Mali Denhou

With both Ali Farka Touré and Lobi Traoré gone, Boubacar Traore must now be Mali’s pre-eminent bluesman. Approaching 70, his latest excursion into Mande blues is a superbly atmospheric set: his funky, acoustic guitar-picking backed by Madieye Niang on calabash percussion and some quite magnificently intense blues harmonica from Vincent Bucher who played on Boubacar’s last album, Kongo Magni. The Frenchman here plays on all but one of the dozen tracks – he’s not so much an accompanist as a duetting partner: the moodily wailing, chromatic tones of his harmonica echoing Boubacar’s deep and soulful voice in traditional call-and-response style. The insistent blues pulse of tracks such as ‘M’Badehou,’ the title-track and ‘Djougouya Niagnini’ is as deep and dark and desolate as anything that ever came out of the Mississippi Delta. But although the blues is the dominant strain, it’s not the only string to Boubacar’s muse. The ‘live’ recordings by the trio of Boubacar, Bucher and Niang are augmented on several tracks by the ngoni of Mahamadou Kamissoko and Fassery Diabaté on balafon. They are particularly effective on the delightful Mande folk tune ‘Dundôbesse M'Bedouniato,’ while the traditional ‘Minuit’ finds Boubacar and Bucher temporarily setting the blues aside to duet in a more skipping, playful style.