AfroCubism

Fourteen years after the improvised sessions that begat Buena Vista Social Club, World Circuit returns to its original vision: an album celebrating the shared rhythms of the Caribbean and West Africa. And so the Santiago de Cuba trovadore Eliades Ochoa and his band, Cuarteto Patria, found themselves in a Madrid studio with five of the foremost griots in Mali: Toumani Diabaté on kora (harp-lute), singer Kassé Mady Diabaté, Fodé Lassana Diabaté on balafon (xylophone), ngoni (lute) maestro Bassekou Diabaté and guitarist Djelimady Tounkara. The latter pair's visa problems scuppered the originally scheduled recordings back in 1996. In places – ‘A La Luna Yo Me Voy’, for example – this verges on becoming a ‘Buena Vista II’, a Cuban album played on African instruments, but this acknowledgement of parentage is also reflected in ‘Djelimady Rumba’, where the intro is reminiscent of the flamenco flourish opening ‘Sute Monebo’ from Songhai 2.

This is no dry transatlantic ethnomusicology thesis, however: liberated by the anonymity offered by the project title, the virtuosos flaunt their talents, taking turns to fire off dazzling solos over thick layers of rhythm and driving each other ever onward to impressive effect. Four instrumentals (the opening ‘Mali Cuba’, a hypnotic ‘Guantanamera’ at the end, and the contrasting ‘Eliades Tumbao’ and ‘Dakan’ in the middle) reiterate the fact that these are musicians at play, enjoying themselves and experimenting. Fourteen years is a long time in the music business, but some things just shouldn't be rushed.