Smooth Operator: Fatoumata Diawara and "Bissa"

One of the first artists that may have signaled the end of my musical adolescence with its preoccupation with what is now called "classic rock" and my evolution into different types of music was Sade. I always had the urge to explore, and in my early teens I found myself loving the funk-influenced sounds of Earth Wind and Fire, for instance. But I never strayed too far from my beloved progressive rock and art rock and just plain rock. Unfortunately, I came later on the rock scene, so by the time I was listening rock bands seemed to be obsessed with concept-type albums. It was also beginning to transition into heavy metal, and there were a lot of hard rock, metal and the hybrid "hair bands" dominating the airwaves. I got tired of hearing a lot of the same things on the radio, and then Sade came.

Her voice was sensuous, her songs mellow and yet there was something about them that I really connected with. Sade led me to a new type of music and led me to explore on one hand the R&B in which she was steeped and on the other hand, the singer-songwriter. With a new openness, I was willing to listen to other musicians that new friends were suggesting. Without that initial shock of recognition that music was more than hard guitar riffs, but could be sensual, understated, and complex in a meaningful, not technical way I might not have gotten to the point where I could be open to world and global music.

I think of all this right now because today's artist, Fatoumata Diawara, reminds me a lot of Sade, with a little bit of Tracy Chapman thrown in. Fatoumata Diawara is a Malian musician born in the Ivory Coast and currently living in France. She initially moved to France to try acting, but later took up guitar and began composing music that mixed her native Wassalou music of southern Mali with international influences. She has appeared in eight films, has released one solo album, Fatou in 2011 and has collaborated with artists such as Bobby Womack, AfroCubism and Dee Dee Bridgewater. The song I present to you in this post, Bissa, can be found on her Fatou CD, and I'm curious...who does she remind you of?