global rhythm

Rokia Traore – Live Reviews: Jazz Café, November 19, 2008
Rokia Traore @ the Jazz Cafe. Hail hail Rokia'n'roll!
Holy shitsky! Hail hail Rokia'n'roll! Traore's always good value but I went to the Jazz Café tonight expecting to be mesmerised by the
cool, smoky elegance that is the latest gorgeous recorded Rokia output on Tchamantché, and instead came away thrilled and gibbering
from one of the best high energy spiky, sparky rock gigs I've seen in ages - and not some regrettable lumpy leather-trousered African
rock clone either. Rachid Taha or Salif Keita she ain't. When they're in full flight - Rokia skipping and wailing with a red retro electric
guitar, amplified ngoni, a brilliant Malian guitarist on black Telecaster who somehow manages to subtly cross-mutate Zani Diabate,
Chuck Berry and Shriekback, plus impeccably tasty (French?) bass and drums and her regular empathic backing vocalist – you could
toast porcupines on the energy they put out. But best of all, they don't sound like anybody else, and you can't say that about many
bands these days. Where did that come from? Incroyable!
Ian Anderson
www.froots.net
Gig of the year!
OK, I exaggerate slightly, because I couldn't possibly rate someone who I'd only ever previously considered as a kind of coffee-table
African artist on the same level as my own personal Jesus, Tom Waits, but, yes. last night at the Jazz Cafe was, well, something really
very special. Up there with Waits at the Edinburgh Playhouse, back in the summer? Let me see if I can decide.
Yes, I was moved: moved to dance; moved to not say a word during the quiet bits, and moved to think I've not heard a better band in
years. Oh and yes, moved to write all this before I could even go to bed, simply because I was still buzzing after a 90 minute public
transport journey home, and I had to get it out of my system.
So, the line-up. There was a bass player who had hair like Phil Spector during his court case, except that this guy's white afro was so
real that he could spend the whole evening maniacally shaking it, without any risk of it going astray. Then there was the guitarist who
was one part Chuck Berry to two parts himself, just fitting in, but stepping things up a gear or three when required.
And then there was the rest of the band. The dextrous, smiling drummer, a female backing vocalist who subtly provided occasional
harmonies, and a n'goni player (it would seem every African band has to have one, post N'goni
Ba) who knocked out Bassekouesque solos when required. They were all at Rokia's command, without Rokia - even for one moment making this fact obvious.
For the opening of the first few numbers this perfect band were astonishingly, heart-stoppingly quiet: strings muted, drums barely
touched, symbols merely tickled. But then each song would gradually be coaxed into slowly spreading its wings, and notes would fill
in the silences that the audience had miraculously respected. And then the bass would come in, and the audience would be suddenly
made aware that they were in the middle of a sinuously funky tune.
'The Man I Love' from Rokia's latest and most adventurous album - was a moving high point. I recall one critic taking particular
exception to this daring recording. But why shouldn't this Malian singer sing this jazz standard in a Malian accent, and dress it up in a
brand new Malian arrangement? No, Rokia isn't Billi Holiday, and she knows it. Which is why she didn't try to do a generic lounge
arrangement and copy Holiday's phrasing. She even mentioned that she'd been torn between trying to do a more authentically English
(as she put it) version, or going the African route. She made the right decision. This was an African musician saying 'this is my music
too, so why shouldn't I interpret it my way.'
Each time Rokia 'put on' a guitar, it almost seemed like the thing would throw her off balance, so hefty were some of these vintage
instruments in relation to her relatively slight frame. But then she'd start playing, and immediately put to shame any of our own female
singer-songwriters with their fey, rudimentary strumming. How could she play such intricate riffs and sing at the same time?
And then - just when I thought I knew were I was - and I was perfectly happy where I was - the concert went up a further gear, and we
were suddenly in angular Afrobeat country. These musicians who have been reigned-in for most the set were suddenly being allowed
to let go, and Rokia was suddenly indulging in David Byrne-like busts of crazy dancing, and I was suddenly grinning like an idiot.
A two hour set seemed to pass in - oh I don't know - 45 minutes? And it was absolutely, bloody brilliant! Yes, I renounce my personal
Jesus. This was the gig of the year!
