A l’ Ombre du Grand Baobab

The Malian griot Mah Damba has lived in France for many years and her music reflects her cultural cosmo– politanism. Her latest album is not as urbane as the music of that other female Malian musician now resident in France, Rokia Traore. But there are similarities in places. The opener, ‘Joni Massa Dio’, is a lovely folk-pop tune underpinned by Jean-Jacques Avenal’s fluid double bass and, like Rokia’s work, seems to form a bridge between the Western singer-songwriter fare of, say, Tracy Chapman, and traditional Mande music. The closing track, ‘Amadu O Juma’, boasts a similar feel, but in between these Afro– pop bookends there’s a much earthier, traditional Mande griot sound.

Damba’s voice is hardly pretty. Rather it’s a wailing, keening sound with a harsh, at times almost piercing quality, that leaves you in no doubt that you’re in the presence not only of a famous griot but a full-on African diva. It’s a voice that commands attention and it is rightly pushed up high in the mix. Underneath her vocal pyrotechnics three ngonis (harp-lutes) weave a complex mesh of hypnotic African strings, supported by djembé and tama (talking drums). It’s a family affair, too, for her two daughters provide seductive backing vocals, her son Guimba Kouyaté accompanies her on guitar and the album is dedicated to her husband, the ngoni player Mamaye Kouyaté, who died in 2009.