Teguindo

It’s hard to pin down just what makes Malian guitar wizard Djelimady Tounkara’s latest acoustic album his best ever.  Maybe it’s the fact that he cuts loose a bit more than on his previous, also excellent, release, Sigui.  Or the way he varies the mood by picking up his electric here and there, as on “Sarankégni,” a reprise of an old number made famous decades back by the electric Super Rail Band.  Maybe it’s that his group has gelled, with his daughter Mariam “M’Baou” Tounkara sounding stronger than ever, and a terrific selection of other vocalists giving each song a unique character.  At the core of everything is the profound musical lock between Tounkara and his rhythm guitarist, Samba Diabaté.  Tounkara holds his accompanists to a very high standard.  The free-wheeling solos on this album clearly telegraph the sense of freedom and satisfaction he derives from Diabaté’s sterling musicianship, and the result is sheer pleasure, start to finish. 

The set begins with flamenco-inspired fireworks on “Fanta Bourama.”  It’s an adventurous entrée to a set of songs that is principally devoted to the Mande traditions Tounkara grew up with amid his musical family in the cultural city of Kita, northwest of the Malian capital, Bamako, where Tounkara has lived since he was a teenager.  “Solon Kono,” a celebration of singers, is more typical with its rolling waves of exuberant riffing in deep Mande mode.  “Bolondola” offers another window into the Rail Band’s past with a mellifluous, acoustic reworking of a song the band popularized with vocalist Mory Kante in the early 70s.  “Téguindo,” a rollicking, percussion-driven standout featuring breathtaking guitar play from Tounkara, reaches back to the early ‘60s and a song the griots used to sing for Mali’s first president, Modibo Keita. 

In Tounkara’s world, music and history are inseparable, and each of these songs has layers of meaning behind it.  But one needs none of that to bask in the joy of Tounkara’s brilliance.  He displays his boisterous, witty character with every note he plays.  More than speed or technique, it is Tounkara’s ability to invest his playing with so many aspects of his personality that puts him in the province of the world’s greatest guitarists.  The maestro has free reign here, and he’s produced an African guitar classic.

Contributed by: Banning Eyre for www.afropop.org