Howard Male
www.soundoftheworld.com
Album Reviews for Rokia Traore’s Latest Release, Tchamantché
METRO - August 22, 2008
The well-travelled background of vocalist/composer/multi-instrumentalist Rokia Traoré has always informed her work; as the
daughter of a Malian diplomat, she developed her musical career in both Brussels and Bamako. Her latest
album Tchamantché (Nonesuch) further builds on her experience and demonstrates why she has gained global acclaim; her
expressions are both exquisitely subtle and highly resonant, backed by the brooding sound of the West African n'goni. The sparse
rhythms of Zen build up into an alluring groove, and her distinctive vocal harmonies enrich tracks including Kounandi and her cover
of Billie Holiday's The Man I Love. Sleeve note translations pinpoint some haunting themes; Tounka addresses illegal immigration
from Africa ('On the road in salt water/ Lies death'). Traoré's delivery alone is exceptionally emotive: modern desert blues at its most
elegant. - Arwa Haider
The Sun - September 5, 2008
Rokia’s a Malian singer with a difference. The daughter of a diplomat who was posted to the US, Europe and the Middle East, her
music represents a fascinating fusion of cultures. Her latest album is underpinned by the spare, warm sound of an old Gretsch guitar
and a western pop rhythm section, but the addition of traditional African instruments and a classical harp makes for a rare and
beautiful thing. Above these floats Rokia's featherlight vocals, in French, her African dialect and even a bit of English on the bluesy
Man I Love. The result is a beguiling work that can claim to be "world music" in the purest sense. - Simon Cosyns
The Independent – August 31, 2008
A number of things distinguish Ms Traore from other Malian divas: her voice is intimate rather than epic; she's as interested in
innovation as she is in tradition. And – on this her fourth and best album – there's a shift towards minor-key angst-tinged songs while
most African music sounds celebratory, even when the lyrics are reporting poverty and injustices. Traore's tunes has similar social
concerns but it's the delicate tracery of her unique arrangements, in which Gretsch guitar, n'goni and classical harp discreetly impose
themselves on silence, that make this exceptional. – Howard Male
The Observer Monthly – September 14, 2008
Rokia Traoré's fourth album, Tchamantché, feels like her best so far, and may be the one to draw in those disbelievers in the Flat Earth
Society who defiantly insist that they 'don't listen to world music'. We might even see the singer's face on the front cover of the Wire,
in recognition of a true experimentalist. Although she is from Mali, on the western edge of the Sahara, Rokia doesn't have the
commanding voice of so many of that country's great singers, who can be heard half a kilometre away. Like those film actors who
understand that if they remain motionless the camera will find emotion in their faces, Rokia is a consummate master of the
microphone who knows it will hear her whispers, reveal her secrets and convey her intentions. She's a peerless studio singer, and one
of the best musical arrangers of her generation. Previously, Rokia used traditional African instruments in unorthodox ways. On
Tchamantché, she introduces electric guitars and bass, human beatbox and the American percussionist Steve Shehan, to create a
sparse, moody sound of her own that truly defies categorisation. As its title suggests, 'Aimer' is in French, but she doesn't sound like
any other French singer I've ever heard. Unlike the three languorous songs that precede it, 'Koronoko' is more urgent and insistent,
sung by a veritable vocal group of Rokias, interweaving, overlapping, provoking and answering each other. West Africa already has
more than its fair share of great contemporary African artists, and with Tchamantché Rokia Traore shows that she belongs up there
with the best. Where Rokia has gone out on an experimental limb. An impressive album representing a significant milestone in a
career of an artist whose talent has not yet been fully acknowledged. Her time has come.
The Guardian UK – September 5, 2008
Rokia Traore has changed direction once again, with dramatic results. In the five years since her last album, Bowmboi, she has toured
the US celebrating the life of Billie Holiday, and written a new work - an African response to the life of Mozart - for the maverick
director Peter Sellars. Now comes an intriguing, sophisticated and often intimate set that is quite unlike any of the other great music
Mali has produced. Many of the songs are built around her subtle and bluesy electric-guitar work, but also make use of the classical
western harp and African ngoni, though no longer the balafon. The result is an exquisitely recorded set that manages to sound
contemporary but still distinctively African. It's remarkable mostly because of the quality and range of her singing, which can be
quietly slinky and personal, rousing, as well as breathy. The songs are mostly in Bambara, with two in French and one in English - a
wildly individual treatment of the Gershwin classic The Man I Love, that starts as a brooding ballad and ends as a scat work-out.
