An Ancient City: Amine Bouhafa and Fatoumata Diawara with "Timbuktu Fasso"

Today's song, Timbuktu Fasso, was written and performed by Amine Bouhafa and Fatoumata Diawara on the soundtrack to the 2014 movie Timbuktu, set during the fundamentalist Islamist takeover of that ancient Malian city. A French-Tunisian composer of film music, Amine Bouhafa began playing piano at the age of three and attended the conservatory in Tunis where he graduated with honors in at the age of twelve. He began composing music for film at the age of 15 and has provided music for short films, television and feature films. Along the way he also has obtained a degree in mathematics and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of California at Riverside. His score for the movie Timbuktu gained him many awards. 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 and has released one solo album, Fatou, in 2011. She has collaborated with artists such as Bobby Womack, AfroCubism and Dee Dee Bridgewater. Timbuktu Fasso can be found on the Timbuktu Original Motion Picture Soundtrack from 2014.

Listen to songs like this and more on the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.

Source: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amine_Bouhafa; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatoumata_Diawara

Be Cool: Rocket Juice and the Moon with "Follow-Fashion"

Today's random song, Follow-Fashion, is by a supergroup called Rocket Juice and the Moon. Made up of music stars Damon Albarn of Blur and Gorillaz, Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and longtime collaborator of Fela Kuti, the legendary percussionist Tony Allen, the band was announced in 2008 but delayed its recording until 2011 due to various projects of the band members. Led by Allen's Afrobeat rhythms, Flea and Albarn mix in their own stamp that uniquely complements the whole. Follow-Fashion includes guest artists Fatoumata Diawara and M.anifest. Diawara is a Malian guitarist living in France who is noted for a sensuous voice, while M.anifest is considered the king of Ghanaian hip-hop and is an award winning rapper, singer, and songwriter. You can find Follow-Fashion on the album Rocket Juice and the Moon (2012).

Wassalou Groove: Fatoumata Diawara and "Bissa"

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 and has released one solo album, Fatou, in 2011. She has collaborated with artists such as Bobby Womack, AfroCubism and Dee Dee Bridgewater. This song, Bissa, can be found on her 2012 release Fatou.

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?