Louise Gray listens to The Reason Why Vol 2 and Ba Power.
by Bassekou Kouyaté and Ngoni Ba (Glitterbeat Records, 023 CD/LP/download)
‘Ba’, in Bassekou Kouyaté’s native Bambara, means ‘power’ and that is what surges through the Malian musician’s fourth album, which is also his debut for the innovative German label, Glitterbeat. Power is present not simply in terms of energy or Kouyaté’s command of instrument and material, but also in delineating a direction that is at once intrinsically Malian and simultaneously global.
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