Description

Vinyl LP pressing. 2020 release. Afel Bocoum is among the last of a breakthrough generation of African musicians who cross-pollinated their own traditional music with the new sounds that arrived from all over the world throughout the 20th century. With the support of executive producers Damon Albarn and Nick Gold, Lindé stitches together the age-old music of the Niger bend, featuring performances from eminent Malian musicians including Madou Kouyaté, the late ‘Hama’ Sankaré and Madou Sidiki Diabaté, with interventions as diverse as the drums of Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen, the trombone of Vin Gordon (Bob Marley / Skatellites), and the violin of Joan as Police Woman. Traditional instruments like the ngoni, the njurkele, the kora and the calabash blend with guitars, percussion and call-and-response vocals. The result is a gently undulating flow that emanates from a source hidden deep in the historical and mystical traditions of Bocoum’s native land, enriched along it’s way by tributaries and cross-currents.