Record of the day: Sanougue Kouyate, “Balendala Djibe”

Sanougue Kouyate
“Balendala Djibe” (Cd Island/Mango 162539874-2)

Daughter of Siramory Diabaté, one of the greatest singers that African music has ever known, Sanougue demonstrates in this
splendid album of being worthy of carrying around the world the artistic legacy of the mother.
Originally from Mali, Sanougue belongs to a family of Griots (a very complex category that includes the qualities of musician, storyteller, narrator and nomad) and since childhood she has absorbed a large number of songs, stories, legends belonging to the history of Mali in which she lived (in some cases they were tales that dated back to the Middle Ages); as the album’s liner notes write: “Sanougue did not learn to sing, she was born already able to do so”.

At the age of six, she had learned many songs from her mother’s repertoire and within ten years she had become one of the best Griots in all of Mali, attracting both admiration and nefarious envy from many other singers (her mother was even afraid that some of them might cast a curse on her daughter).
The famous Salif Keita, an artist as great as he is generous, decided in 1990 to produce his debut album for the Island label, “Balendala Djibe”, which to this day remains the only recording available (especially abroad or on the Internet, no point in looking for it here in Italy) where it is possible to listen to his beautiful voice and his songs full of enveloping melodies and sensual polyrhythms, which enchant from the first listen with their mix of acoustic guitars, balafon (an ancestor of the marimba with a soft but incisive sound), talking drums, harp, piano and choirs.

There is no reason to resist the waves of heat that arise from songs like “Dra” and “Bintou”, supported by combinations in different tempos that blend naturally, over which Sanougue sings short melodic cells that progressively expand into dizzying melismas of almost unreal beauty. His phrases are answered by instrumental melodies in continuous counter-tempo, each song is so beautiful that it could continue forever. The continuous spirals of the rhythmic accompaniments are able to attract like a magnet, you find yourself submerged by a forest of sounds whose communicative qualities are not affected by the difference in language or culture.

Carlo Boccadoro, composer and conductor, was born in Macerata in 1963. He lives and works in Milan. He collaborates with soloists and orchestras in different parts of the world. He is the author of numerous books on musical subjects.

This text is taken from “Lunario della musica: Un disco per ogni giorno dell’anno” published by Einaudi, courtesy of the author and the publisher.