Product Description
From Amazon.com
The Mali superstar has kept a low profile since Amen (1991), his Joe Zawinul-produced bid for crossover stardom, and a new generation of Afro pop marvels led by Baaba Maal have stepped into the vacuum. Returning to Paris and working with producer/keyboardist Wally Badarou (ex-Level 42), Keita is in exquisite voice although he too often takes a back seat to the extended, horn-driven funk jams typified by Sumun and Mandjou. --Jeff Bateman
Description
One of Mali's many excellent cultural exports (alongside Ali Farka Toure and Oumou Sangare), Salif Keita is a significant figure on the world-music stage. FOLON finds Keita's voice--a rich tenor that is sensual, nimble, and fierce all at once--in excellent form. (His soulful, looping embellishmentssometimes recall Islamic prayer calls.) Keita's music is a synthesis of styles drawing heavily on African elements, Latin music, Europop, and American idioms such as jazz, soul, and funk; and FOLON brings this blend on strong.
"Tekere" starts the disc off with an undulating bass line that intertwines with a percolating guitar, vibrant rhythms, and punchyhorns. One of Keita's trademark vocal techniques is the call-and-response he conducts with his female backing singers, and this vocal interchange is key to the chant-like "Mandela" and the bright, danceable "Sumun". However, the mellow groove of "Mandjou" (one of the disc's highlights) showcases Keita's solo voice. In musical breadth and its smart, propulsive mixture of global styles, FOLON is an excellent example of this Malian star's work.
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