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CD
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STCD 1125CD
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After a career that spanned a half-century, in which he became the most famous musician from Burkina Faso and a legend of African popular music, Amadou Balaké died in 2014 at the age of 70. This album contains his final recordings. Born Amadou Traoré in Burkina Faso when it was still the French West African colony called Upper Volta, he was given the name Balaké by Guinean fans who especially liked the way he sang the Mande classic of that title. By that time (the late 1960s) he had been performing as an itinerant singer, guitarist, and percussionist all around West Africa. On returning to his homeland in 1970, Amadou Balaké sang with a succession of groups in the capital, Ouagadougou. Building on widely popular Afro-Cuban and funk styles as well as the Mande repertoire modernized by such bands as Guinea's Bembeya Jazz and Mali's Rail Band, he incorporated local warba dance rhythms into his music and sang primarily in the Mossi language of Burkina Faso, establishing a distinct Burkinabé sound. It was a sound that traveled well as Balaké resumed his roving. He recorded his first album in Accra, Ghana, in 1976; his second in Lagos, Nigeria; the next two in Abidjan, Ivory Coast; and then his classic salsa album, Amadou Balaké à New York, in that city, with some of its top Latin sidemen, in 1979. He was based in Paris for most of the '80s but eventually settled in Ouagadougou. In 2000, Ibrahima Sylla, the preeminent African record producer, invited Balaké to join the international salsa supergroup Africando -- a match made in Spanish Harlem, one might say, considering that Balaké preceded Africando in working with Latin musicians in New York. With Africando Balaké recorded four albums and toured far and wide. He was still giving weekly shows in Ouagadougou when the French music journalist Florent Mazzoleni met him there in 2013 and produced the recordings that would prove to be the old master's last testament. Accompanied by young local musicians, he revisited some of his favorite songs, including his namesake, "Balaké," which he had never previously recorded. Captured mostly in one take with few overdubs, these tracks present a performer seasoned by decades of experience and in full command of his art.
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LP
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KSRE 018LP
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2014 reissue. Kindred Spirits presents the first reissue of legendary Burkinabé vocalist and bandleader Amadou Balaké's album Bar Konon Mousso Bar, originally released in 1978 by the Ivorian label Sacodis. In 1978, four years after the first recorded single version of "Bar Konou Mousso," Balaké recorded that song once again, in a harder funk mode. Named "Super Bar Konon Mousso," it was an updated version of the song that had made him famous in his home country, and became the opening track on this album. The album version of this masterful ode to the penniless musicians and the ladies of African nights is faster than the more atmospheric original, fitting perfectly with the mood of the era. "Tondibama" is a traditional warba song with cheerful horn arrangements and some light backing vocals, and features effortless vocal acrobatics from Balaké. "Nabacouboury," another warba number that Balaké sang many times over throughout his long career, closes the A-side. B-side opener "Dounignamou" circles on and on, recalling a village dance, with the trumpet taking the lead vocal role by the song's end while the rhythm section cooks up a sturdy instrumental background. "Aminata, du Thé!" is one of the most powerful funk numbers to come from 1970s Africa. A true dynamite song with a hint of machismo, it leaves no doubt as to where Balaké's influences come from. Deep and hypnotic from the moment his moans and groans introduce the song, Balaké stands here at his most reminiscent of James Brown. It's all about sweat, power, and sincerity. Album closer "Balaké ya Mariama" displays Balaké's most romantic sides, as, with obvious Afro-Latin influences, he praises the grace of female hips. Balaké learned his Afro-Cubanisms all across West Africa, and it should come as no surprise that he later emerged as a world-class performer with Africando. Balaké stands as one of Africa's most mesmerizing voices, and Bar Konon Mousso Bar is a true highlight of his long career. This reissue features original artwork and remastered sound.
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