Annarella and Django: Jouer review – flute and west African lute shine in expressive new partnership
(We Are Busy Bodies)
This marriage of instruments is best when the full-band moments are stripped back to highlight the duo’s artistry
The plucked melodic twang of the ngoni, a west African lute, has long added an unexpected texture to fusion records. Jazz trumpeter Don Cherry featured the stringed instrument cutting through his full-throated blasts on albums throughout the 1970s and 80s, while producer Marc Minelli blended ngonis with synth melody on his 2001 Electro Bamako project and Malian singer Rokia Traoré used the instrument to bolster electric guitar on her rock-influenced 2013 record Beautiful Africa. Swedish flautist Annarella Sörlin is the latest artist to be inspired by the instrument, on her lyrical debut album with Malian ngoni master Django Diabaté.
Several of the record’s 11 tracks feature Diabaté playing alongside a full band accompaniment of flute, bass, drums and keys, to mixed effect. On the mid-tempo funk of Megaphone, Diabaté sits back in the mix, repeating a minimal lead line reminiscent of an electric guitar against the easy groove, while on Degrees of Freedom shimmering keys, clarinet and reverb-laden guitar subsume Diabaté in their desert blues atmospherics.
Continue reading...Topics
-
Champions League review: Bayern toil while Raphinha and Pulisic shine
World - The Guardian - October 24 -
Weekend Review: Palmer shines for Chelsea, eight-goal thriller between Juve and Inter
Sports - ESPN - 4 days ago -
Movie Review: A mercurial Kieran Culkin shines in Jesse Eisenberg’s deft, accomplished ‘A Real Pain’
Entertainment - ABC News - Yesterday -
‘This is a game changer’: Runway releases new AI facial expression motion capture feature Act-One
Tech - VentureBeat - October 22 -
New Command Center Supporting African Power Grid Will Use GE Vernova Software
World - Yahoo News - October 24 -
RetroRealms Review - A New Horror Multiverse Is Born
Tech - GameSpot - October 17 -
The FAA is opening a new review of safety at Boeing
Top stories - ABC News - October 18 -
GoFundMe bets social media can unlock Gen Z giving
Tech - ABC News - October 21
More from The Guardian
-
Spain floods disaster: death toll rises to 205 as extra troops mobilised
World - The Guardian - 35 minutes ago -
Republicans preparing to reject US election result if Trump loses, warn strategists
World - The Guardian - 1 hour ago -
Middle East crisis live: Israeli strikes kill 25 in Gaza and 13 in Lebanon
World - The Guardian - 21 minutes ago -
Gunfight and massive brawl in France seriously wounds five
World - The Guardian - 2 hours ago -
Manchester United announce Rúben Amorim’s appointment as head coach
World - The Guardian - 2 hours ago
Latest in World
-
Rúben Amorim, Manchester United and the Burden of History
World - The New York Times - 20 minutes ago -
Manchester United confirm Rúben Amorim as new manager: football news – live
World - The Guardian - 21 minutes ago -
Middle East crisis live: Israeli strikes kill 25 in Gaza and 13 in Lebanon
World - The Guardian - 21 minutes ago -
Lily Ebert, Holocaust Survivor Who Found Fame on TikTok, Dies at 100
World - The Wall Street Journal - 25 minutes ago -
US economy added only 12,000 jobs in October in shock pre-election drop – business live
World - The Guardian - 26 minutes ago