Samba Toure - Binga [Glitterbeat Records]

Released via Glitterbeat Records on April 9th, 2k21 is "Binga", the latest album outing created by renowned Malian singer and guitar player Samba Toure who once again bears the torch for the rich culture and vast history of the Songhoy people, introducing their music and songs to the world from his hometown of Binga, namesake and name-bearing birthplace of this nine tracks spanning longplayer which is his fourth for the label and still a first as it is completely sung in the Songhoy language as well. This lyricism, mostly dealing with social, socio-economical and political issues in and the general state of disrepair of the nation of Mali, backed by a stripped down combination of guitar, calabash, ngoni and some bits of harmonica shimmering through every now and then amalgamates an unbroken, unaltered musical tradition harking back more than 500 years and even further with contemporary realism and modern world topics, bringing forth a well fascinating, beautiful and twangy variation of what once was the original blueprint for what one might refer to as DesertBlues today - the sound of the Songhoy people. Highly recommended, not only for collectors and fans of African or so-called World Music with the deep, laid back "Instrumental", the well Blues-heavy "Fondo" and "Adounya" which seems to stay true to the patterns and rhythmic structures of traditional African work songs being our personal favorites on this one. Check.

Album artwork on Instagram!