Vieux Farka Touré: Fondo (2009)

New Wax


With Fondo, Vieux Farka Touré’s sophomore release, the young West African gunslinger makes great strides toward establishing a musical identity that continues his late father’s legacy while at the same time  moving in an original direction. Of course, when your father is African blues legend Ali Farka Touré, continuing the legacy is not such a bad thing. Longtime Farka Touré, pére collaborators Toumani Diabaté and Afel Bocoum make appearances, with Bocoum singing on three of the tracks and Diabaté and the younger Touré having a lovely kora/guitar duet on one track. Many of the same touches remain. The long, stalking blues rhythms haven’t gone away, and Vieux is nearly as convincing a guitarist as his father.  Melodic lines ripple back and forth like waves on album opener “Fafa,” which is perhaps the best song on the album. Vieux adds a drum kit, as well as rock and roll (“Sarama”) and dub reggae (Diaraby Magni”) to his repertoire, and still manages to sound like a traditional Malian bluesman. If anything, this album should open Farka Touré to a wider world than his father had ever known. The guitar parts on smoldering blues number “Souba Souba” wouldn’t be out of place on, say, an Iron & Wine album, suggesting that when Farka Touré takes the stage at Bonnaroo next week he may leave with a number of new fans. The duet with Diabaté (“Paradise”) is as beautiful as the duets his father played with the kora virtuoso, and the album ends with a gentle acoustic reprise of “Fafa.”There is not a sour note on this album, and although the year is young, this may well end up as the best African release of 2009- if only because it signals that there is indeed a new Farka Touré in town, and like his father he demands to be heard.  -- Mountain John

Listen:
MP3: Vieux Farka Touré - Fafa

Tags: Vieux Farka Touré, Fondo