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Alpha
Yaya Diallo
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| Born
and educated in Guinea, West Africa, Alpha Diallo and his group, Bafing,
is one of the very finest African bands on the North American continent.
As a boy, Alpha traveled the many regions of Guinea with his doctor-father
where he picked up many ethnic musical styles and rhythms. Guitarist and vocalist Alpha Yaya Diallo takes a middle road regarding 
tradition; where other artists go whole hog into Western conventions,
with screaming guitar solos and other gratuitous effects, Diallo settles for very strategic and tasteful alterations on the traditional Mande sound. Aduna is well-produced without being over-produced. His guitar lines, both electric and, in many blissful instances, acoustic, are spare and well-stated, never intended to overwhelm the balance of the composition. And perhaps the best song on the album is "Le Futur", a song celebrating the fall of the apartheid government in South Africa and the hopeful future of the continent. The sound is soukous with the restrained elegance typical of Diallo's Mande tradition. Elsewhere, Diallo deftly plays the entrancing Latin themes which used to be the bread and butter of musicians across the African continent, and still greatly influence artists there. Diallo's multi-cultural band should get some credit for both replicating the best in Mande swing music and avoiding its cliches. In the end it's the strength of Diallo's compositions, both his original pieces and his interpretations of tradition, that make the recording the success it is. |
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