Traore has become the experimental diva of Africa. – Robin Denselow.
ROKIA TRAORÉ
NEW ALBUM: TCHAMANTCHÉ
WHAT THE CRITICS SAY
‘An intriguing, sophisticated and often intimate set… that manages
to sound contemporary but still distinctively African. Traore has
become the experimental diva of Africa.’
Guardian
‘Rokia proves that she is still one of the continent’s finest talents,
able to push her musical ideas to the limit without losing the listener
along the way. This is quite simply extraordinary, original music.’
Songlines
‘Moody, absorbing and subtly melodious. Like Youssou N’Dour,
Rokia defies categorisation, continuing to take West African music
into areas where tradition is merged into a western pop sound.’
fRoots
‘Traoré is a peerless studio singer, and one of the best musical
arrangers of her generation. West Africa already has more than its
fair share of great contemporary African artists, and with
Tchamantché Rokia Traoré shows that she belongs up there with
the best.’ Observer Music Monthly – Top 5 Albums of the
Month
‘Arguably the most adventurous African artist around strikes gold
with a huge musical leap into the guitar-driven bluesy territory
usually reserved for Salif Keita. Terrific.’
Mojo
‘A wonderfully multi-textured album and Traoré’s best yet.’
Jazzwise
‘Traoré’s delivery alone is exceptionally emotive: modern desert
blues at its most elegant.’
Metro
‘The breadth of Rokia Traoré’s artistic vision has emerged fully
formed in her music. Traoré sounds ready to join the big league at
last.’
The Times
‘Traoré’s vocals are agile and emotive rather than imposing, her
persona that of thoughtful artist rather than grande dame.
Tchamantché is understated to a fault, it songs delivered to
murmuring electric guitars and a subdued human beat box. ‘The
Man I Love’ confirms Traoré’s versatility and ability to mix
radicalism with tradition.’
Observer
‘Her fourth and best album. It's the delicate tracery of her unique
arrangements, in which Gretsch guitar, n'goni and classical harp
discreetly impose themselves on silence, that make this
exceptional.
Independent on Sunday
‘This album is stripped down in its textures with guitar, ngoni desert
lute and soft percussion behind her gentle caressing voice. It's very
beautiful and very Rokia.’
Evening Standard
‘Underpinned by the spare, warm sound of an old Gretsch guitar
and a western pop rhythm section, but the addition of traditional
African instruments and a classical harp makes for a rare and
beautiful thing. A beguiling work that can claim to be “world music”
in the purest sense.’
The Sun
‘It's the exploratory feel of A Ou Ni Sou, on which Traoré holds forth
exquisitely over a single steel drum, that makes you suspect that
her music could elevate Africa's self-esteem more than any amount
of hot air from Bono or Bob Geldof. ‘
Daily Telegraph – CD of the week
‘Tchamantché s songs prickle with thorny instrumentation, throwing
Traoré's voice upfront.’
Financial Times
‘A beguiling journey across borders, Traoré’s group combining the
traditional cadences of the ngoni with the more contemporary
sound of a vintage Gretsch guitar.’ Sunday Times
‘A quiet, entrancing treat.’
Hi-Fi Choice
‘Expect to find Tchamantché in the if-you-only-buy-one-worldmusic-album-in-2008 category in the rock mags’ end of year polls,
and with good reason. Lovely.’
TNT
‘An impressive all-round album that hints at the common ground
between the left-side of pop and roots music.’
Manchester Evening News
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OCTOBER 19,2004
WORLDMUSICREVIEW
A Malian Griot
Who Treasures
Her Freedoms
By BEN RATUFF
Rokia Traore, the middle-class
daughter of a Malian diplomat, was
born with the freedom to restructure
her country's music, if mostly for the
benefit of the world outside. Because
she isn't from the hereditary caste of
griots, the praise singers of Malian
music, she performs in concerts, not
wedding parties. And over innovative turns on the old griot music, her
lyrics weigh traditional marriage responsibilities against the freedoms
possibl~ for a woman and an artist.
