FREDERIC
GALLIANO AND THE AFRICAN DIVAS
(F Communications) Rating:
NNN Rating: NNN
French producer Frederic Galliano continues his organic fusion of African music and club beats with this two-disc vocal epic. Shuffling between Mali, Senegal, the Ivory Coast and Guinea, Galliano records the singing of a handful of African divas including Nahawa Doumbia and Koku Ouadjah and then melts it down in his studio in the south of France. The drifting house tunes that follow are decidedly rootsy affairs, more field recordings than club tracks, and made for home listening rather than late-night sweatboxes. The wider scope is appreciated, but Galliano spends too much time setting up his tracks with ambient background noises. Over two CDs, it’s hard to see the focus here, but with some better editing Galliano could be onto something.
