Various Artists - Mali. The Art Of Griots Of Kela, 1978 - 2020. [Musee D'Ethnographie De Geneve / Archives Internationales De Musique Populaire 119 Testpress]

Coming in as a whitelabel testpress only recently is "Mali. The Art Of Griots Of Kela, 1978 - 2020.", the latest joint venture feature release put out on the circuit by the Ethnographical Museum of Geneva and its associated Archive for International Popular Music. Focusing on the music of Griots in the famed village of Kela which has been a hotspot and main hub for Griot musicians for generations this album collects a total of six recordings from the village, all captured in the same place the local Diabate family has been using as a studio space ever since. With three recordings from 1978 and three more from 2019, all with the traditional set up of main vocals accompanied by guitar and lute we're taken deep into the most undiluted heart and centre of deep - and to Western listeners oftentimes melancholia-infused - Griot music which hasn't changed much over the fourty years that lie in between these two recording sessions, probably hasn't changed much in many centuries before recording technology even existed and most probably won't change much in centuries to come. A document which presents traditional African music in its purest form for those keen to explore beyond the boundaries of so-called Western music.