Mansa

Djelimady Tounkara is probably one of the greatest living guitarists in the world, but almost no one in the US has heard of him; it's a shame. Without the aid of any distortion in his sound he manages to do dizzying, flawless legato runs that put a shredder to shame, and rhythm work, oddly high on the neck that seems to turn itself inside out. And the vocalists, very much in the traditional Mali idiom, are fascinating in the way that they seem to disjoint the vocals from the musical accompaniment in some sections, then to lead the rhythm back into line. The horns draw comparisons to early reggae with an updated feel added by the keyboards. If you want to branch out your musical tastes into something outside current trends, Super Rail Band are a good place to start.