Mezana Dounia
Izniz Records (34 mins)
Massa Dembele is a Mandinka jeli (griot) from Burkina Faso who plays the kamalengoni. It’s a bridged harp not dissimilar to the kora, but with significantly fewer strings and a more twangy sound. It’s not a traditional jeli instrument, but in Dembele’s hands, it sounds perfectly natural.
This album – and especially the title track ‘Mezana Dounia’ – are lovely examples of his stripped-back, minimalist sound, often featuring just his multitracked and interlocking kamalengoni lines and haunting falsetto voice with occasional percussion.
There are guests on two pieces playing the balafon (xylophone) and folikan flute, which, like all else here, are used simply but effectively. Apart from these, though, Dembele plays all of the instruments on the album. While his skills as an instrumentalist are obvious, a griot’s real trade is their stories, so it’s very useful that this release has gathered English translations of every song, available to view online. The songs – which are all self-penned – are tales of changing cultures, emotional ponderings on the modern world, and calls for social justice.
This is a very short album, only just passing the half-hour mark, but it is nevertheless a very impressive debut from a musician putting his own spin on an ancient tradition.