Biyedi

With a griot ancestry and over 30 years of records to his name, Kerfala Kanté deserves his high regard in Guinean music. He was a member of Balla et ses Balladins, a state owned orchestra who, by using traditional African instruments and melodies, were integral in detaching newly independent Guinea from its French colonial past. After president Sékou Touré’s sudden death – a dismembering event for such orchestras – Kanté enjoyed success as a solo singer. Biyedi sees collaborations with Western musicians for the first time in his career, with Kanté choosing Paris as a suitably multicultural city in which to cast his net.

The opening ‘Ninkéiyédi’ sets a relaxed pace. Subtle drum taps intertwine with rolling guitar rhythms, while Kanté’s voice is doubled in warmth thanks to a clever multi-track effect. This is, however, Kanté showing off the sounds of Guinea; his cultural fusion debut proper is heard on track two, ‘Yéyéni’. A good rule with fusion is to pick sounds that have coincidentally wandered along similar evolutionary paths. A blast from an Irish uilleann bagpipe, for example, is not something one could imagine being easily incorporated into the style outlined by ‘Ninkéiyédi’; it sounds out of place and the same can be said for the harmonica contributions on other tracks. Parts of Biyedi manage to escape such interruptions, but these moments only hint at what a good album Kanté could have made if he had avoided fusion altogether.