That information prepares you for
a certain gentility and self-consciousness, a neutral ground of good
taste. But an excellent performer
isn't the prisoner of her biography.
At Zankel Hall on Saturday night,
Ms. Traore showed a gentle but incontrovertible command of her material and her performance situation.
Her band's rhythm is sparer, more
aerated and more stately than that of
the praise songs recorded by traditional female griots, and her voice
isn't as loud and cutting as the wellknown ones. She has combined two
inslruments that serve different purposes in Malian music and aren't
nonnally heard together: the bala
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Stejlhanle Berger for The New York Times
Rokia Traore evoked a slow mood in concert on Saturday night.
RokiaTraore
Zankel Hall
picked ostinatos on guitar for several
songs; her electric bassist used another guitar at times to play westernized lead lines.
She stayed in the slow mood of her
new album, "Bowmbo'i" (Nonesuch),
and it was the blend of sounds that
immediately took over the ear: the
dry music-box crackle of the two
n'gonis; the shallow melodic ring of
[he balafon; the soft thump of the
calabash drum. Ms. Traor6's soft,
controllf'd ~opr:1no slIrrol1ndpd the
,1H1sic,and she was at! lt1ipressive
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dancer to her own rhythms, holding
her head still as her body undulated,
feet traveling slowly to the left and
right, waist moving in a fixed oval.
Eventually the band worked up to
longer instrumental jams. There
were no virtuosos; the music was all
a matter of subtle balances. As the
two n'goni players, Mamah Diabate
and Andra Kouyate, played their interlocking lines and the two drummers negotiated with the percussive
notes from the balafon, Christophe
Minck traded his hass for an acoustic
guitar, playing scrubbing effects
through a wa!1-'NHhpednl like e!ements fmlll nil o!d Curtis Mayfield
rccord.
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OCTOBER 18,2004
Music
Review
----.--
g11itarsand the band kicks in, YOll
never see them dance like that.
Many of 'I\'aore's songs were
like minimalist polyrhythmic puzzles: Musicians created a bed of interlocking percussion on calabash
and djembe drums, while others
added flurries of tangy notes on
the balafon, a huge wooden xylophone, and n'goni, a kind oflute. A
guitarist contributed slinky, propulsive bass lines or funky wah. wah to the mix. The result was often hypnotic.
Sometimes the textures were
thick, sweet, and slow, like musical molasses, and Traore undulated as she sang. But in faster numbers,
she often
left the
microphone behind and was a vision of sinuous, shimmying,
Rokia Traore
has the voice
and the moves
By Rebecca Ostriker
GLOBESTAFF
Rokia Traore just might be a better
dance~than
sii7i"ger.
That's not disrespecting her voice.
The Paris-based
Malian star, who
brought a seven-piece band to the Somerville Theatre on Friday night, has a
tender, fluttering vocal style that she
uses to great effect in her music, both in
concert and on he_r:.J.a.t~§t albJillk
"D.o-,y.mlmL~.It's
a voice
of great
Rokia Traore
At:SomervilleTheatre,FrIdaynight
intimacy
and straightforward charm,
Those qualities were evident from
the beginning of her set. Traore took the
stage barefoot, dressed in a chic, angular black-and-white ensemble with a
thigh-high slit in the skirt. Strikinglyattractive, with a shaved head, sinewy
limbs, and shy smile, she began the lullabye-like "Kele Mandi," a plea for tolerance, accompanied only by her acoustic
. guitar and backup singer Sylvia Laube.
The way Traore held herself, upright
and serious, she could have been a
young African Joan Baez.
But when folk singers put down their
427 WEST I'OUJlT!iliNTIl S'fREET, NEW YORK, NY 10014
straight-up fine boogie. She somehow looked sexy and proud at the
same time, and her brilliant smile
at such moments was like a hot
noonday sun.
