Fatoumata Diawara – Fatou (2011)

In my youth, the musicians I discovered were largely just from Western Europe or North America (well, also from Australia and New Zealand). Anyway, I didn't really know that much about the music from other continents. Then I moved to London where the diverse atmosphere introduced me to many new artists from all around the world. I also started writing my music scene geography blog, creating playlists of great music from different geographic areas. That's when I broadened my horizons on music big time. When creating the list for Malian music, I came across Fatoumata Diawara. She's a folk musician playing guitar and singing in Wassoulou. Even though the songs are mainly very melodic and beautiful, there's a really good feel for the rhythm in this songs as well.



Diawara sings about very political topics such as war, abandoned children and female genital mutilation. It's a bit of a shame I can't really understand any of the lyrics. In any case, I like the fact that music is still used for such political purposes as it seems to be less and less so in the European and US-based music.

This album has some incredible guest musicians on it, such as the Nigerian drummer Tony Allen, who used to play in Fela Kuti's band in the 70s. Malian kora musician Toumani Diabaté and Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones also appear on the album.

The album begins with a gentle folk song Kanou. It has one of the best melodies on the album. I really like the melancholic melody with the groovy bass lines. There's something eerily beautiful in this dark sounding song. Sowa continues with similar tones of music, but this song has a stronger emphasis on rhythm. The fast lyrics together with strummed guitar sound really good with the almost prog rock style rhythm changes. Bakonoba brings on the electric guitar and even stronger emphasis on rhythm. I feel like this song would be perfect live. Kele starts with some a cappella singing before bringing in the familiar electric guitars and percussion. There quiet bits in the middle of the song with some hand claps and amazing guitar solos. Makoun Oumou takes a slower approach. There's an enchanting hypnotism in the song. Sonkolon uses picked acoustic guitar that reminds me of some Americana folk songs. Then again, the kora that appears on top along with much more groovy vocals changes that impression pretty quickly. Alama has a very simple folk picking on the guitar, but the strength of the song comes from the amazing vocal harmonies. Bissa has some of the best guitar playing on the album with some fantastic harmonics. Mousso has some beautiful intertwining guitar picking by two guitars and vocals that soar above it high in their own register. Wililé is one of the most beautiful songs on the album with melancholic melodies accompanied by kora played by Toumani Diabaté. Boloko continues kora-driven folk sounds. The album ends with the song Clandestin that again has some similarities to Americana folk and a more hopeful melody.

There's a great music video for the song Bissa where the scenes switch from the streets of Paris to the streets of Mali with beautiful red sand and painted houses. It's nice to see Fatoumata Diawara singing her songs live as there's a fantastic joy of performing in her expression.

I bought this album just a few months ago. I was really excited to find it on vinyl at a London record shop. I love the look of this album on vinyl.

I seem to go through different musical phases nowadays and change from one to the other really quickly. At some point earlier this year I found myself quite bored with North American and European music, which meant that I listened to African music a lot. Fatoumata Diawara was definitely among the most listened to artists at that time.

Listen to the album on Spotify.