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Amazon.co.uk Review
Talking Timbuktu is a groundbreaking record that vividly illustrates the Africa-Blues connection in real time. Ali Farka Toure, one of Mali's leading singer-guitarists, has a trance-like, bluesy style that, although deeply rooted in Malian tradition, bears astonishing similarity to that of John Lee Hooker or even Canned Heat. It's a mono-chordal vamp, with repetitive song lines cut with shards of blistering solo runs that shimmer like a desert mirage. Toure may be conversant with some blues artists, but it is unlikely that artists like Hooker or Robert Pete Williams ever heard these Malian roots, which makes the connection so uncanny. Ry Cooder, well versed in domestic and world guitar styles, is the perfect counterpoint in these extended songs/jams, his sinewy slide guitar intertwining with his partner's in a super world summit without barriers or borders. --Derek Rath

Description
By the time your average listeners get around to the slow, elemental backbeat of "Ai Du", all of their preconceptions about chickens and eggs, roots and fruits or bluesmen and griots have been blurred and obscured by the enchanting music that makes up TALKING TIMBUKTU.
It's all in there: the droning traditional timbres of Mali in Ali Farka Toure's guitar; the deep, mysterious incantations of the Mississippi deltablues in Ry Cooder's slide work; the soulful backwoods moanof "Gatemouth" Brown's viola; the percolating rhythms of Hamma Sankare and Oumar Toure; and the earthy resonant dance of drummer Jim Keltner and bassist John Patitucci. "Ai Du" sums out to something not unlike the blues or West African music...but it's something else again--like some pan-ethnic folk music for the 21st century.
That's because TALKING TIMBUKTU is an epic cross-cultural super-session that captures the deepest spirit of music and transports it across ethnic and stylistic boundaries without demeaning the gift-giver or the gift. Ali Farka Toure's blissful melodic lines do not adhere to traditional blues form, but rather suggest a kind ofpre-blues music of African origins. On a tune such as "Soukora" Toure pours out his heart to his lover, as he and Cooder playfully circle each other with bell-like chords and ornaments that sound like a curtain of electric pearls, while Toure's more vivid attack on "Amandral" echoes phrases evocative of John Lee Hooker. In truth, TALKING TIMBUKTU resists easy description. It is exquisite, mysterious music.

7 Reviews 5 star:  (6) 4 star:    (0) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:  (1) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review (7 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   39 of 39 people found the following review helpful: Unbelievable "Feel Good" Bluesy Music of Mali - The Best, 26 Jul 2004 By  Erika Borsos "pepper flower" (West Coast of FL, USA) - See all my reviews       I have 6 or 7 CDs of music from Mali and find myself listening to this one most often. While I love them all --- the combination of musicians: Ali Farka Toure and Ry Cooder is unbeatable. Track #1 "Bonde" sung in Peul begins with a fantastic guitar introduction by Ali Farka Toure. Each note is drawn out just right to hook the emotions. The congas played by Oumar Toure provides an infectious rhythm. One male voice begins while a chorus responds in rhythmic unity, telling the story of why some women are unsuitable for marriage. Track #2 "Soukara" is sung in the Bambara language ... it has the sound and feeling of music from the Caribbean with a suitable ambient melody. The male vocalist pours his heart out to his lover at night, so say the liner notes. Another favorite track is #5 "Amandral" sung in the Temasheck language. The rhythms and sounds of this desert tribe is familiar. They are unforgetable on the CDs, "Festival in the Desert" and "Radio Tisdas Sessions", both of which are highly recommended. As each guitar note is plucked, the feelings of the listener are hooked. The feelings rise ... ever higher in resonance with the melody and mood expressed on the slide, acoustic and bass guitars, drums, calabash, and congas. Without exaggerating, I feel this CD contains some of the finest guitar playing on the planet. Other favorites are: #6, "Lasidan" (#6) which has a peppy, cheerful and upbeat tempo and #7, "Keito", which has musical elements of India and Pakistan or is it the Meditarranean? Ry Cooder plays the tamboura, Ali Farka Toure plucks and strums the electric guitar. There is a syncopated rhythm played on the congas and calabash. The music of Mali is highly distinct and very appealing. It is the best music from Northern Africa, and to this listener, the best from the whole continent of Africa. Erika Borsos (bakonyvilla)  Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)   56 of 58 people found the following review helpful: A risky buy that made me happy, 12 Feb 2001 By A Customer Anybody who has read Robert Palmer's "Deep Blues" or Alan Lomax's "The Land Where The Blues Began" will know that the roots of all todays popular music lie in the rhythms that the slaves brought with them from Africa. I was browsing on Amazon when I came across this CD and thought it would put some music to the words, so I decided to buy (1-click does that to you!) Having played this CD a few times now, loud, quiet, in the car, at home I can certainly recommend it to anybody who has an interest in the history of whatever they're listening to now. More importantly, this is not just history, the music is very alive and vibrant and immaculately produced. Ry Cooder - keep searching and delighting real music lovers. An excellent buy.  Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)   16 of 16 people found the following review helpful: Excellent stuff, 22 Jun 2000 By  r.webb@shef.ac.uk (Sheffield, U.K) - See all my reviews I only discovered this cd when I hired it at random from Sheffield City Library. It wasn't my normal type of music and I wanted to hear something different. I noticed it had a Grammy Award and I thought I'd try it. I was not dissapointed. This is a superb, well recorded cd and the bluesy style rythms just draw you into it. Whilst some of the rythms are quite repetitive it never gets boring and keeps you listening from start to finish. Highly recommended  Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this) › See all 7 customer reviews...		Most Recent Customer Reviews Talking Timbuktu A beautiful mixture of music from Mali, the most recognisable African music,and the superb guitar of Ry Cooder. If you only listen to one track try track 5, Amandrai. Read more Published on 19 Mar 2005 by Mr. M. Yeats Disappointing Not what I (or many others) expected. Might sell well in Africa, but everyone that I've played it to thinks it's a big disappointment. Published on 27 Jan 2004 by R. Harris Wow I really gotta tell Oasis, Travis and all the rest, this is the sound of modern music. This is powerful music that speaks from all parts of the body and mind and heart and soul... Read more Published on 27 Mar 2000 Magnificent Wake up Oasis, Travis and all the rest. Why try and redo 6o`s and 70`s music when there is sublime music of this type around, or is this why they copy old music. Read more Published on 27 Mar 2000 Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews › See all 7 customer reviews...