The Young Man's Harp

Born in Mali in 1974, Noumoussa Soumaoro – aka Vieux Kanteé – began playing the six-string hunter's harp known as the kamalengoni when he was 11. Left behind at home due to his blindness while his brothers went to work in the fields, he swiftly became a virtuoso on the instrument and, by the time he reached adulthood, his fame had spread throughout the villages of the Wassoulou region that extends across southern Mali, northern Guinea and parts of the Ivory Coast. In addition to being one hot player, he was a significant innovator too, developing the instrument so that his eventually boasted 12 strings. These seven tracks were recorded for what was intended to be his debut album, but his death from a sudden illness in 2005 meant that it was never released. Its belated appearance now reveals a major talent that ought to have made him a star.

With his dazzling cascades of rhythmic notes and percussive riffing to the fore – heard to best effect on the instrumental showcase ‘Sans Commentaire’ – it's a stylistically diverse set on which he shares vocals with the urgent griot praise voice of Kabadjan Diakité. Whether swinging seductively or thundering with an unstoppable funk, it's remarkable stuff and comes beautifully packaged with insightful liner notes by Banning Eyre, who met Vieux shortly before his untimely death.