The River (Ali Farka Touré album)
| The River | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | January 1990 | |||
| Studio | Studio Bolibana in Paris; Cold Storage Studios and Garden Studios in London | |||
| Genre | Blues[1] | |||
| Length | 66:38 | |||
| Label | World Circuit | |||
| Producer | Philippe Bertrand, Nick Gold | |||
| Ali Farka Touré chronology | ||||
| ||||
The River is a studio album by Malian singer and multi-instrumentalist Ali Farka Touré. It was recorded in sessions at Studio Bolibana in Paris, and at the London-based Cold Storage Studios and Garden Studios.[1] The album was released by the UK-based World Circuit label and distributed internationally by Mango Records.[2]
Critical reception
[edit]| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| The Village Voice | A−[3] |
Reviewing the album for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau gave it an A-minus and applauded its attempts to cross over in the form of "tracks colored with harmonica, saxophone, fiddle and bodhran, and the single-stringed njarka that Touré picks up for the finale--not to mention an extra edge of vocal command." Overall, the album offered a "variety, not compromise", that Christgau believed Touré had needed on his earlier recordings, which "drifted into the folkloric".[3] In an interview for Guy Oseary's On the Record (2004), music entrepreneur and record collector Craig Kallman named The River among his 15 favorite records.[4]
Track listing
[edit]- "Heygana" – 5:59
- "Goydiotodam" – 6:25
- "Ai Bine" – 6:21
- "Tangambara" – 5:22
- "Toungere" – 7:32
- "Jungou" – 7:23
- "Kenouna" – 5:02
- "Boyrei" – 5:23
- "Tamala" – 8:06
- "Lobo" – 6:44
- "Instrumental" – 2:59
Personnel
[edit]- Ali Farka Touré – vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, njarka
- Amadou Cisse – calabash, percussion, vocals
- Mamaye Kouyate – ngoni (tracks 3 and 7)
- Rory McLeod – harmonica (track 1)
- Seane Keane and Kevin Conneff – fiddle and bodhran (track 7)
- Steve Williamson - tenor saxophone (track 3)
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "The River". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
- ^ "Ali Farka Toure with Ry Cooder." Rhythm Music Magazine: Volume 3-4, Issue 1. p. 56.
- ^ a b Christgau, Robert (3 July 1990). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
- ^ Oseary, Guy (2004). On the Record: Over 150 of the Most Talented People in Music Share the Secrets of Their Success. Penguin Books. p. 353. ISBN 978-0142003046.
