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African classics
Reviews of classic African recordings
 

Souleymane Traoré
"Hommage à Lamissa Bangaly"

Souleymane Traoré is a balafon player and singer who performs under the name of Neba Solo. In 1996 he was named "Malian artist of the year" (Oumou Sangaré had been the previous winner) and his success represented a new direction in Malian popular music. Traoré plays the balamba, the largest instrument in the balafon family, and his musical style owes much to the traditional forms of balafon instrumental music. His style has been proudly labelled as "farm music", and it represents a bold move away from the high-tech Paris-based recordings of some of the bigger Malian stars. Traoré's music is firmly based in the roots of the region of Sikasso. Percussionists would love the dense polyrhythmic textures of balafons and traditional drums. It's a potent mix, capped off by Traoré's vocals treated with a generous amount of reverb. It's a great recording.

Souleymane Traore has four recordings available - "Confirmation", "Hommage a Lamissa Bangaly", "Kénédougou Foly", and "Kene Balafons".

→ More African classics
 

Kanté Manfila & Salif Keita "Dans l'authenticité vol 1"	Les Ambassadeurs du Motel
Kanté Manfila & Salif Keita "Dans l'authenticité vol 2"	Doura Barry "Laureat de Guinea"
L'arbre éternel - Syliphone LP 28	Djali Madi Tounkara and The Rail Band
Guinée an XII - Syliphone LP 21	Keletigui et ses Tambourinis - Syliphone LP 30
Orchestre Régional de Kayes	Mamadi Diabaté et Les Ambassadeurs
Victoire à la Révolution - Syliphone LP 29	Souleymané Traoré dit Neba Solo
Orchestre Régional de Mopti	Rail Band "Soundiata"
Teningnini Damba	A Search for the Roots of the Blues vols 1 & 2
Ernesto Djedje "Le roi du ziglibithy"	L'Orchestre National "A" de la République du Mali
Ami Koita "Pour le collectionneur vol 3"	Kanaga de Mopti

→ Discographies

by record label -   • Syliphone     • Club Voltaïque du Disque     • Tempo International     • Mali Kunkan     • Société Ivoirienne du Disque     • Safie Deen      • Volta Discobel     • N'Dardisc     • L.G.V.D.     • Music Hall 

by group -             • Bembeya Jazz     • Les Ambassadeurs     • Rail Band     • Salif Keita     • Keletigui et ses Tambourinis

by nation -            • Guinea Bissau     • Mali     • Guinea     • Mauritania     • The Gambia     • Burkina Faso     • Senegal - coming soon

other -                   • Guinean orchestras of the 1st republic      • Malian orchestras 1960-1980      • Rail Band & Les Ambassadeurs family tree

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