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LP version. Ba Power, Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba's fourth album (and their first for Glitterbeat Records) is a striking, career-defining record marked by mesmerizing songs, razor-sharp riffs, and full-throttle emotions. Following two years of worldwide touring for the much-heralded Jama Ko (OH 021 CD/LP), Bassekou's band, Ngoni Ba, has turned up the volume and dynamics significantly and Bassekou's masterful ngoni playing has achieved a new level of intensity that can only be called: Afro-rock. Distortion and wah-wah and propulsive rhythms now form the defining backbone of his songs and the white-hot vocals of his wife, Amy Sacko, serve more than ever as his passionate and perfect foil. When asked what Ba Power means to him, Bassekou replied, 'Ba,' in Bambara, means 'strong' or 'great' and it also means 'group.' I called the album Ba Power because I think the messages on it are very important and strong, and it is also definitely the album with the toughest sound I've ever made. I want these songs to grab as many people as possible. Ba Power was recorded in November of 2014 at MBK Studios in Bamako, a studio just down the road from the Kouyate family home in the hills at the edge of the city. Produced by Chris Eckman (Tamikrest, Aziza Brahim), the album began with Ngoni Ba playing together live in a relaxed, intimate space. Features appearances from legendary Songhai blues guitarist Samba Toure on Fama Magni, soku master Zoumana Tereta on Fama Magni, vocalist Adama Yalomba Waati, massively influential composer and trumpeter Jon Hassell on Aye Sira Bla, guitarist Chris Brokaw (The Lemonheads) on Siran Fen and Abe Sumaya, and drummer Dave Smith (JuJu, Fofoulah, The Sensational Space Shifters with Robert Plant) on four songs including opener Siran Fen. Ba Power contains all the swagger, precision, and wide-eyed excitement that the title implies. It is the album on which Bassekou's music engages with the world in unprecedented ways, and the album with which he confirms his status among the 21st century's most relevant musical artists. I think African music and culture deserve to be spread to the broadest audience possible. That is what I want to accomplish with Ba Power -Bassekou Kouyate. Bassekou Kouyate: lead ngoni; Abou Sissoko: medium ngoni; Mamadou Kouyate: bass ngoni and backing vocals; Moctar Kouyate: calebash; Mahamadou Tounkara: yabara, tamani, tamaba; Bina Diabate: medium ngoni ba; Amy Sacko: lead vocal and backing vocals.
For obvious, put perhaps somewhat condescending and backwards reasons, American listeners tend to compare West African musicians to American counterparts. That said, I'm about to do what I just said I shouldn't do. If Ali Farka Toure was the Malian John Lee Hooker and Boubacar Traore is the Malian Mississippi John Hurt, then Bassekou Kouyate plays the ngoni like a Malian Eddie Hazel. Forget the blues connection. This is funk.Kouyate has always been good. You don't get to play with kora master Toumani Diabate unless you are, but this is the best I have heard him, and it's the energy. Kouyate's ngoni comes across like a psychedelic electric guitar, steeped in George Clinton. Yes, the rhythms are clearly Malian, but the mothership clearly descended somewhere near Bamako recently, and the result will please anyone in America with a taste for funk, even if they don't know an ngoni from a balafon.For those who want a bit more, the ngoni is a fretless, small string instrument built onto a gourd, making it a precursor to the banjo. The way Kouyate plays it, though, you'll swear you're hearing an American guitarist leaning hard on the wa-wa peddle. No complaints about the band either. Kouyate is obviously the star here, but the rest of the band can keep up, and as usual, a lot rests on the shoulders of the percussion. Everything is flawless.If you are looking for something to put on the demonstrate your credentials as a worldly person, tuned into the sounds of other countries, not everyone will think this sounds pure. Forget those people. Musical influence flows back and forth around the world. To paraphrase George Clinton, who says an ngoni player can't play funk? You won't. Get this album.
