Got the world music flowing right off the bat during the midday with a new cut from Malian singer Mamani Keita. Her fourth album, Kanou, is expected to hit stores on the 27th of this month and from what I've heard, it sounds solid. Solid if not unspectacular does not make it a miss. For lovers of the Southern Malian sound, this album is perfect. And Mamani has been honing her sound under the guidance of the one and only Salif Keita (no relation), whose international profile has put her in a great position to be noticed beyond her native Mali. Indeed, it's his help that got her to Paris where, outside of the social taboo of even being a musician, let alone a female one, she could connect to creative source and really soar as a musician.
And Kanou is a reflection of that; and shows Mamani has got the sound down. Southern Malian music in the vein of some of it's best practitioners; like Oumou Sangare or Rokia Traore, her music is blessed by an extrordinary voice and the musicians backing her on this sound quite solid as well. Grade: B
