Wassa Up

Oumou Sangare tends to be the singer the world--well, a small part of the world-- thinks of when the subject turns to the music of Wassoulou, the southern Mali region dominated by Fula and Bamana where the women tend to be the most popular and important musicians.While I'm certainly a fan of Sangare, I'd say Nahawa Doumbia is just as good, but without the international backing of World Circuit/Nonesuch that Sangare enjoys, she tends to play second fiddle. She's worked regularly with French producer Frederic Galliano on some of his Frikyiwa remix projects and her own recordings have alternated between very traditional sounding acoustic efforts and more contemporary, electronics-enhanced outings, such as her most recent album Diby. Yaala, an album from 2000, is my favorite of hers, adding nice electric flourishes to deeply acoustic, hypnotic settings.

N'Tamagnoko

Buy it here.