ABDOULAYE TRAORE & MOHAMED DIABY - Debademba (Naive)/DIOM DE KOSSA - In My Father’s Shadow (Talik)

Debabemba means “big family” in Bambara, and there’s a feeling of extended family get-together about this beefy, sonically wide-ranging album that was hatched in the bustling Parisian suburb of Belleville. Traoré, a guitarist originally from Burkina Faso, has teamed up with Ivorian Diaby, a singer with a remarkable voice that combines the forceful declamations of his griot antecedents with velvety, emotive expression.

Produced and arranged with a sumptuous Parisian-African sensibility, the album is topped and tailed by a folsksy ballad and a salsa workout, between which the listener is taken on a whirlwind tour of electric Bambara, jazz, soul and blues, tinged with Afrobeat in places and all of it infused with strains of Andalusion guitar and Arabic textures (including the snaking, breathy melodies of flautist Naissam Jalal).

If that sounds a bit too rich a mix, at times Debademba does trip over its own ambitious attempt to create such a melting pot of styles, particularly in the two extended jazz inflected workouts that weigh down the midpoint of the album. But either side of those tracks, Debademba exudes impressive reserves of vibrancy and inspiration.

Agnakamina – all tumbling rhythm, twangy guitar and wild flute – crackles with energy; Kiele Djola builds a strummed mandolin opening into an up-tempo blend of north- and west-African grooves; and Loundotemena swings exquisitely around acoustic guitar, with balafon with ngoni melodies trailing and mimicking those of gospel-style female backing.

Guest singers Fatou Diawarra and Awa add more distaff variety in consecutive songs towards the end of the album, the latter’s slightly other-worldly tones breathing character into Camille Hablar’s cello on the off-kilter Africa Blues. All of which tips the balance of this appealing album in favour of successful execution of myriad influences against the overwrought mess it could so easily have been.

www.chapablues.com

Diom de Kossa is an Ivorian singer whose spacious album contains tunes that sound as if they were written for outdoor summer airing. De Kossa floats easy melodies in his strong baritone voice over a stock electric four-piece backing, with backing singers and the deployment of traditional instruments such as the konting lute leavening arrangements where the repeated choruses and ever-so-slightly extraneous lead guitar or drum fills can lead to a serious case of festival-style mind-wander, although there’s usually enough of an edge to snap the listener back to attention. With a couple of jaunty traditional numbers beaten out on the Yadoh drum, Baba Toulenga makes for a decent, unobtrusively feel-good summer soundtrack.

www.talik.no

IDRISSA SOUMAORO - Djitoumou/DOBET GNAHORE - Djekpa La You/VICTOR DEME - Deli/CARLOU D - Muzikr

Four albums from West Africa that all stand as reasonable albums in their own right but all of which come with a warning of inconsistency and/or a tendency to pan-African wallpaperism.

Malian Idrissa Soumaoro’s release is arguably the most disappointing of the four because all the components of a top-notch recording seem in place. It’s the most ‘rooted’ of the albums, Soumaoro is a fine guitarist who possesses a sumptuous voice pitched somewhere between Issa Bagayogo and Kasse Made Diabate, he’s backed by sweet female harmonies and is supported by a fine array of musicians.

Bèrèbèrè is the highlight - perhaps unsurprising given the presence of the late Ali Farka Touré - a rolling blues with the rustic clang of electric guitar and winding njarka violin imbuing the vocalists with a controlled, entrancing energy. There’s more similar to this, but also a number of truly dreadful ballads, one or two almost (but not quite) rescued by some Papa Noel-inspired Latin rhythm, and too much in the way of stomping bar-blues guitar. Brilliant in places (Tilénén Ya shows that Idrissa can do electric-blues restraint) but at best patchy overall, Djitoumou is one to check out in its entirety on Spotify or similar before purchasing based on hearing its better moments.

www.lusafrica.com

Cote D’Ivorean chanteuse Dobet Gnahoré continues to develop her smooth and inclusive West Africanised pop on her third album, backed by a tight, standard pop/rock setup that dresses Dobet’s striking vocals in all manner of Afro-European musical attire. When it works – as on the soukous guitar of Evigne or Cote D’Ivoire’s uplifting brassy patriotism – Gnahoré offers a genuine threat to Angelique Kidjo’s crown as the queen of pan-African soul. And that voice – strong, rangy, full of fire and beauty – can’t fail to impress, although there’s always a danger of the all-things-to-all-people approach resulting in over-engineered arrangements, resulting in a few too many moments where the strive to touch all crossover bases leads to bland tunes with unimaginative squared-off drumming only briefly enlivened by sporadic token Afro wigouts. And that becomes somewhat formulaic after a while, leaving Djekpa La You deserving of cautious recommendation only.

www.contrejour.com

www.dobetgnahore.com

Late-bloomer Victor Démé provided one of the feel-good stories of 2008. After years of obscurity, the forty-something from Burkina Faso’s shoestring debut album and moving live appearances brought plaudits and a more-than-modest fame (in France at least) that has transformed the lives of those around him. It’s probably a bit churlish, then, for some of us admit that the charms of that debut release largely passed us by in what felt like a samey blend of mid-tempo acoustica and too-smooth crooning. It’s a relief, then, to report that the follow-up feels a lot more like the real deal. Victor has a silky, aged voice in the mould of Boubacar Traoré which contrasts well with his bouncy picking guitar style. And on Deli that basic template is filled out by kora, violin, some sparky ensemble vocal arrangements and a number of funky calabash-coloured mid-to-up-tempo numbers. It still gets a tad wishy-washy in places, making the track-count of sixteen a bit burdensome, but pick out any one of the best ten or so tracks here and you begin to see what the fuss was about. Not half bad.

www.chapablues.com

Last but by no means least comes the debut international release by former guitarist and hip-hopper Carlou D, a follower of the Baay Fall group like his compatriot Cheikh Lô and with a similar combination of good, strong vocals (with some impressive falsetto thrown in) and a loose and funky mix of mbalax, ngoni and acoustic guitar. Kora and sax lend variety, and there’s a nice hint of Cuban rhythm in places. The songs do tend to blend together somewhat however, and some of the rather bland balladeering makes the “Senegal’s next great musical export” publicity puff seem a bit over the top. But there are worse albums you could put on as background to the weekend chores. A promising start.

www.worldmusicvillage.com