Rating: NNNN
Too long the well-kept secret of hardcore African funk headz with money to burn, the 70s recordings of Mali’s Moussa Doumbia are only now beginning to circulate outside of the collector realm, thanks to the French Oriki label that issued the excellent Orchestra Baobab set A Night At Club Baobab.
If you thought Malian music began with Ali Farka Touré’s Bamako blues and ended with Salif Keita’s soulful Afro-pop, guess again. Moussa Doumbia and his crew enthusiastically bash out the sort of rough and reckless grooves, punctuated by Doumbia’s wild shouts and skronky sax blasts, that make dealers see dollar signs and vinyl junkies sell off their prized Ethiopian joints to own. You need it.
