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A fantastic joining of talent. This CD was bought after seeing the film 'Unfaithful' (the 'Unfaithful' soundtrack does not include all music in the film), which included a track by Ali Farka Toure and Ry Cooder. The rest of the CD is great and I find myself humming the tunes all the time.
Here the guitars are electric as well as acoustic, and there is a type of flute and more drums and other Malian instruments. One of the songs, Soukora, was popular even as far away as East Africa, where I heard it often, and is a personal favorite. I bought this CD at the same time as the one named Ali Farka Toure because I couldn't decide between the two. The bluesy element is more apparent on some numbers due to Ry Cooder's influence, I suspect, as well as the dragging rhythm similar to that associated with John Lee Hooker, but others are distinctively African. The songs are very interesting both vocally and rhythmically and the instrumentation is excellent. It is a good combination. The other album is acoustic and a small number of musicians and types of instruments.
I now earnestly hope that that industry puts down its telephones and looks away from its computers to listen to music from an artist like Toure. It's as if I have seen music as it used to exist many thousands of years ago, now being spoken in the present day in a language that I recognize instantly.This is music reaching beyond the drama of the individual and purely personal emotion, beyond even hope, ambition and certainly fear of any kind. A friend of mine works on Wall Street and I've recently wondered what would happen if the Ninth Symphony and the B Minor Mass were played during work hours there. As a classical musician, my personal listening experiences often get limited to a different sphere than the world of this artist. And I wish our fractious America as a whole would listen in as well. I do not find it merely entertaining. A friend introduced me to Toure with this album and I'm overwhelmed. There is an other-worldly, magical quality which shakes me to my musical roots.
I haven't been this pleased with an album in its entirety in a long time.
I like a couple of other tunes also.very unique CD.and love the guitar. I got this CD because I liked the song from the movie, "Unfaithful".
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