Titati


    One of Mali’s best kept secrets might no longer be one. Thanks to these 12 sumptuously-produced tracks, Bako Dagnon could, indeed should, arrive in the pantheon of great West African singers – at last! For, there are few Malian artists with a finer knowledge of the bottomless well of musical permutations born in this country than this woman from the remote village of N’Golobladji. Dagnon allies this erudition – acquired in the baptisms and marriages she attended with her mother as a young girl – with a powerful voice and innate sense of rhythm. The title track, about love, is arguably the finest example of her texture and it is ably shouldered by a tight acoustic set and the bluesy harmonica of Frenchman Pascal Mikaelian. The symbiosis is prominent in one of my favourite songs on Titati, the gripping “Lassidan”.
    The song’s bass player Francois Breant also happens to be the album’s producer and his seasoned imprints are all over the recording. Breant’s talent as as arranger and artistic director has surfaced regularly in the past three decades with his input in works by Thione Seck, RFI Discoveries winner Idrissa Soumaoro and the 1987 record Soro by Salif Keita. And, ironically, it is Keita’s voice that we are most reminded of by several songs, especially one of the album’s best “Ikerifaye”. Poised and natural, Dagnon reveals an expressive depth that does honour to Mali’s griot heritage, maintained both by male and female vocalists in the country.
    Yes, Breant shows he has lost none of his sense of adaptation and timing with this release, which is essentially made up of direct takes in Bamako’s Bogolan Studios. One does not tire of Dagnon’s powerful inflexions here as she recounts classic tales from the nation’s traditional repertoire. In a short span of time, the elegant vocalist visits a thick slice of Malian folklore: she describes the realities of life as a troubadour (“Toubaka”); women’s beauty (“Sansando Minata”); a hunter who impregnates the king’s wife (“Donsoke”); the importance of truth (“Telemba”); or being a blacksmith (“Noumou”). In “Bounteni” there is also the moving homage to Bakary Soumano, a friend of her father’s who was one of the nation’s most outstanding griots.
    Credit must also go to Ibrahima Sylla, the executive producer, whose Syllart Productions label has been at the heart of many of West Africa’s greatest gems over the past three decades. Sylla has once again unearthed a voice that incarnates the best in the continent’s musical panorama and ennobled it with the best of acoustic and technical accompaniments.
    Oh, and just a word of thanks to Simon Veyssiere for yet again bringing quality music to my attention. The ebullient press attaché in Paris is available for all media enquiries, at simon.veyssiere@numericable.fr.

December 26th, 2007

Daniel Brown