Master ngoni player Aboubakar Traoré plays and sings with clarity of purpose on his new album Sababu. Made with his band Balima, Sababu expresses and explores the most important things to the Burkinabé performer: history, tradition, love, and community. Though they are based in Belgium, this album is dedicated to West African unity. A native of the cosmopolitan city of Bobo-Dioulasso, Traoré has spent his life bearing witness to the cultural connections that can take place within a region, and music gives him space to facilitate his own. Sababu is his sophomore release with Balima, and it sees the quintet move from jazzy serenity into a higher energetic space. They fill it.
Traoré plays the kamélé ngoni, a smaller style of string instrument that lets him move quickly and nimbly, each note bright as he leads the rest of the group. In addition to Traoré, Balima’s transnational lineup includes Guillaume Codutti (percussion), Zonata Dembélé (bass), Geoffrey Desmet (balafon, djembe), and Désiré Somé (guitar), an ensemble of excellent team players who work together to bring distinct textures to each of Traoré’s heartfelt songs. On the opening track, “Sonfo”, Somé’s warm guitar leads the way with melodic ostinati that glide over Codutti’s Afrobeat-adjacent percussion as Traoré celebrates human imperfections as crucial to diversity.
In “Gnani”, it’s Desmet’s resonant balafon that shines from the start, a rich layer of sound and symbolism that invokes a sense of pan-West African artistry as Aboubakar Traoré lets loose with a scathing critique of Western colonialism and call for change. “Politiki” takes themes of self-determination further by warning those in power to expect uprisings against abuse; an instrumental break near the end sees Traoré let loose with an intense ngoni solo.
Sweeter tracks follow. “Djarabi” is a true romance, with a wistful melody underscoring the intangible, nigh-incomprehensible power of love that Traoré describes in an exceptionally supple voice. “Sababu” reminds listeners to look for life’s many opportunities and seize those that promise true happiness. The band take a dubby turn on “Turamagan”, a tribute to ancient Traoré chief Turamagan and the lineage borne of him that features the vocal flourishes of Mariam Dioubate.
The instrumental “Djuru Kan” is a stunning solo ngoni piece. The album ends with “Tulon,” a life-affirming celebration of celebrations; at one point, Traoré calls out, “Vous êtes fatigués?” (“Are you tired?”) The response, of course, is a fully unified “Non!” It’s a wonderful and hopeful emotional nich to close the Sababu journey.
Tonally balanced and beautifully performed, Sababu is a decisive step forward for Aboubakar Traoré and Balima, moving them toward becoming standouts of internationally focused West African folk-pop. The music here is sincere, the social commentary rightly pointed, the production polished, and the talent unquestionable. With Sababu, Aboubakar Traoré and Balima establish themselves as an essential group in a vital scene, and it’s easy to imagine them continuing to light up stages not just between Belgium and Burkina Faso but far beyond if they keep making music that is this invigorating.