Album: Red & Green

Song Title

Time

La Drogue

Ali Aoudy

Cherie

Timbindy

Laleiche

Ketine

Lasisse les Phases

Baliky Lalo

Sidi Gouro

O Kata Gouna

Devele Wague

N'Timbara

Zona

M'Baudy

Petenere

L'Exode

Album: Red & Green

Song Title

Time

La Drogue

Ali Aoudy

Cherie

Timbindy

Laleiche

Ketine

Lasisse les Phases

Baliky Lalo

Sidi Gouro

O Kata Gouna

Devele Wague

N'Timbara

Zona

M'Baudy

Petenere

L'Exode

Performer Notes

Includes tracks from the untitled "RED" (1979) and "GREEN" (1988) albums.
Personnel: Ali Farka Tour‚ (vocals, guitar); Hamma Sankare (vocals, unknown instrument); Ousmane Gadjaka (guitar); Boubacar Hamadoun Farana (griot).
By the mid-'90s, Malian guitarist Ali Farka Tour‚ was expanding his signature acoustic African blues by changing his instrumental palette and collaborating with Western musicians like Ry Cooder (as on 1994's Talkin' Timbuktu). While Tour‚ gained prominence during this period, many die-hard fans tout the artist's earliest work as his strongest. The double-disc set Red & Green brings together two albums originally released by the French label Sonodisc between the mid- and late '80s. The original vinyl versions were long out of print and difficult to find, until their issue here on Nonesuch. Both albums are entirely acoustic (Tour‚ didn't introduce an electric guitar until 1991's The Source), with minimal accompaniment on calabash and ngoni (a traditional four-string guitar), which perfectly complements Tour‚'s percussive guitar style and plaintive, keening vocals. The music bears a striking resemblance to the modal blues of American artists like Son House and John Lee Hooker, yet it is deeply West African, with scales and motivic flourishes indigenous to the culture, and lyrical themes that reflect Tour‚'s life in rural Mali. Red & Green is a must for Tour‚ fans: a blissful, early dose of this singular artist's superb music.

Professional Reviews

Down Beat (p.87) - 4 stars out of 5 - "Toure's music falls into a stream-of-consciousness groove, deftly employing repetition and chanting over a lilting beat."

Dirty Linen (p.49) - "[I]t is the brilliance and vitality of the music that matters. These classic recordings rank among the most striking to come out of Africa in the last 30 years."