Loundo (Un Jour)

Moh! (sic) Kouyaté was given his first guitar by his grandmother in the Guinean capital Conakry, where he grew up, while his father guided his first instrumental steps. But the gangly and elegant musician is a driven, self-taught artist who struck his own path between traditional chords and the funk, soul and blues he picked up in the melting pots of Conakry and Paris. For years, his guitar licks backed the vocals of Fatoumata Diawara and the ngoni (lute) magic of Ba Cissoko. Loundo is Moh!'s first solo foray and the accomplished guitar solos make these 16 tracks an easy listening experience.

Yet the result remains somewhat vacuous, with a sense of déjà entendu. The 38-year-old's messages in half-a-dozen languages are engaged and upbeat, describing life in exile, Guineans struggling for a better society, hoping that one day (Loundo) life will improve. Laudable as the messages are, the music brings little that is new or original. The album could have been released at the same time as Mory Kanté's historic 1987 track, ‘Yéké Yéké’. It leaves this listener frustrated. Songs such as ‘Iya Ti Ara’ and ‘Yarré’ manage to gel the variety of influences together but too little to leave any real mark.