Kevin Brown and Moussa Kouyate - KORA BLUES (DooDah)
Ry Cooder certainly started somethingwhen he recorded Talking Tibuktu with Ali Farka Toure almost a decade ago. Since then we've had American guitarists Taj Mahal and Bob Brozman teaming up with various African virtuosi to explore the sonic links between the blues and West African rhythms and ancient instruments such as the Kora and Balafon. Kevin Brown is the latest to jump on what one hesitates to call the bandwagon-it is an entirely welcome phenomenon.
Unlike most of those who have trodden a similar path, Brown is not an American but a British born slide guitarist. He met Senegal's Moussa Kouyate when he took his five-year-old daughter to a children's fair in Bath; he found the Kora player sitting beneath a tree entertaining the kids with his weird and wonderful stringed instrument. That was five years ago and it was the start of a musical journey for both of the. Since then they've been touring widely as a duo, but only now have they got around to recording.
Totally instrumental and recorded live without any overdubs; the album showcases their intuitive natural interplay. Despite some virtuoso picking, the nine tracks are all on the gentle side and should find a market in the current chill out craze. But what makes the album special are the magical tunes-'Banjul Calling' is an extraordinary beautiful melody, and many others aren't far behind. Perhaps the disc could do with an injection of a different kind of energy just to change the pace, but then its so beautiful like this that you can see why they didn't want to add anything else.
Nigel Williamson
