Mali's music ambassador delivers home-grown grooves on this 1977 record, the second of his Sorry Bamba Du Mali album releases. If you're familiar with Tinariwen, possibly the most famous current West African touring band, you need look no further than Sorry Bamba to understand their influences. Sorry's music is rooted in the traditional sounds of West African music and draws a fine line between Ethiopiques-style material and Mali folk music. The centerpiece of the record is the 11 minute "Porry (L'Alcool)" which employs a standard repetitive guitar line that they call assouf in Mali. The organ notes mirror those of the guitar, while Bamba's trumpet fills punctuate the tribal vocals. "N'ne Diarabila (J'ai Amie)" highlights Bamba's flute playing over a festive backdrop of bluesy guitar fills and trumpet blasts that also features a sweet percussion breakdown. Bamba is a good source for studying the musical roots of West Africa, but it's not in the progressive African music or psychedelic rock range of, say, Tony Allen, Fela Kuti, or Segun Bucknor.
Buy this record if your GPS isn't working and you have the chance to get reacquainted with a road map.
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