Africa Yontii

This is the second instrumental album for Sahel Sounds by the Senegalese guitarist from Baaba Maal’s home town of Podor and it’s a significant advance on 2020’s Siftorde. That record was recorded at Tidiane’s home with a single microphone and the crickets chirping in the background, but this studio set has a much more produced feel, with hip-hop beat maker Ndiaye Moctar providing layers of electronic sound on several tracks. The title translates as ‘Africa, It’s Time’ in Pulaar and although one well-known rock journalist has likened Tidiane to Ali Farka Touré, in truth, his style and the tradition on which he draws are quite different from the late, great Malian’s sound and have more in common with Baaba Maal’s long time friend, the guitarist Mansour Seck. Indeed, the playing on several tracks such as ‘Nanka’ and ‘Too’ reminds one of the acoustic folk guitar album Djam Leelii which Maal and Seck made together in the 1980s. Weaving traditional and original melodies together, this is guitar playing at its most elegant and stately with plenty of surprises, such as ‘Yangue’ on which there’s a felicitous echo of Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead.