Album:
Nightbird
Size: 139,6 MB
Time: 60:57
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2001
Styles: Blues Roots, Afro-Pop
Art: Front
01. Goin Home (5:15)
02. Child See The Rider (8:21)
03. Are You Thirsty (Land Of Plenty) (7:43)
04. Midnight (4:28)
05. Rain (5:55)
06. At The Well (4:46)
07. Nightbird (5:37)
08. Pharaoh's Daughter (6:59)
09. One Drop (1:40)
10. River Risin (5:13)
11. Awo (4:55)
An incredibly wide variety of pop music can be found on the African continent. Some styles of African pop can be exuberant and relentlessly energetic, including soukous, zouk, and makossa. But moody, dusky, and haunting are some of the adjectives that describe a lot of the Afro-pop that has come from Ethiopia, the Sudan, and Mali. On Nightbird, San Francisco singer/songwriter Markus James successfully finds the parallels between Malian pop, rock, and the blues, specifically, the sort of dusky, haunting blues that worked so well for John Lee Hooker and Lightnin' Hopkins. Recorded in Bamako, Mali, during the summer of 2000, this excellent CD isn't easy to categorize. Blues, rock, and Malian pop are all influences, and on Nightbird, slide guitar sounds perfectly natural alongside traditional African instruments like the calabash, the njarka, and the tama. The people joining James (whose earthy vocals have a Mick Jagger-ish quality) range from Malian musicians (including Afro-pop artist Mama Sissoko) to American singer Sarah Baker. Bring all of these different artists and influences together and the end results are as enriching as they are intriguing. Nightbird could be described as Mick Jagger meets John Lee Hooker meets Habib Koite (who is one of Mali's top pop singers and is best known for his early-'90s hit "Cigarette a Bana"). Obviously, James sees the parallels between Hooker's blues and Malian pop: both can be very moody, not to mention soulful. And the word soulful certainly describes this excellent CD, which blues, rock, and Afro-pop enthusiasts should all be aware of. ~Review by Alex Henderson
Blues Nightbird
Album:
Timuktoubab
Size: 120,5 MB
Time: 52:10
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2005
Styles: Blues, World, Roots
Art: Front
01. Sixteen Camels - Yer Man Ya Li (3:25)
02. Mone - Jump Up And Fly (2:31)
03. Key Gabriel (2:12)
04. Mercy - Dau (3:52)
05. Koriome (Instr.) (5:25)
06. Wakin' Up At Midnight - Ebina (3:27)
07. Far As I Can Run - Majirica Samba (3:10)
08. Gobissa - Things We'll Never Understand (3:31)
09. All The Kingdoms - Goi Boiru (5:20)
10. Lets Go (Instr.) (0:55)
11. Break That Chain Each Day (3:33)
12. There Goes Bankano (Instr.) (0:38)
13. Takamba Blues (4:59)
14. Weather Change (Instr.) (2:01)
15. Tele - Fire At The Gates (3:32)
16. Sun Is Rising (3:31)
b. USA. Raised in the area around Washington, DC, James played guitar in rock bands, later encompassing traditional blues. An abiding interest in the music of Africa drew him to develop a style that artfully combines elements of blues with contemporary African music. From his California base, he has worked throughout the USA and since 1994 has made numerous visits to Africa, especially Mali, acting as performer and record producer. He works often with traditional Wassoulou and Sonrai musicians. Artists with whom he has worked in the USA and Africa include Solo Sidibe, Hamma Sankare, Hassi Sare, Massamba Diop and Wassonrai, a group featuring Mamadou Sidibe and Amadou Camara.
James and his musical companions play several traditional instruments, including kameme n’goni, a form of harp, njarka, which is violin-like, calabash and bolon, a stringed instrument with a bass-like resonance. Vocal lines are traced in English, Bambara and Sonrai. ~AMG
Timuktoubab
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
