Search - Salif Keita :: Amen

I SAY AMEN TO THIS!

Pieter | Johannesburg | 06/30/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Salif Keita won international acclaim in 1987 with his masterpiece Soro, a brilliant fusion of the Malian musical tradition with modern technology. The follow-up, Ko-Yan, was disappointing since his voice seemed to have been sacrificed to insensitive production. It's therefore a pleasure to report that Amen was a great return to form, featuring highly melodic, hook-filled tracks with a sense of space, variety and danceability in which that mellifluous voice comes into its own. The tracks address contemporary issues such as the quest for democracy in West Africa in the song Waraya, but there are also beautiful love songs like the boyant Yele N Na, the rousing Karifa and the trilingual N B'i Fe. Throughout the album, producer Joe Zawinul harmoniously reconciles Keita's voice with breezy arrangements and the technical expertise of the jazz fusionists who assisted Keita in creating this rivetting slab of sound."