African Anthology: African Guitars

The task of selecting songs for compilation albums of the Lusafrica label is probably not too difficult, due to the consistently high quality of their releases. This, combined with the intriguing diversity of their artistic roster, makes their African Anthology series an absolute joy. African Guitars follows a similar artist selection to African Voices, with just a few of their major acts being liberally sprinkled amongst other artists from different parts of the continent. From the West African axis of Mali and Guinea come four of Africa’s most esteemed guitar masters – Ali Farka Touré (here with Idrissa Soumaoro), Boubacar Traoré, Djelimady Tounkara, and Sekou Bembeya Diabaté. Whilst Tounkara and Diabaté are best known for their work with two of Africa’s most successful big bands (Mali’s Super Rail Band and Guinea’s Bembeya Jazz) the tracks on African Guitars come from their slightly more subdued but equally attractive solo projects from 2002 and 2004 respectively.

As with all Lusafrica releases there is a tremendous musicality on display and the examples here feature predominantly acoustic guitars. Diabaté’s track really zips along whilst Tounkara demonstrates some of his majestic flamenco-influenced chops. Throughout the selections here there is a balance between performances that either get the hips jauntily jiggling or gently swaying. Some added punch comes from South Africa’s Mahotella Queens, Madagascar’s Jaojoby and the revitalised Bonga. The Cape Verde contingent includes fine contributions from Tito Paris, Tcheka and Bau. And, as should be expected in any good compilation, there are some new discoveries – Cordas Do Sol, Solorazaf, and Jorge Humberto. Every one of the 16 tracks is a delight.