Salif Keita Papa CD

PAPA was nominated for the 2000 Grammy Award for Best World Music Album.

Salif Keita is known in world music circles as "the voice of Mali," as he's a star in that African country and its most well-known musical export. Mali is a cultural melting pot, where North African folk sounds meld with Arabic, French, Spanish/Cuban, and Anglo-American folk and pop sounds. Keita takes these influences and molds them into his own emotion-laden style, his smooth voice attaining gospel-tinged levels of passion.

PAPA, co-produced by ex-Living Color guitarist Vernon Reid, is his most accessible album, yet compellingly maintains the African elements at the music's core. Reid (along with special guest Grace Jones) provides a full-sounding, vibrant, pop-flavored context in which Keita can shine. "Ananamin (It's Been So Long)" is an evocative, sultry, R&B-tinged love ballad (think Sade) that shimmers like a swimming pool on a hot summer day. The loping, pensive "Sada" continues the groove, but with the haunting refrain of a country-tinged guitar motif. "Abede" is lush with the dancing, sparkling guitars of Central and West African pop (think King Sunny Ade), bubbling percussion, and rich choral singing, with Keita's mighty voice testifying over it all. The music here is a virtually perfect fusion of different styles of traditional African and cosmopolitan pop music.

New 1999 Release From Legendary African Vocalist, His First In 4 Years. Guests Include John Medeski, Grace Jones & Vernon Reid.

Recorded at WANDA Studios, Bamako, Mali in June 1997; TMF Studios, New York, New York in December 1997; LATITUDE 101, Paris, France in September 1998.

Personnel: Salif Keita (guitar); Ousmane Kouyate (guitar); Monica Wilson (cello); John Medeski (organ); Jean-Philippe Rykiel (keyboards); Kélétigui Diabaté (balafon); Curtis Watts, Ben Perowsky (drums); Souleymanne Doumbia, Sydney Thiam (percussion); Eric Bono (programming); Djanka Diabate, Natalie Jackson, Djene Doumbouya (background vocals).

Audio Mixers: Timour Cardenas; Scott Harding.

Recording information: Studios Latitude 101, Paris, France (06/1997-09/1998); TMF Studios, New York, NY (06/1997-09/1998); Wanda Studios, Bamako, Mali (06/1997-09/1998).

Photographer: Lucille Reyboz.

Unknown Contributor Roles: Adama Coulibaly; Grace Jones.

Arranger: Eric Bono.

Personnel: Salif Keita (vocals, guitar); Ousmane Kouyate (guitar); Monica Wilson (cello); Toumani Diabate (cora); John Medeski (organ); Jean-Philippe Rykiel (keyboards); Henry Schroy (bass); Curtis Watts, Ben Perowski (drums); Keletigui Diabate (balafon); Mohamed Kouyate (talking drum); Souleymane Doumbia, Sydney Thiam (percussion); Adama Coulibaly (m'simby); Eric Bono (programming); Isabel Gonzalez, P. Kameni-Kanga, Natalie Jackson, Bemshi Shearer Jones, Johnny Kemp Jr., M, Djene Doumbouya, Djenka Diabate, Isabel Gonzalez (background vocals); Grace Jones, Vernon Reid.

Engineers include: Scott Harding, Philippe Brun, Timour Cardenas.

Spin (9/99, p.197) - 8 out of 10 - "...[Kieta's] finest solo record....PAPA skews [his] Islamic declamation toward both the metallic drive of Living Colour and the harmolodic vagaries of [Vernon] Reid's...Ronald Shannon Jackson's Decoding Society....[knowing] the difference between embellishing and bedizening..."
Q (8/99, p.107) - 3 stars (out of 5) - "...the voice is as fantastic as ever...lovely melodies..."
The Wire (7/99, pp.55-6) - "...a fine example of urban African pop drawing from a cosmopolitan musical sensibility....[Kieta's] songs on [PAPA] are especially strong..."
Dirty Linen (10-11/99, p.59) - "...forging his own sound again, a modern sound to carry his uniquely powerful voice, but this recording brings him to a grittier sound, less dependent on programs and synth licks....[PAPA] transcends expectation..."
Mojo (Publisher) (9/99, p.110) - "...a very good 'African-American' album....it is a better roots-rock album than The Corrs could ever make."