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Oumar Konate: Addoh

Plenty of grinding jangle on the debut solo album from this talented Malian guitarist.
Oumar Konate
Addoh
Clermont Music
2014-05-27

There’s plenty of grinding jangle on the debut solo album from this talented Malian guitarist. Konate has been testing the waters of international fame for a few years now, first touring with Khaira Arby in 2012, then Vieux Farka Touré in 2013 and early 2014, and more recently trying himself out on a 15-city American tour to promote Addoh. Slow and slouchy seems to be the speed where he feels most at home, though he’s got uptempo assistance from Sidiki Diabaté, son of Toumani, on an underused kora, and Cheick Diallo, a fellow Vieux Farka Touré alumnus, on the flute. “Underused” might be the wrong word. I’m not sure the kora needed to be there at all, other than to make the album more inclusively Malian. I wonder what he’d sound like with the accompaniment stripped back.

RATING 7 / 10