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The feminist collective of West-African musicians Les Amazones d’Afrique,
initiated by legendary singer Oumou Sangare',
recorded Republique Amazone (2017),
produced by Irish producer Liam "Doctor L" Farrell (Mbongwana Star's guitarist and producer).
The group included
Rokia Kone',
Kandia Kouyate,
Mariam Doumbia, Mamani Keita,
Angelique Kidjo,
Nneka, Mariam Kone', Massan Coulibaly, Madina N'Diaye, Madiare' Drame', Mouneissa Tandina and Pamela Badjogo (but not Sangare').
A new lineup (comprising only Mamani Keita and Rokia Kone' of the previous lineup) recorded the second album, Amazones Power (2020), again produced by Doctor L.
Malian singer Rokia Kone',
a member of the feminist collective of West-African musicians Les Amazones d’Afrique, debuted solo with
Bamanan (2022), produced by
Irish keyboardist Garrett "Jacknife" Lee.
The album's emotional pillars are the
stately chant/invocation Bi Ye Tulonba Ye (over mournful synth lines)
and
the gospel-ish lament of N’yanyan (with only sparse notes of electric piano), but the more conventional tradition of Afro-pop lives again in
the playful and catchy Bambougou N’tji and in the combination of
festive call-and-response and tribal beat concocted in Kurunba and Anw Tile.
There are echoes of old Western experiments with African music:
Shezita evokes the polyrhythmic Talking Heads of Remain In Light,
and Mayougouba straddles the border between techno music and the
Paul Simon of Graceland (1986).
(Copyright © 2023 Piero Scaruffi | Terms of use )
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