VA - The Divas From Mali (1997)

The female singers of Mali have a well-deserved reputation for excellence. For some time, Mande jeli moussolou (feminine plural form of the word "jeli") dominated the Malian musical scene, but, more recently, the Wasulu singers have gained national and, in some cases, international prestige. This CD documents this musical preeminence by presenting mostly unreleased recordings by four Malian Divas: Kandia Kouyate, Mah Damba, Sali Sidibe, and Oumou Sangare. It also illustrates the stylistic differences between the Mande (Kouyate, Damba) and Wasulu (Sidibe and Oumou Sangare) styles of music. "The Divas from Mali" should be not confused with "Divas of Mali" (Shanachie 64078) which a very good recording, but this one is much better.

One of the strong points of this CD is that all the tracks feature traditional acoustic instrumentation. I mention that because the great singers of Mali are often recorded with modern arrangements with programmed drums and synths both to meet the evolving tastes of the national population as well as to succeed on the international market (many of the songs on the Shanachie CD mentioned above are examples of this trend). While such recordings are valuable and the results are sometimes spectacular (Tata Bambo Kouyate's "Diadie Diawara" on the Shanachie CD is a good example), in my mind, nothing beats a superlative Mande or Wasulu voice soaring over traditional instruments. The excellent recording quality of this CD capturesthe full power of this combination.

On "The Divas from Mali", the contrast between Mande and Wasulu music is quite dramatic: after six Mande songs, the listener must make an abrupt transition to the Wasulu sound of Sali Sidibe and Oumou Sangare. Keeping in mind that such comparisons often point to relative rather than absolute differences and can be somewhat subjective, let me suggest some distinctions. As Eric Charry mentioned in a recent post to the Djembe-l (Subject: Re: Cross Ref Intro (Mande/Mandeng; May 13, 1998), one profound difference, that colors everything else, is that Mande jeli music is primarily heptatonic , i.e., it uses a seven tone scale while Wasulu music is pentatonic (five tone scale), which gives the later a bluesy sound. Instrumentation is also different.

TRACKLIST

01. Kandia Kouyate - Kounady la Beno (Traditional)
02. Kandia Kouyate - Samba Sike (Traditional)
03. Kandia Kouyate - Djaoura (Traditional)
04. Mah Damba - Mah Damba: Sounafi (Traditional)
05. Mah Damba - Jarabi (Traditional)
06. Lansine Kouyate - Jeli (Kouyate)
07. Sali Sidibe - Dunia Djamou (Traditional)
08. Sali Sidibe - Djana Djani (Traditional)
09. Oumou Sangare - Djama Kaissoumou (Sangare)
10. Oumou Sangare - Dugu Kamelenba (Sangare)



All thanks go to the original releaser