NEW ALBUMS
SAMBA TOURÉ
Masterly Malian blues worthy of the storied Touré name.
By Nigel Williamson
Stark vibes: Samba Touré and friends
KARIM DIARRA
Binga
GLITTERBEAT
8/10
SAMBA TOURÉ comes from a centuries-old “oral tradition”. It’s a phrase we often use about African music without perhaps comprehending its full meaning. If we think about it at all, we assume it refers to musical skills and styles passed on in griot-fashion from generation to generation, with an accompanying set of ancestral folk tales that contain a semi-mythical tribal history of great kings and brave warriors.
All of which is true and is reflected on Binga, Touré’s sixth solo album since his international debut a dozen years ago. Yet the reasons why African music to this day remains a predominantly oral tradition run deeper. Growing up in a remote village in northern Mali on the edge of the Sahara, Touré never went to school. “I can’t read easily, just a few words, so I’ve never read a book in mylife,” he admits.