Samba

Album review

It didn’t take that many years to Vieux Farka Touré to cut the cord with his famous dad Ali, who passed away in 2006, and offer his own vision of this blend of American blues and West African music. More rock’n’roll in his sound and play style, this Malian Hendrix keeps nonetheless the spirit of Mande music at the heart of his concerns. And even when this brilliant architect of a blended blues goes head to head with Derek Trucks, John Scofield, Dave Matthews or any other Western musician, it’s to elevate his origins, his identity and what the land of his ancestors brought to the world. With Samba, Vieux Farka Touré is once again here to keep the Malian music up with the times, far from the Third World clichés that could inadvertently stick it in a rut. He’s from this generation formed by rock’n’roll and scarred by conflicts, and this seventh album is the perfect snapshot of that. © MZ/Qobuz