Show Me the Way Home, Honey

četvrtak, 02.01.2014.

Markus James - Where You Wanna Be

Styles: African-West, New Acoustic, Acoustic Blues
Label: Firenze Records
Released: 2001
File: mp3 @320K/s
Size: 85,0 MB
Time: 37:07
Art: front

1. Desert Flower - 4:24
2. Where You Wanna Be - 3:37
3. Way To Go - 4:52
4. In The Sun - 3:59
5. Cross The River - 3:27
6. Some Things(You Never Shake) - 6:00
7. Sunlight And Zero - 3:35
8. Oh My - 3:29
9. Endless - 3:40


Notes: Markus James is originally from Virginia and the DC area, where his first musical memory, from the age of four, is of a blind blues singer he saw many times playing on a sidewalk. Markus first encountered West African stringed music at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival when he was mesmerized by the Gambian Kora player and singer, Alhaji Bai Konte. After playing in various rock and R&B groups, Markus moved to the SF Bay Area where he pursued his interests in African, Indian, and Gamelan music, while also writing and recording original music in various rock styles. He travelled in West Africa and also Haiti, studying traditional ensemble drumming, before first visiting Mali in 1994, when he made his way to the village of Niafounke to meet Ali Farka Toure. It was then that he first recorded with Wassoulou musician Solo Sidibe, and this became the "where you wanna be" album, released 6 years later. He has produced several programs for PRI's Afropop Worldwide, notably "Ali Farka Toure: Live From Niafounke". Markus has returned to Mali many times, where he has written and recorded blues-influenced music with traditional Malian musicians, notably his 2002 release "nightbird", which has been warmly received by critics in the US and Europe.
His collaborations in Timbuktu with Hamma Sankare (Calabash player on Ali Farka Toure's tours and albums), Hassi Sare (master of the one-stringed Njarka violin), and Solo Sidibe (who plays the Kamele N'Goni, the hunter's harp of the Wassoulou people) are the subject of the documentary film and upcoming CD / DVD release "Timbuktoubab". This group has performed at the Festival In The Desert in 2003 and 2004, as well as in Timbuktu and other towns and villages in Northern Mali.
In the US, Markus tours with a group featuring Wassoulou musician Mamadou Sidibe. They have performed on numerous radio shows, including PRI / BBC's "The World", at festivals, and in clubs, and have an album due in early 2005.

Where You Wanna Be



• Markus James - Snakeskin Violin •
• Habib Koité & Eric Bibb - Brothers in Bamako •


Posted by muddy

Oznake: Markus James, African-West, New Acoustic, Acoustic Blues
- 22:20 - Comments (0) - Print - Link for this post

srijeda, 06.11.2013.

Habib Koité & Eric Bibb - Brothers in Bamako

Styles: World, African-West, Acoustic Blues, Contemporary Blues
Label: Stony Plain
Released: 2012
File: mp3 @320K/s
Size: 120,6 MB
Time: 52:40
Art: front + back

1. On My Way To Bamako - 3:15
2. L.A. - 5:37
3. Touma Ni Kelen ~ Needed Time - 4:40
4. Tombouctou - 4:03
5. We Don't Care - 4:00
6. Send Us Brighter Days - 3:58
7. Nani Le - 2:31
8. Khafole - 4:18
9. With My Maker Iam One - 4:26
10. Foro Bana - 5:24
11. Mami Wata - 1:35
12. Blowin' In The Wind - 4:45
13. Goin' Down The Road Feelin' Bad - 4:00


Notes: The Stony Plain label, justly famed for myriad expositions of roots music via a cascade of legendary long-timers and incandescent newcomers is, in Brothers in Bamako by Habib Koité and Eric Bibb, lately giving the excellent Putamayo label a run for the money by releasing this compendium of mellifluous, enchanting, sigh-filled evocations of beauty, reminiscence, reflection, and humane commentary. Chiefly just the two gents Koité and Bibb singing and fingerpicking, with some session work added in here and there, the sound field is magically filled with delicate scintillating guitar work and light flowing vocals. Once the amber tones of Bamako disc start wafting through the room, everyone's gonna lighten up and smile.
The affinities between this blend of South African, folk, and blues musics is strongly mirrored in South American strains as well, in the gentler, easier-going selections from the samba / bossa / etc. catalogue. More than once, I was also reminded of recent excellent releases by James Lee Stanley and John Batdorf, and a number of times I found my fingers snapping oh so coolly, just like a Djavan LP was playing. The threads to Nick Drake are just as evident as there's a consummate ethereality running throughout the CD—whether you care to attribute it to a more cosmic mindset or not is your decision, but Donovan had a number of cuts that still ring down the years and are extremely kindred to Bamako atmospheres.
Taj Mahal and the like have sewn this kind of highly attractive strain into their repertoires, but Koité & Bibb present an entire 13-cut delicacy before us, and one can very easily drift off to sleep while listening, carried away from the clamor and insistence of the wearying world. Bamako reminds us that not everything is stress, furious intensity, and callousness, the disc gently beckoning one and all back to their human sides, where we live for the pleasure of living alone. Listeners know that any CD can be a risk—it might be 30% good, 50%, whatever—but this is one is a 100%-er, plain pure heaven. You might even call it medicine.
A review written for the Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange by Mark S. Tucker

