Elsewhere: Out of Africa, into the future

By GRAHAM REID

There's an arrogance from "world music" enthusiasts who presume "authentic" music is of more cultural value than contemporary music. Which is akin to saying Hank Williams is of more cultural value than Bob Dylan, or Bill Haley than Metallica. Follow that line back and the only thing of value would be the authentic sound of stones being banged together by chimps.

The world moves on and, to the consternation of these purists, so do those pesky musicians who draw from the world around them as much as from the old manuals and masters.

It's also condescending to suggest to an African musician that their music is somehow diminished by being recorded in a sophisticated studio rather than a field, or that they shouldn't be influenced by hip-hop because it will dilute the essence of their music.

There's an uneasy racist subtext in that - and better facilities might actually enhance the music - but that's a rather too uncomfortable thought if your idea of African music comes down to a barefoot kora player squatting in a field and little more. If African musicians want to play with a turntablist, who would dare deny them their right to do it?

Africa - as you might expect from a continent which reaches from Tunis to Cape Town and Senegal to Somalia - offers an astonishing array of musical styles, but few artists have gained a foothold outside their own borders or the small expat enclaves around the globe.

In part, that's down to the tyranny of English, a language most of these musicians don't sing in. Most, understandably, prefer their own language or, for those from Francophone states, French.

But put aside the problems presented in the largely monolingual world of music commerce and there has been a rich vein of African artists who have been (some only briefly) embraced in the Anglophone world: King Sunny Ade, Manu Dibango, Salif Keita, Oumou Sangare, Ali Farka Toure, Orchestra Baobab, Baaba Maal, Ismael Lo and Mansour Seck among them.

Not so coincidentally, all of them are from West Africa where the melodies ripple like stream water, the vocals can be powerful or almost whispered, and the tunes memorable.

Here are some recent releases from that region, but if you think African musicians shouldn't be afforded excellent studios, be allowed to mess with Western instruments or even dabble with electronica and hip-hop, then you might want to start signing out about now. It isn't especially "authentic" from here on.


Sekouba Bambino: Sinikan

(Herald rating: * * * *)

The son of Marlama Samoura, one of the great griot singers from the area around Mali, this powerful singer who is one of Guinea's most popular performers follows in the tough tenor tradition of the region, and here benefits from the arrangements by Francois Breant ,who did similar duties on Keita's Soro.

Formerly with the now disbanded Bembeya Jazz National outfit (which toured to Cuba, used a horn section and played traditional Mandingo songs) Bambino - whose real name is Sekouba Diabate - is showcased over floating, almost disembodied rhythms from guitars, kora and balaphone. Lovely, muscular stuff.

Label: Sono/King


Julien Jacob: Shanti

(Herald rating: * * *)

From Benin of West Indian parents, this low-voiced groove-oriented singer moves between pop clubs and the Womad circuit with ease, but here is in intimate mode on 11 mesmerising originals with a small band which can shift from wobbly, beat-driven quasi-funk (Graine) to deceptively simple acoustic tunes (Abandon). With subtle hip-hop beats in places, this is a comfortable midpoint between Africa and Europe which errs to the gentle folk side. He now lives in the Bretagne region of France which perhaps explains it.

Label: WEA


Africando: Martina

(Herald rating: * * *)

Afro-Cuban salsa-stylings from a long-running Cuban outfit which has in the past invited Salif Keita and other African artists to bridge the Atlantic divide, and also reached down to South America for their percussion players.

Here Sekouba Bambino, Ismael Lo, Amadou Balake and others line up for an album more Cuban than African which should appeal to Buena Vista and Cubanismo fans, but is also a reminder of how the African diaspora has denied the notion of conveniently packaged regional music.

Label: Sono/King


Magic System: Premier Gaou

(Herald rating: * *)

First released a few years back and riding on the popularity of the bouncy title track which crossed over into European clubs, this repackage comes with a bonus disc of three remixes by France's Bob Sinclar and a couple of other versions. From the Ivory Coast, this vocal quartet don't impress particularly much beyond the single and remixes, but there is an undeniably uplifting quality to their synth-drum driven sound.

Label: Sono/King


Various: African Groove

(Herald rating: * * *)

Compilations such as this are the alco-pop of African music for the real ale drinkers who banner "authentic" as badge of approval. Well, their loss because - as Bill Laswell's recordings with Foday Musa Suso, and Neneh Cherry's Seven Seconds with Youssou N'Dour prove - there is much to be enjoyed when worlds collide, especially when those loping African rhythms and traditional instruments are matched by electronica or a snappy studio approach.

So here Jacob's Kalicom from Shanti sits alongside Thievery Corporations' The Lagos Communique, spoken word samples sneak between juju guitars, there's rap in French from the Ivory Coast by Madeka, vocoder pop-rap from Kenya, and the focus slides from a marketplace in Burkino Faso to a disco in South Africa.

Open ears will enjoy this diversity, real ale drinkers will step outside in a huff.

Label: Putamayo/Elite