Mali to Memphis
The blues-Mali connection has been much pondered, andMali to Memphisattempts to illustrate the tie with selections of both Malian artists and American bluesmen (and women). The Malian cuts, especially those from Rokia Traore, Boubacar Traore, and Lobi Traore, are the most persuasive, setting up long, monochromatic, loping grooves not dissimilar to John Lee Hooker's, over which are laid some spine-chilling vocals, tinged with the Arabic influences of Islam. Hooker himself, who comes in with an acoustic "I'm in the Mood for Love," is the most obvious U.S. stylistic link. Muddy Waters, Eric Bibb, and Jesse Mae Hemphill also provide interesting comparisons, but some of the other blues choices, nice as they are, aren't as convincing examples of musical similarity. The point is well made that it is within the vocal styles that any cross-cultural pollinations are found, not in the 8-, 10-, 12-, or 16-bar structures that dominate the blues idiom. The blues are a vehicle for stories, emotion, and tradition, and the griots of Mali share the same responsibility, only they are much more deeply embedded in, and fundamental to, the culture of the land, something that oozes out of every note they play.--Derek Rath