Vieux Kante

Like his legendary father, Ali Farka Touré, Vieux is a guitarist who likes to collaborate. He has worked with the Israeli keyboard player Idan Raichel, and now comes an even more powerful partnership, with American singer Julia Easterlin. The opening Little Things starts with the familiar guitar lines of that Malian favourite Kaira, before Easterlin eases in to nudge the song towards western balladry. Elsewhere, this bravely original fusion switches from an African funk treatment of Fever Ray’s I’m Not Done to slow, thoughtful laments. The traditional In the Pines has been covered by everyone from Lead Belly to Nirvana, but is here reworked with chilling, whispered vocals and desert blues guitar, while the most startling track is a slow, African-edged treatment of Dylan’s Masters of War, which sounds like a pained meditation on the recent chaos in Mali.

Ali Farka Touré trekked the world, bringing his beloved Malian music to the masses. Dubbed “the African John Lee Hooker,” one could hear strong connections between the two; both employed a bluesy style of play with gritty textures that elicit calm and fury in equal measure. While the influence of Black blues music prevailed, Touré created a West African blend of 'desert blues' that garnered Grammy awards and widespread reverence.

Les pandémies avaient d’abord décimé les vieux. C’était triste, bien sûr, mais somme toute… Somme toute, c’est le mot. Le décompte pouvait être rentable. Sauf que les virus ne se laissent pas commander par des logiques politiques. Et puis, après la régression économique effroyable qui avait suivi la première grande pandémie, les gens s’étaient dit qu’à l’avenir, ils préféreraient sans doute sacrifier les vieux que leurs revenus personnels…

Une politique volontariste de gestion des seniors est mise en place par le gouvernement. Les VSA, villages de santé pour aînés, s'occupent des besoins quotidiens des pensionnaires tandis que leurs biens sont gérés par l'Etat. Alexandre Geoffroy, avocat spécialisé dans la gestion de patrimoine, assure la promotion de ces structures mais il doit également s'occuper de sa mère âgée. …

Salif Keita & Kante Manfila - The Lost Album (2007) {Cantos–MRA MR60552 rec 1980}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 315 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 128 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 9 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1980, 2007 Cantos / MRA Entertainment | MR60552
Afro-Pop / World Funk / World Fusion / West African

The Lost Album resurrects six lengthy and largely acoustic tracks recorded in 1980 by West African singer Salif Keita and his longtime collaborator, guitarist Kante Manfila. Musical partners since the late '60s, first in the Rail Band and then in Les Ambassadeurs Internationaux, Keita and Manfila seem to be moving away from that group's somewhat westernized Afro-pop sound with these sessions.