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Issa Bagayogo
Mali Koura
(Six Degrees)
Douglas Heselgrave's #8 album for 2008
First Appeared in The Music Box, September 2008, Volume 15, #9
Written by Douglas Heselgrave
Tue September 16, 2008, 06:30 AM CDT
It’s hard to believe that it was almost a century ago when Robert Johnson
howled, pleaded, and moaned about God and the Devil at the crossroads. When I
first encountered his work, the sound and iconography of the blues came to me
like music from another world. To my untrained ears, it was thrilling, exotic,
and dangerous. Thanks to a younger generation of blues artists, many of whom
were white men from England, a stream of mojos, deltas, levees, backdoor men,
and do-right women fired my teenage imagination thereby opening a window to a
whole universe of possibilities. In the years that since have passed, this
revelation has become part of the wider language of Western music. It has been
tamed and gentrified, so those looking for new aural vistas now must travel much
further afield than any Mississippi-bound Greyhound will take them.
The metamorphosis of the blues, from its exotic roots to its firmly
established place in the cultural mainstream, is by no means an isolated
incident. Throughout history, the artistic expressions of societies’
marginalized sectors often have been recognized well before the people who
created them. Manifestations of transplanted indigenous culture frequently act
as a way of unlocking the door to wide-sweeping acceptance and respect. So — as
has been the case with the blues — what once was considered the Devil’s music is
now used to sell everything from new cars to political candidates. This osmosis
is particularly true in the evolution of American music — with the exception of
country music, which has its roots in the songs from the British Isles.
Arguably, the significant movements of the 20th Century — from jazz
and rock ’n’ roll to doo-wop, disco, and soul — reflect nothing less than the
assimilation of African melodic forms into the wider culture.
Standing only eight years into the new millennium, it may be too early to
predict the direction in which the music of the 21st Century will
travel. Yet, there is a very good chance that its story will tell a tale of
blurred distinctions as music from all over the globe melds into one. Without
diving into a recap of the influence of the internet and economic and cultural
globalism, it’s immediately obvious that one doesn’t have to look very far to
see that the sounds of the world are more readily available to people than they
ever have been before. Once the domain of ethno-musicologists, world music
recordings of a very high quality are now easy to find, and an educated audience
has developed that has discerning tastes in music from Africa, India, the Middle
East, and Central America. While it is fascinating and important to preserve
music by artists working in ancient traditions, the most exciting new recordings
and musical ideas coming out of the "third world" are not necessarily
traditional recordings. Instead, they are those that reflect a dialogue between
East and West as well as the implied juxtaposition between the ancient and
modern worlds.
A few recent examples of these exciting crossovers include
Gaudi’s Dub Qawaali,
Vieux Farka Toure’s UFOs over Bamako, and
Cheb i Sabbah’s Devotion. Recordings such as these have raised the bar to such an extent
that I was prepared to be underwhelmed by Mali Koura, the fourth album
from Issa Bagayogo. To my mind, it looked like any of the dozens of CDs of
electronica-treated traditional music that so often are foisted onto the
unsuspecting public. Thankfully, my initial prejudices couldn’t have been
further off the mark. Mali Koura is in a class of its own, and it is one
of the most exciting albums to be released so far this year.
Bagayogo hails from Mali, much as the title to his new album suggests. After
almost two decades in the music industry, he finally is beginning to experience
the success that he so richly has deserved. Though initial failures forced him
to take a job as a bus driver — a move that plunged him into drug addiction and
despair — Bagayogo eventually pulled himself out of the gutter and moved to
Bamako, Mali’s capital city, where he began to create a highly personal form of
music based on traditional kora melodies.
Though each of the songs on Mali Koura is defined by the kora, the
sound that Bagayogo creates is fuller and more complex than one usually would
expect to hear. At times, his compositions reflect the intricacy and layering of
the Afrobeat form that was pioneered by Fela Kuti. At other moments, the album
essentially re-calibrates Miles Davis' Bitches Brew for the dance floor. With its
pulsing kora as well as the distorted electric guitars that bounce off the
screeching saxophone riffs and intricate percussions, Sebero, the album’s
opening track is absolutely breathtaking. Anyone who doubts that the kora can
rock the house is hereby placed on notice. Bagayogo’s music is raw and raunchy,
and it is blessed with a backbeat that defies a person to stay in his seat. It’s
hard to conceive that anyone anywhere could possibly be creating better organic
dance music than Bagayogo does on Mali Koura.
One of the amazing things about Mali Koura is how naturally the
combination of sounds and influences blend together. Nothing feels
imposed or arbitrarily thrown together, and the use of electronic flourishes is
restrained and appropriate. The African flutes, horns, and drums never clash
with the Western instruments. Consequently, a stylistic flow is created that is
neither African nor Western but rather is an exhilarating combination of two
cultures. Hints of reggae, bebop, and gutbucket blues are interspersed in the
songs; the joy that seeps through every track is outrageously enticing to hear.
There’s a lot to admire about Mali Koura, and one gets the feeling that
Bagayogo has pulled out all of the stops to show his prospective audience
exactly what he can do. With Tcheni Tchemakan, for example, modern jazz
fans will marvel at how its beautiful arrangements and understated, gentle piano
grooves not only support Bagayogo’s sandpaper voice but also frame a lovely
traditional melody.
Mali Koura is an essential album that stands head-and-shoulders above
most of the new world electronica outings that are being released at such an
astonishing rate these days. Throw away your musical preconceptions. Leave your
prejudices at the door. Mali Koura is a heady and exhilarating ride. It
will rock and shake you to the core.  ½
Of Further Interest...
Dobet Gnahore - Na Afriki
Habib Koite & Bamada - Afriki
Toumast - Ishumar
Mali Koura is available from Amazon.
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Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2008 The Music Box
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