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Niafunke
by: Ali Farka Toure

List Price: £14.99

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Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0769233005427
Label: World Circuit
Manufacturer: World Circuit
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: World Circuit
Release Date: June 21, 1999
Studio: World Circuit
Sales Rank: 30641

Disc 1:

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Editorial Review:

Amazon.co.uk Review:
The extraordinarily talented Malian guitarist and singer-songwriter Ali Farka Toure will probably have come to the attention of most western music lovers through his 1994 release Talking Timbuktu, which featured Ry Cooder. Since that time he has stayed almost exclusively in Mali, working on his farm. He felt that touring and working abroad were undermining the bond with his homeland and the productive work which were central to both his happiness and artistic creativity. Thus Niafunke--the name of his village--was recorded on site using only friends and local musicians. The sound is generally more stripped down than Talking Timbuktu, but Ali Farka Toure's gorgeously ornate yet flowing guitar style still guides you every step of the way and the extraordinary space and texture of the music is still as overwhelming as ever. The difference lies deeper--as he himself says, "this record is more real, more authentic". Both albums have soul, but this one required no translation of musical forms or explanations--it speaks pure and straight from the heart of all the musicians involved. --James Swift

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- amazing talent
This album has a great feel to it. Recorded in a minimal studio, with mostly acoustic backing (except for Toure's incredible guitar work), it is African "blues" at its best. Only, where the blues is about coming home to your shack with a hangover and finding your best friend with your wife, this source-of-the-blues music is more often about traditional values and unchanging virtues. Amazing enough, and then you read his offhand remark that the last track was improvised on the spot. The man is unbelievable.

Rating:

- Mali's blues legend
This is the first new recording from Toure in five years and it has been well worth the wait, recorded in his Malian hometown of Niafunke, situated on the banks of the Niger at the edge of the Sahara, this is a rewarding trawl through the ages and genres of African music, you can feel the heat and taste the dust in every one of the twelve superlative tracks. Those of you who loved his recording with Ry Cooder (Talking Timbuktu on World Circuit) will not be disappointed.

Toure has, perhaps unfairly, been compared to John Lee Hooker and it is true that both men share a shimmering intensity in their solo playing, both are easily the most dominant voice in a group context and neither has real respect to the regimentation of a song, it’s ... Read More:

Rating:

- cool but woth african rhythm; grows in intensity; spiritual.
This CD is very cool and controlled, and has a spiritual depth. It woult appeal to Ben Okri who writes amazing novels about the spiritual intensity of Africa. You can also sense the 'roots' of American blues returning to its place of origin. The more you hear, the more intense the feelings. You can also imagine yourself somewhere in the depths of Africa, isolated, yet close to mother earth. A deep spiritual work as well as a cool CD with amazing African rhythm.

Music : Niafunke