CD of the week
Robin Denselow
He may have been wildly unpredictable in recent years, experimenting with anything from jazz fusion to French popular song, but Salif Keita, hailed as “the golden voice of Mali”, can still sing magnificently, as experienced on his new album, Papa (Metro Blue/Blue Note).
This tight, rhythmic new set, co-produced by Living Colour’s Vernon Reid, matches Keita’s stirring vocal improvisations against slinky, repeated bass and drum riffs, with African instruments, including balafon and kora (played by the brilliant Toumani Diabati) added in. Songs like the hypnotic, trance-like Bolon, or Tolon Wilile (featuring Grace Jones) could well be hits on the club scene, and are matched by laments for lost friends that show the more soulful side of his powerful singing.
Fans will soon be able to experience Keita’s music live, as he is set to perform at the Mega Music Warehouse on September 24 and 25 as part of Johannesburg’s Arts Alive International Festival.