Midway through
the set,
Traore snapped her fingers to
launch the band into "Kate Don,"
a piece that shows her cosmopolitan outlook. "Young people of the
city, smart young girls, this song is
for you," the lyrics say. Though she
uses traditional Malian instruments, Traore, 30, was raised
abroad as the daughter of a diplomat, and her songs address such
contemporary concerns as poverty, the pitfalls of fame, and women's independence. "I respect my
ancestors, but tradition is not infallible," the song goes. "Let's
make the most of our time, let's
celebrate."
In her encore, Traore thanked
the audience, noting that "For me,
singing onstage was a dream that
has come true." Then she nudged
the fans out of their seats and into
the aisles with a simple request to
dance. The show ended"with an
epic celebration that included
Traore's sung praise for each musician, solos from everyone, an audience sing-along, and a limbo-like
dance by Traore and Laube.
Though none of the performers
looked spent when they took their
bows, the crowd just might have!
been.
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A ModernMalianFacestheChallenges
STO RY: Marie Elsie St. Leger
On a perfect summer day-warm, low humidity, with a clear, cloudyou.'
less sky-Bokia Traore adjusts her muffler-length scarf and wraps her
.'t's very interesting---41aving a baby is very different in Western
cotton-linen jacket closer around her petite frame. Weariness clouds . cultures,"
Traorecontinues. "Here, youdecideto haveit, and you have
her face on the last day of back-to-back interviews and promotional
to take care of it because you decided to have it. At home, having a
appearances, and she's now ensconced in the most air-conditioned
baby is something decided when you get married. How many children
space at Nonesuch's New York offices: But, as the saying goes, busiyou have or when is not. Whenyou'remarried,ifyou arepregnant,you
ness is business.
will have it. It's a child of God. The baby chooses to come, you don't
decide it."
And today, the Malian singer's
third album, !io~m.bqi
(Nonesuch), tops the agenda. A departure from her previous efforts,
Bowmbor finds Traoresingingentirelyin Bamanan,one of severallanguages spoken in Mali.lr~ore: begins by providing the correct pro.
nunciation: "bohm-boy."
j'Asan expressionitmeansnothing,"
Traoreasserts,addingthat
it's more a sound than a word, part of a larger sayingexpressing a
deep sense of parental love and obligation. The word begins a traditional song still sung to newborns by their mothers. Traore sings a bit
of the old song. "My mother used to sing it to me," she says, cutting
ofTthe lilting tune and breaking the spell. "She doesn't know anymore
what it means.. Nobody knows."
Traore based her album's title track, a tender song arranged spar.
ingly, on the emotion buried deep within the lullaby. "It is a parent
telling thank you to his baby," Traore says. '''Thank you for choosing
me. You could have chosen a rich person, a powerful person, but you
chose me. I don't have nothing else to give but my love. God bless
427 WEST FOUJlTEENTIlSTnEET,
NEW YOJlK, NY 10014
The demands for Western-style family planning seem facile to
Traore."Generallythere's a confusionaboutchildren'ssituation con.
cerningeconomicalconditionsand the culture,and Africansare pre.
sented as irresponsible. There's no parent that doesn't love his child.
We have to be careful to understand that these people have a dignity.
I'm not happy about how Western countries portray [Africans'j relationships with their children."
Traore's philosophical bent echoes that of Bowmboi. Acoustic
and alternatively lilting and rhythmically insistent, the collection offers
observations of life as a West African. "Wan;Ia, in terms of lyrics, is
more about what we want to do with our lives,"Traore says."It's also
about women who are really fighting and are courageous enough to
fight against their situations."
Today's Malian woman is more likely to be educated, Traore says,
and therefore expect more than what life offered iust a generation a;;o.
"I can tell you in Mali, there are many women that have this attitJde,
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and they have to be courageous.I'm impre.ssedby these women.The
song "Wanita" (the title track (rom Traore's second albuml is about
Ih~m."
:.., Traoreseemsunaware
thatsheherselfbelongsto that group.Born
into an intellectualfamily,the young Rokiaabsorbed the sights and
sounds of Europe, Norlh Africa and the Middle Easl; her family moved
ohen, keeping up with her father's changing diplomatic assignments.
