Corey Harris: Mississippi to Mali

By GRAHAM REID

(Herald rating: * * * *)

Harris isn't the first and certainly won't be the last bluesman to make these musical and geographical connections, but this often authentically lo-fi sounding journey goes to the top of the stack. That's because he has been back and forth to West Africa and assimilated the various musical styles which provided the framework for the rural blues he specialises in.

So here, with Ali Farka Toure on one-stringed violin, he takes Skip James' Special Rider Blues back to its melodic roots in an African village, and despite some material drawing from the blues canon (Station Blues, some fife and drum tracks, Skip James' Cypress Grove) this is mostly African or tribal music with minimal but evocative instrumentation of electric and acoustic guitars, simple percussion, harmonica and village instruments. Blues in its birthplace.

Label: Rounder/Elite