The West African Blues Project
ARC Music (48 mins)
The easiest way to describe The West African Blues Project is that it does exactly what it says on the cover. The connections between West African music and the blues have been explored on record many times, although it still manages to produce delicious fruit.
British blues guitarist Ramon Goose has certainly put in his time collaborating with West African musicians, having recently worked in projects alongside Diabel Cissokho, Daby Touré, Noumoucounda Cissoko and Atongo Zimba, as well as many names from the worlds of blues and beyond. Here, Goose is joined by Senegalese rising star Modou Touré, whose capable voice works equally well in the soulful Wolof styles as it does on bluesier pieces such as ‘Casamance River Blues’. The musicians clearly gel very well, and their mutual enjoyment is easy to hear.
Some of the tracks on this album feel a little too slick and produced for this reviewer, with the highlights coming in the form of the rootsier, earthier pieces, where the blues takes centre stage and Modou’s voice is allowed to flow along with it.
This probably isn’t the most effortless of African blues albums, but nevertheless, it’s hard to deny that the blues is rarely this upbeat or uplifting.