Traore spent a more typicaladolescence in Bamako,Mali's capital,prac.
ticlng'herhip-hopflow even whilelearningmore orthe musical traditions
of hercountry.Thesoaringvocalsoftraditional
Maliansingingsank in,
but Traore's interestsremained
firmlycontemporary."Ican'tdotradi.
tional music-it's another(discipline). it's something else," shesays. Her
songwritingand performancestylecontinueto steerclearof traditional
dress."What we designedto wearonstageis verymodern.It's imgortant
for the audienceto understandwithout tellingthem that I am not a traditional singer."
In 1996 she introduced two of her own songs, "Finini" and
IIMouineissa,It on anationalMalian musicshow.Bothwerelocalhits and
lay the groundwork' for her debut, Mou;nelssa.But being modern-day
singer meant higherproductionvaluesand biggerdemandson her as a
recordingartist. "I didn't have anytraining," she saysof workingon her
forst album. So she kept it simple oul of necessity, playing guitar and
singing and including very liUle else. .'t was very spontaneous. It was just
some songs I used to write at home. There weren't
ments.
..
very complex arrange-
Wan;Ia,releasedIn 2000, was a differentstory.., had toured a lot,
I had some voice lessons, and I had also had music theory and songwriting lessons. It was easier for some things technically. But even when
I knewwhat I wanted, I wasn't alwayssurehowto get there. I was thinking about what people wouldthink,ifn would be successfulor not, what
would happen to my career. I had all these questions."
One question concerned her reception outside Europe. Her very
forst slates ide concert, at New York's Damrosch Park at Uncoln Center,
was well attended by curious critics, world music fans and passersby
looking to waste an early summer ahernoon. Her band was small but
expert. The biggest surprise was her voice-strong, with Western-pop
inflections and hints of Islamic chants-and
that such a voice could
come oul of such a small woman, By the end of her 4s-minute set, she
had the crowd on its feet and her forstreal inkling that maybe, ju.~tmaybe,
she had a career.Her last performance In the U.S. that year,at New York's
Celebrate Brooklynfree outdoor concertseries, "was fantastic,"Traore
"The day I think I'm perfect I could stay at home
.
and becomethe god of alii see."
says.
BowmboT
boastsa much more assuredsinger-songwriter,
one canfodentof her message and more comfortablewith her talents. '" had time
to be sure of what I'm doing,. Traore asserts. ., learned between Wan;!a
and BowmboT that the most important thing is to do what I want and to
do it with my heart. I know now that you can plan and do things with your
best intentions,but youcan neverknow abouttomorrow.Jthink I knew
it before, but with BowmboT, I accepted it. BowmboT musically was spiritual, very relaxed. I know now that even if it's not a long one, I have a
career."
In the unlikelyevent ofTraore'scareerendingsoon,shewouldhave
a solid sendoff in BowmboT.Approached as a spoken-word exercise more
than a songwriting project (Bamanan is not a written language, Traore
explains), the album echoes with Traore's intellectual zeal and respect for
M~1i and its cultures;the songwriterrecruitedseveralgueststo help her
realizeher vision.
On "Manian," a bitter reproach of a hardscrabble life, the Croons
Quartet both sohens the edges and sharpens the cuts with long phrasing
and short, energetic bursts. The n'gon;, played beautifully by Mamah
Diabate on "M'Bifo," providesgentleyet formanchor to Traore'ssupple,
tender vocals and lyrics ("I brought you an empty receptacle from the
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period of my solitudefYou foiledit with love, you have foiledme with happiness"). Griot Ousmane Sacko pairs with his host for the swaying
"Mariama," relating a story of beautyand loss ("Thisstorytraveledfrom
griot to griot, through time.).
N'goni player Baba Sissoko, teaming with the Kronos Quartet, providesa hauntingbackdropto the confessionsof fearand abidinglovp:or
a parent for a child {"Youcould have chosen riches and honor/But you
preferred me, a poor man/You are the most beautiful thing I haveIThe
most cherished in this world"'. Sissoko appears again on the spare
"Deli" ("I fear lies/Ties are infonite and complex/None can masterIThe
sentimental maelstrom of human emotions").
The collectionshows off Traore'smaturity and musical elasticity,
but more important, it showsa performer ready for more cryallenges.
"[Beingl Rokia Traore means something today," she says. "For me, it
means being onstage, going on tour, it means also making a living. I
think I'm professional-I don't know [ifl'mJ a good one or bad one-but
I'm just a professional and I'm trying 10 do things as perfectly as I can."
