Oumou Sangare – Seya – Nonesuch 075597982060, 56:22 *****:
A new album from Oumou Sangare, the songbird of Africa is always cause for celebration, and with this latest release fans won’t be disappointed. Longtime devotees know that Sangare is the foremost proponent of a style of music from Mali known as Wassoulou,, derived from the region of the same name. The style is distinguished by sparse arrangements of indigenous stringed and percussion instruments and the use of the minor pentatonic scale and an intriguing variation, which leaves out the third degree of the scale (in D the scale would be D E G A C.) This particular mode has an ineffable mystical quality, both ancient and timeless.
The first thing that struck this listener is how much better sounding this recording is from Sangare’s past outings. On her earlier classic CDs the vocals tended to have a harsh thin quality and were awash with reverb. Here the arrangements are lush and sophisticated. The production values are head and shoulders above her previous output, rivaling anything coming out of the west. Sangare’s vocals are warm, seductive and at times very powerful.
The album kicks off with “Sounsoumba” a mid tempo track with a heavier beat than was utilized in Sangare’s past efforts. A modern kick drum heavily laden with sub frequencies literally shakes your speakers as a buzzing balafon warms up the mid frequency air. Then the band kicks in full force.
Indeed, by the third track “Kounadja”, one realizes Sangare’s producer, Nick Gold is taking a very different tack with this album. This track features a Hammond B3 organ playing unison lines with the flute, dropping out to thin out the texture to Sangare’s customarily sparse mix of calabash, karinyang (iron scraper typical used in this music) and n’goni, the special six string harp so essential to the character of this music. For a minute we could be listening to her debut recording, Moussoulou, but then something wonderful and unexpected happens – the background vocalists enter singing in tight harmony, lending an uncharacteristically pop sheen to the proceedings. Saxes are riffing tastefully, an electric guitar picks a repetitive melodic figure over a grooving rhythm section of drums, bass and shaker. A slightly over amped guitar begins to lazily wind around the music in colorful ribbons of sound. And then that slightly-distorted B3 lets loose with one of the coolest B3 solos I have heard for some time. Heaven.
While some purists might be alarmed by all this sleek production, I can only say that surprisingly it works. Everything is placed so well in the sonic palette that the music never feels cluttered or heavy. And somehow even this densely layered track feels decidedly pure and balanced. This is by no means an attempt to sell out.
Sangare returns to her roots with tunes like “Donso” with its slow 12/8 groove and stripped down arrangement. But even here there are unpredictable colors: a western doubled violin offers a celestial pentatonic counterpoint to the hypnotic call and response vocals between Sangare and a group of male singers. The result is a trancelike zone that takes the listener deep into the heart of Mother Africa.
In the past I have found Sangare’s music to be more geared for chilling on the couch than for gyrating on the dance floor. However, with tunes like the infectious “Wile Wele Wintou” I found myself wanting to get up and dance around the living room. “Seya,” the title track is another highly danceable track utilizing full drum kit coupled with a supple bass line.
There are other tasty moments such as the sweet innocence of “Senkele Te Sira”, one of the few tunes in a major pentatonic mode. I have no idea what this song is about, but it elicits the calm beauty of a sunny day in a peaceful country village. In “Iyo Dejli” one can hear an oriental exoticism emanating from a haunting portamento violin lick oddly reminiscent of Ryuichi Sakamoto’s memorable score for “The Last Emperor." The horns add some earthy texture, laying down some funky syncopated riffs. The result is an African/Asian hybrid that gives this track an attractive global village vibe. The album brings it all back home at the close with a couple of tunes in Sangare’s classic Wassoulou style.
“Seya” seems to alternate between the larger production pieces and the more intimate settings we have come to expect from this talented artist. Longtime adherents will be more than satisfied while its nod to a more mainstream approach to production should attract a larger fan base. Taken as a whole, the album is a delicious stew of exotic sounds and rhythms that tickle the ears and stir the senses. “Seya “means “Joy” and considering the beauty and exultation it evokes it is aptly named.
TrackList:
Sounsoumba, Sukunyali, Kounadya, Donso, Wele Wele Wintou, Senkele te sira, Djigui, Seya, Iyo Djeli, Mogo Kele, Koroko
— Brian Whistler
