Toumani Diabaté, Ketama & José Soto - Songhai 2 1994

Toumani Diabaté, Ketama & José Soto - Songhai 2 1994
Label: Hannibal
Recorded at Sintonia Studio, Madrid, Spain

Blues

This more musically ambitious sequel to 1988's Songhai reunites Gypsy new-flamenco stars Ketama (and their former vocalist Jose Soto) with Mali's Toumani Diabate, a virtuoso of the 21-string African harp called the kora. And while British doublebassist Danny Thompson returns for a few tracks, the music is enriched by the addition of Keletigui Diabate's balafon (which resembles a marimba) and a variety of Spanish and Mali guests. The musical coloration drifts pleasantly back and forth between Iberian rhythms, complete with clattering castanets, spitfire guitar lines, and ferocious hand claps--and the Diabates' undulating griot grooves and honeyed female vocal choruses. Since Latin music is well-known in Mali, the contrasts are less marked than you might think, while the lyrical counterpoint between Moorish and African cultures is fascinating.
By Richard Gehr. AMG.
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"Songhai" is a fusion of flamenco and West African music. Toumani Diabate is a kora (African harp) master from Mali. Ketama is a modern flamenco band from Spain (similar to Gipsy Kings), featuring the Carmona brothers. Danny Thompson has played with Elvis Costello, David Sylvian, Kate Bush and Pentangle.
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Antonio Carmona- (Vocals, Percussion, Handclaps);
Jose Soto "Sorderita"- (Vocals, Guitar);
Kassemady- (Vocals);
Jose Miguel Carmona- (Guitar, Mandolin, Handclaps);
Juan Carmona- (Guitar, Lute, Handclaps);
Bernardo Parrilla- (Violin);
Toumani Diabate- (Kora);
Keletigui Diabate- (Balafon);
Basekou Kouyate- (Ngoni);
Danny Thompson, Javier Colina- (Acoustic Bass);
Amparo Carmona- (Castanets);
Joselin Vargas- (Rhumba);
Djanka Diabate, Diaw Kouyate, Aurora- (Background Vocals).
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01. Sute Monebo 4:57
02. Niani 3:52
03. Pozo Del Deseo 5:14
04. Monte De Los Suspiros 4:14
05. Djamana Djana 4:47
06. De Jerez A Mali 4:33
07. Ndia 7:24
08. De La Noche A La Manana 4:43
09. Mali Sajio 5:31
10. Pozo Del Deseo (instrumental) 4:45
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Toumani Diabaté, Ketama & Danny Thompson - Songhai 1988

Toumani Diabaté, Ketama & Danny Thompson - Songhai 1988
Label: Hannibal

Blues

A chance meeting at a London house party led to this melodious collaboration between Mali kora virtuoso Diabate and the young, flamenco-based Spanish group Ketama. While Diabate's dazzling runs often give the impression of several instruments being played at once, Ketama is a group with the focus of a single mind. Together, their music drifts up and down the African continent, ranging from the relatively relaxed, repetitious groove-oriented music of West Africa to the occasionally blistering, speed-clapping, and Islam-tinged sound of Iberia. British double bassist Danny Thompson is a model of understated support throughout. Mali vocalists join the group on the anthemic "Mani Mani Kuru" and the quiet "Africa," while Ketama becomes downright sentimental for "A Mia Tia Maria."
By Richard Gehr. AMG.
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Take one double bass player(Danny Thompson ex Pentangle no less)one Kora player(Toumani Diabate)and a Flamenco group(the wonderful Ketama)and put them all in one room and you will have something very special. It was sad indeed to find no reviews of this fabulous recording so I will TRY and do it some justice .So many attempts at mixing different types of "world " music end up in a hodge podge of sounds and styles that satisfy no one and merely dilute the source, but this is the real deal.The overiding feeling of this disc is PLEASURE...the musicians involved are obviously swimming in the delights of the music they are creating,the discoveries they are making about themselves and their music.
This disparate band somehow produces a seamless and invigorating stream of music that will take you to places even they never dreamed of.
BUY IT.
By William Wood.
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Songhai was a musical collaboration between the Spanish flamenco group Ketama, Malian kora player Toumani Diabaté, and English bass player Danny Thompson. They released two albums, Songhai (1988) and Songhai 2 (1994), both co-produced by Joe Boyd.
In October 1987, Ketama played five concerts in London, where they met Toumani Diabaté and musicologist and record producer Lucy Duran, who encouraged them to work together. After the group jammed with Diabaté, they performed together at a London club and agreed to record an album for Boyd's Hannibal label.[1] The album was recorded in Madrid in April 1988, with a core line-up consisting of Diabaté, the four members of Ketama - Juan Carmona (guitar), José Soto (vocals, guitar), Antonio Carmona (percussion, vocals), and José Miguel Carmona (percussion, vocals) - and Danny Thompson (bass), with additional backing vocals by Diaw Kouyate and Djanka Diabate of Mory Kanté's band.
The album was well received as a successful fusion of different but related styles of music, but a follow-up was delayed for six years. The core line-up which reunited for Songhai 2 in 1994 was essentially the same as for the first album, although by that time Soto was working as a solo artist rather than as a member of Ketama, and Thompson only featured on three of the tracks. The album also featured bassist Javier Colina, and Malian musicians Kassemady (vocals), Keletigui Diabate (balafon), and Basekou Kouyate (ngoni).
From Wikipedia.
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01. Jarabi 3:40
02. Mani Mani Kuru 5:29
03. Caramelo 4:18
04. A Toumani 3:28
05. Vente pa Madrid 4:34
06. Africa" 5:23
07. A mi tía Marina 3:36
08. Ne Ne Koitaa 3:17
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