Vol. 2 (Sakòrò-Mery)
Awesome Tapes from Africa (36 mins)
Awesome Tapes from Africa’s record label started off by reissuing the album Vol. 3 by Malian singer Nahawa Doumbia in 2011, and followed it up in 2019 with Vol. 1. Now, they complete the set by reissuing 1982’s Vol. 2.
This album was originally released just one year after Nahawa’s debut, and very much follows in the same vein. It’s a distillation of the Wassoulou sound, stripped right back to just Nahawa’s voice and the acoustic guitar of her husband, N’gou Bagayoko. This puts the focus directly on the singer, and the sweetness, subtlety and earnestness that permeates each of her lines. The guitar isn’t there to take any limelight, but N’gou does allow himself to decorate the circular accompaniment with delicious flourishes whenever appropriate. It’s a gentler sound than we have come to expect of Wassoulou music – this is music for swaying rather than energetic dancing.
The recordings’ age is obvious from their sound, the remastering process not fully capable of restoring them from an imperfect LP pressing (the masters no longer exist). In the end, though, it is the music and Nahawa’s beautifully controlled voice that matter most. Both shine through and mark Nahawa Doumbia as one of the stars of her style.