“Traore has a beautiful voice, and the arrangements are exquisite. She’s accompanied on many of the tracks by traditional Malian instruments such as the N’goni, a stringed instrument about banjo size (much smaller than the Kora), the Bolon, which is a kind of harp, and the Balafon, an ancient xylophone originating from her homeland of Mali. The Kronos Quartet also pop up on a couple of tracks. . Traore sings in her native Bamana language, but fortunately (or thoughtfully) for this, her third, ‘crossover’ album, the lyrics are translated into French and English. Very beautiful poetry they are too. For this album she won an award in the BBC’s World Music Awards in 2004. She’s been on the worldwide touring circuit ever since. I saw her perform live just two months ago as one of the many artists collaborating for the Africa Express Circus edition that turned up half a mile from my house as part of the Waltham Forest Borough of Culture programme...” . FOR FULL REVIEW & PLAYLIST CLICK LINK IN PROFILE: https://randomrecordreview.wordpress.com/2019/05/26/1316-rokia-traore-bowmboi/ . #rokiatraore @rokiatraore_officiel #bowmboi #mali #malianmusic #africanmusicians #ngoni #balafon @kronos_quartet #cdreview #recordcollection #nowplaying #nowlistening #randomrecordreview https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx6v6ebpiDT/?igshid=s95srexs13i8