She realizes her limitations. "I don't think I'm perfect. The day I think "m
perfect I could stay at home and become the god of alii see,. Traore says
with a sweep of her hand and a laugh. ., have this ability still to look for
perfection and know that I'" never get it." ~
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PROVIDENCE JOURNAL
PROVIDENCE, RI
SEPTEMBER 29, 2004
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A voice that blends the old with the new
ROBERT
HIGGINS
Entertainment
Edwards Auditorium on the Kingston
campus. The concert is free, but a $5
donation (It the door is suggested. The
concert is sponsored by the URJ
Department of Housing and Residentialllie.
Much of Bowmboiwas
recorded in
her native Mali in West Africa with
native instruments as background
music.,Tarore also traveled to San
Francisco to record the world-class
strings of the Kronos Quartet for the
album.
It's pOUling in Paris. But R.Qkia T!£.ore shnlgs off the lousy weather. "An
autUmn and winter makes you appreciate summer more," she says philosophically from her home in Pans.
The 29-year'-0Id singer, songwriter
and performer has, with her first two
albums, established herself as West
Africa's most exciting and precocious
new talent. Her third album,
Bowmboi, swpasses her previous
efroitS."it's a pelfect connection
between the roots of traditional
Afric;an music and her modem outlook on the world.
"
"She's a part of a. new generation,"
observed music journalist and African
music expert Banning Eyre. "She's of
Traore kicks off her North American tow- at URJ Friday at 8 p.rn. in
SEE HIGGINS, C3
Higgins.
Continued
from PageC'l
the country, but she also spent a lot
of time outside it, and it gives her a
unique experience."
Initially. she had no intention of
becoming a professional singer. "It
happened by chance," she says. But
she had been composing music
since she was a teenager - "writing for myself," she Says, "with no
idea of becoming profe5l>ional."
Herfather was a diplomat, so at
an early age she saw a lot more of
the world than her fellow Malians.
"
Not only did she absorb the culture
of her own capital, Bamako, but
she also 1ived in Belgium, Algeria
and Saudi Arabia.
"I don't think I Would be an artist
if my parents, thanks to travel,
were not so open-minded," she
says.
"
Travel also afforded her wide
exposure to performing artists.
"Prominent were America performers like Tma Tumer, Ella Fitzgeraid, Louis Armstrong and Billie .
Holiday.
'They made the type of music
that is now disappearing," she
says. 'They sang with love. It's a
singing that d(!inands using a
deeper part of yourself."
Traore also feels that travelir%
influenC(!<!her decision to become
a musician. "It gave me the feeling
that if I wanted to do it, IaJUld," she
remembers. "At l(!as! I could try."
What does the title of the album,
"
Bowmboi, mean?
She says it's a lullaby she first
"heard in Mali.
"In the song, a baby chooses
when he wants to come and he
also chooses his parents," she continued. 'That's because in Mali,
one of the poorest countries in
world, there is little money to plan
ahead. But you love the baby,
because loye is the only sure thing
you have."
"To me, the most important
thing about a song is its idea," she
continues.
"
On the album, Traore sings in
her native Bambanan tongue. "I
also sing in French and English,"
she says, "but generally I sing in
Bambanan, because it is a vel)'
interestinglanguage."
,
I
On "Bowmboi," Traore makes .
use of Malian instruments,including a calabash harp, known as a
bolon, and an African lute, called" a
n'goni.
"I feel more inspired by traditional instruments," she says. "I
know their (musical) colors."
Several songs on "Bowmboi"
deal with women in modem
African society. '''We have lots of
freedoms otlr mothers didn't
have." she says. "But woinen have
to be strong to fight for their rights.
You need courage. So a lot of my
songs pay tribute to strong
women."
"
" Traore st<Irted singing lessons at
12, and made her debut as a backup artist with a rap group.
.
Her voice sets her apart from the
Griottes arid Wassoulou who are
Mali's best known women singers.
Traore is soft and lyrical with
moments of jazz in her styling.
"I'm not based on pow~r and"
volume," she says. "I'm looking for
a totally different direction."