Tale

Keita Salif

Tale
Format
Audio
Publisher
INERTIA
Published
22 February 2013
ISBN
9332727024597

Tale

Keita Salif

The long-time ambassador of Malian music Salif Keita returns with his new album Tale. Produced by Gotan Project mastermind Philippe Cohen Solal this new record see’s new life brought to the traditional sound that Keita has marked his name upon.

Tale is a retro-futuristic sound-clash that fuses organic, primitive sounds with contemporary electronic rhythms with a hint of irreverence and a lot of conviction. But this is by no-means a simple remix album the point was to stick to the true song format and adapt it for the dance-floor.

Salif was joined in the studio by special guests Manu Dibango and his awesome sax-chorus, and Bobby McFerrin, who improvised a soft melody on the simbi over Salif’s beat-boxing. The Grammy Award-winning artist, Esperanza Spalding, featured on the song “Ch rie s'en va” - a dedication to young girls who leave home to marry. And British prodigy Roots Manuva’s flow is captured on “C'est bon c'est bon”, a Lee Perry-type production filled with warp-speed, rock-steady infra-bass and soulful backing vocals.

Truly an album of innovation and re-creation, Tale will stand as a classic album of world/electronic fusion

Review

Salif Keita does an acoustic album every now and then, but Talé is not one of those. Rather, it’s a contemporary record full of modern dance grooves, a host of special guests and that golden voice.

Keita references early 70s Jamaican dub with Roots Manuva, includes some extraordinary vocalising from Bobby McFerrin and Esperanza Spalding, and samples the B-52’s ‘Planet Claire’. The sounds of Africa are omnipresent, with traditional instruments and voices perfectly integrated.

Special mention must go to producer Philippe Cohen Solal, whose arrangements are constantly creative and surprising.


Paul Barr

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