, this treasurable collection comes to the U.S. at last with major distribution, and arrives as his latest release on Ryko hits the #1 spot on the CMJ world chart.
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