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Taj Mahal & Toumani Diabate: Kulanjan

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Hannibal Records
Released: 1999
Time:
 59:02
Category: Blues
Producer(s): See Artists ...
Rating: ***....... (3/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.tajblues.com
Appears with:
Purchase date: 1999
Price in €: 15,99



 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Queen Bee (Mahal) - 5:03
[2] Tunkaranke (Diabate/Mahal) - 6:30
[3] Ol' Goergie Buck (Mahal) - 4:12
[4] Kulanjan (Diabatte) - 4:34
[5] Fanta (Diabatte/Mahal) - 4:39
[6] Guede Man Na (Diabatte) - 6:08
[7] Catfish Blues (Mahal) - 5:28
[8] K'an Ben (Diabatte) - 4:58
[9] Take This Hammer (Mahal) - 4:59
[10] Atlanta Kaira (Diabatte) - 4:57
[11] Mississippi-Mali Blues (Diabatte) - 3:16
[12] Sahara (Mahal) - 3:59

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Taj Mahal - Guitar, Vocals, Claps, Piano, 2nd Guitar
Toumani Diabate - Kora

Kassemady Diabate - Vocals
Ramatou Diakite - Vocals, Claps
Bassekou Kouyate - Ngoni, Bass Ngoni, Small Ngoni
Dougouye Koulibaly - Bolon, Claps, Kamalengoni, Karinyan
Lasana Diabate - Balafon
Ballake Sissoko - 2nd Kora
Lucy Duran - Bolon, Claps, 2nd Kora, Karinyan
Banning Eyre - Guitar

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


This informal collaboration between veteran American bluesman Mahal and Malian kora (it's a twenty-one-stringed lute-like instrument) master Diabate was recorded in an Athens, Georgia studio with a sextet of West African string instrumentalists and vocalists. It sounds like a half a world away, with the two mixed cultures merging to create traditional blues based on non-traditional musical values. Mahal's gruff, weary voice is soothed by the Malian crew's sweet tones; conversely, the leaders' picking styles sound as if they were harvested from the same land. Natural, unpretentious, and occasionally sensual, Kulanjan is classy world music without the stuffy undertones.

Michael Gallucci - All Music Guide



"Auf "Kulanjan" erarbeiten Taj Mahal und Diabate rhythmische und harmonische Strukturen, in die beide ihr Blues-Feeling einfließen lassen. Das hat jene stilbildnerische Kraft, die Anfang der 90er Jahre auch Eric Claptons Rückbesinnung auf das Wesentliche verströmte."

W. Dulisch in stereoplay 9/99



Der ewige Blues-Straßenkämpfer Taj Mahal und Toumani Diabate, der Botschafter der Kora aus Mali, haben sich zusammengetan. Auf diesem sauber produzierten Album, das 1998 in Athen aufgenommen wurde, mischen sie Texturen und Idiome nach Belieben. Ihre gemeinsame Basis zeigt sich am besten auf "Atlanta Kaira" und dem Titelstück, wo die forschen Füller und der Glitzerton der Kora sich mit dem dunkleren, belfernden Ton von Tajs National-Reso-Phonic-Steel verquickt. "Ol' Georgie Buck" und ihr raffiniertes Cover von Muddy Waters' "Catfish Blues" sind die Blues-Höhepunkte des Albums. Hier wirkt Diabates Kora wundersam inkongruent, während sich die erhaben schreitende afrikanische Ballade "Tunkaranke" auf ganz sicherem Mutterlandboden bewegt. Der rein akustische, intime und überraschend realistische Sound wird durch gekonnte Gesangsparts von Taj Mahal, Kasse Mady Diabate und der Sängerin Ramata Diakate ("Queen Bee") aus Mali und durch weitere afrikanische Instrumente ergänzt.

James Rotondi - Amazon.de



Versuche, unterschiedliche musikalische Kulturen miteinander zu vermählen, wirken des öfteren bemüht bis gewaltsam. Solche Momente gibt es auch bei diesem Weltmusik-Projekt, etwa wenn improvisierend eine Synthese aus alter Mali-Folklore und Cajun Music oder Blues ausprobiert wird. Bei einem Klassiker wie dem "Catfish Blues" dominiert zu sehr das amerikanische Traditional, als daß das restlos gelingen könnte. Aus dem famosen Titelsong hätte Paul Simon sicher einen Pop-Ohrwurm gemacht!

© Stereo, Franz Schöler



What does it say when the most innovative, groundbreaking record of 1999 is a fusion of early-century American blues and folk with centuries older West-African string music? Put another way, what took so long for someone to do what Taj Mahal and Toumani Diabaté have done here? What does it say when the most innovative, groundbreaking record of 1999 is a fusion of early-century American blues and folk with centuries older West-African string music? Put another way, what took so long for someone to do what Taj Mahal and Toumani Diabaté have done here? What does it say when the most innovative, groundbreaking record of 1999 is a fusion of early-century American blues and folk with centuries older West-African string music? Put another way, what took so long for someone to do what Taj Mahal and Toumani Diabaté have done here? The easy, unforced aura that pervades these 12 tracks testifies to the fundamental strength of the idea: from the Africanized field holler of "Ol' Georgie Buck" and the kora- and ngoni-riddled blues of "Take This Hammer" to the primordial jazz, balafon, and piano stomp of "Fanta" and the supremely folky takes on ancient Manding griot music in "Tunkaranke" and "Kaira." A lot of the music on this year's top 10 looks to the past, but Kulanjan offers something heavier than nostalgia for colonial Cuba and Cape Verde. This is a window into the very DNA of our own folk, blues, and rock and roll.

Banning Eyre, CDNOW



Ry Cooder's pioneering collaboration with West African guitarist Ali Farka Toure on the 1994 album Talking Timbuktu effectively connected the dots between American blues and its ethnic ancestor. Kulanjan continues to explore that lineage by pairing blues icon Taj Mahal with a seven-piece Malian ensemble that includes kora virtuoso Toumani Diabate. The results are certainly the revelatory equal of the Toure/Cooder record. Diabate's 21-string harp-lute forms a sweet, fleeting rhythmic counterpart to Mahal's luxurious, steel-bodied blues crawl, while an array of finger-picked harps and lutes add delicate textures to the pair's warm, acoustic interplay. Both of the players' respective styles blend into a singular, slow, folk lilt, reflecting glints of ancient, tribal melodies the same way that sunlight flickers across flecks of gold. On "Atlanta Kaira" the collective incorporates Mahal's gentle bend-and-slide into the playful note sprinkling of a kora standard. On "Fanta," Taj's ever-so-careful piano synchs up ingeniously with the xylophone-like riff of the balafon. "Mississippi-Mali Blues" takes the album's most clearly didactic stance, however, powering Diabate's dexterous runs with a down 'n' dirty blues progression.

Colin Helms: CMJ New Music Report Issue: 629 - Aug 02, 1999
 

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