“It’s my first trip to West Africa. But I’m pretty sure, in some kind of way, it’s gonna feel like coming home”
Renowned blues musician, Eric Bibb, sings that revelation in the title track of his new disc with fellow renowned musician Habib Koite, On My Way to Bamako, and joining Habib in the capital city of Mali with his family. This warm and inviting blend of blues and world music is a delight to hear and experience as two songwriters journey to each other’s worlds. Habib praises ‘tequila time’ making him happy in “L.A” as he follows a hilarious line about taking five shots of the liquor.
Many of the tracks like fall under the category of spiritual awareness, but not tied to particular religious dogma. It’s more about reconnecting to each other and the land. “We Don’t Care” and “Send Us Brighter Days” are like a supplication to a deeper, interconnected life in two parts. Eric makes it very plain how intertwined both sinner and saint are to the Higher Power or God on the track, “With My Maker I am One”. Overall, a solid folk/blues treat that does indeed feel to coming home to me.

Brothers in Bamako



• Markus James - Snakeskin Violin •
• Tracy Nelson - The Best Of Tracy Nelson/Mother Earth •


Posted by muddy

Oznake: Habib Koité, Eric Bibb, World, African-West, Acoustic Blues, Contemporary Blues, mali
- 22:57 - Comments (0) - Print - Link for this post

četvrtak, 03.10.2013.

Markus James - Snakeskin Violin

Styles: African-West, New Acoustic, Acoustic Blues
Released: 2008
Label: Firenze Records
File: mp3@320K/s
Size: 115.6 MB
Time: 50:28
Art: front

1. I Won't Let It - 3:58
2. Lonely Mile - 2:24
3. Are You Ready (Mississippi Daze) - 3:38
4. Exile Tracks - 4:04
5. So Much Soul - 4:27
6. All That You Can't Keep - 4:20
7. Weather Vane - 3:35
8. O.M. Boogie - 2:40
9. Ambience - 0:55
10. Drivin By - 3:46
11. Sundown Pearl (Snakeskin Violin Pt 1) - 3:38
12. X-ray Soul (Hard to Find Pt 1) - 2:49
13. Heatin Up Now - 4:25
14. Mystified - 3:07
15. Soon - 2:35


Notes: Markus James has been recording and performing original, Blues-based music with traditional Malian musicians since 1994, when he first made his way to the village of Niafounke, home of the legendary Sonrai musician Ali Farka Toure. Markus' critically acclaimed Mali-based albums have been warmly received in the US, Europe and Mali, and he was honored to have a track included in the UK compilation "Sahara- Blues of the Desert", alongside such great artists as Ali Farka Toure, Baaba Maal, Yousou N'Dour and Tinariwen. Markus' long-term collaborations in Timbuktu with 3 Malian master musicians is the subject of the award-winning documentary film "Timbuktoubab" ("Excellent" - Global Rhythm), seen on many PBS stations throughout the US.
Markus has performed at the Festival In The Desert 3 times, and in 2007, was invited to perform at the series of Jamal Poi tribute concerts for his friend and inspiration, Ali Farka Toure, in Bamako and Niafounke, which were broadcast on Malian national television. The UK's fROOTS Magazine called Markus "the unofficial dean of this movement" of up and coming US roots musicians whose focus is the African source.
Markus' new album "Snakeskin Violin" is a kaleidiscopic journey in which fellow travelers appear and vanish, and features collaborations with trance groove Wassoulou hunters in Bamako, a shaman in Timbuktu, old-school drummers in Como, Mississippi, traveling Tamasheks in California, and African Diaspora musicians in the US.

Snakeskin Violin



• Various Artists - Copenhagen Blues Sessions •
• Bluebyrds - Born With The Blues •


Posted by muddy

Oznake: African-West, New Acoustic, Acoustic Blues, Markus James
- 22:13 - Comments (0) - Print - Link for this post

<< Arhiva >>

< srpanj, 2014  
P U S Č P S N
  1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30 31      

a few words
  • Jan 23, 2014
    We have created a new place that we called the garret, there you can post your albums as much as you want.
    Become a regular visitor of our garret.


    We are a group of friends from different parts of the world which has one important thing in common, our love for the blues. We are here to promote blues and blues musicians who we think deserve more attention and that is the only purpose of this blog.
    Never forget that these compressed files will never have the quality that can provide Cd, so whenever you can buy a Cd and support the artists. Artists will repay us with more great music.
    The C-box is only for messages related to this blog and for your requests. We'll try our best to get and post your requested album.
    Always leave your name/nick/aka when submitting a comment on the C-box or comment box of the post.

    Entering Comments: For those who don't read Croation here is a translation of the comment box of the post.
    Choose Anonymous, add your comment, enter your nick and click on POŠALJI.
    Thank you for visiting. We will appreciate any feedback from you.

    Sincerely, Divin' Ducks

blues chat




on this blog





  •  online


    Flag Counter