Songhai

A chance meeting at a London house party led to this melodious collaboration between Mali kora virtuoso Diabate and the young, flamenco-based Spanish group Ketama. While Diabate's dazzling runs often give the impression of several instruments being played at once, Ketama is a group with the focus of a single mind. Together, their music drifts up and down the African continent, ranging from the relatively relaxed, repetitious groove-oriented music of West Africa to the occasionally blistering, speed-clapping, and Islam-tinged sound of Iberia. British double bassist Danny Thompson is a model of understated support throughout. Mali vocalists join the group on the anthemic "Mani Mani Kuru" and the quiet "Africa," while Ketama becomes downright sentimental for "A Mia Tia Maria." --Richard Gehr