Throw Down Your Heart, Tales from the Acoustic Planet, Vol. 3: Africa Sessions

by

Béla Fleck

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Overview:

Bela Fleck took his banjo and traveled across Africa including visits to Uganda, Mali, Tanzania, and South Africa. At each location Bela jammed and recorded with the local stars, including kora master Toumani Diabate, guitarist D'Gary, vocalists Oumani Sangare and Baba Maal, ngoni player Baekou Kouyate, djembe player Madou Sanogo. This brief list of African stars only scratches the surface of what probably amounts to about 100 different African musicians that play on the various tracks on this album. Each track features a different group of musicians and is recorded in a different locale. The end result is a magnificent fusion of the banjo and traditional African music. There is just an enormous amount of material here with a total of 18 tracks. With so much diversity of material you are likely to find a track two that disagree with your tastes, but overall its hard to imagine any fans of Bela Fleck and/or traditional African music not loving this CD. My only criticism is it is too bad that legendary kora master Toumani Diabate only plays on one track. However, the two are currently touring the together, so if your lucky and they come to your town, you can see more of their amazing chemistry in concert.

Song Highlights:

D'Gary Jam - this is track features an all-star cast included Toumani Diabate and his Malian band, D'Gary on guiar, plus great vocals.

Throw Down Your Heart - Written by Bela Fleck on his way to Africa during a layover in Amsterdam, this is the best song writing on the CD. A great new Bela Fleck tune played with a small group of musicians from Mali.

Ah Ndiya - This track is highlighted by the gorgeous vocals of Oumani Sangare. Pretty and moving.

The music on this CD is a collection of jams recorded while Fleck was traveling in Africa. I really admire Fleck's effort, but it falls short among other "banjo back to its roots" recordings. There are a few inspired moments, some ragged collaborations and a few things that simply don't work. The CD is interesting but does not stand up to repeated plays.

By comparison, "From Africa to Appalachia" by Jayme Stone and Mansa Sissoko is a far better recording. The musicians are finely attuned to each other and the tracks are bursting with creative energy. From a musical standpoint, "From Africa to Appalachia" should be up for the Grammy instead of "Throw Down Your Heart." But Fleck has the big name and Stone's CD is just a little gem on a little label without much distribution. You can listen to Stone on Amazon and compare: Africa to Appalachia. My favorite tracks are "Djula", "Dakar" and "June Apple".

Fleck has a chance to best Stone if he records a live or studio album from his tour with Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni Ba (Segu Blue) in the spring of 2010.

If you're really into "banjo back to its roots", you should also check out Cheik Hamala Diabate and Bob Carlin (From Mali To America). It features quiet duets where Carlin is the student learning from the master, rather than the collaboration of equals found on "From Africa to Appalachia".