Sekou Bembeya DiabateSekou Bembeya Diabate
Guitar Fo (Discorama WVF 497016 [distributed in the U.S. by World
Village/Harmonia Mundi])
As lead guitarist and point man for longtime Guinean band
Bembeya Jazz,
Sekou
Diabate has balanced African tradition and modern music making as skillfully
as
Djelimady Tounkara of Mali's
Super
Rail Band or Barthelemy Attisso of Senegal's
Orchestra Baobab. Like those players, Diabate has long been receptive to
elements of many musical idioms (jazz, rock, Latin, blues, etc.) which he
unfailingly utilizes in the service of solid grooves and the sort of great songs
that result from such. As for the songs here, a few of them are reconfigured
pieces from the Bembeya Jazz repertoire, with a good number of players from that
outfit on hand to help play them.
What sets this apart from a Bembeya Jazz disc are the facts that it's mostly instrumental, there's no horns involved and Diabate (who's lived up to the nickname "Diamond Fingers" for quite some time) is even more the focus. He does give occasional prominence to such crack participants as singer Safiata Conde and percussionist Papa Kouyate, but this is very much a guitar album in which the star player can command his axe with remarkable fluidity, fire or restrained passion as need be. Diabate is spot-on from the start, skipping merrily atop the chugging rhythm of the leadoff track, "Biduman," with tasty, sparse bursts of high notes that fill the space like the musical equivalent of sunshine.
He then goes on to give swing to slower movers like "Dabia Baba" and "Dianamo" (which features some perfectly suited Hawaiian slide), while cinching up faster pieces like the title track in ever-tighter melodic flights that keep the supporting players locked in. Along the way are flamenco-like sparks, sounds suggestive of acoustic African instruments like the kora and the prevailing feel of a master musician more interested in spreading joy than showing off. This is a top notch disc that cuts deep and satisfying, strongly recommended for African music lovers and fans of great guitar playing. [Buy Guitar Fo, and his other CDs, Samba Gaye, and Diamond Fingers].
World Music Central
http://www.worldmusiccentral.org/article.php/20040715021342453