CD Review: Seckou Keita's 'Miro'

Seckou Keita
Miro
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Senegalese vocalist, kora player, and drummer, Seckou Keita, produces yet another fine album of soothing, West African music steeped in scintillating rhythms, crystal clear sounds, earthy percussion, and glorious vocals. Miro is a ten-track release with songs featuring various languages, including Mandinka, Wolof, Djoola, Malinke, Spanish, and Bambara. "Distance" is a completely instrumental tune with kora melodies at the forefront. Some of the tunes incorporate the calabash, bass, bougarabou, shakers, cajon, balafon, maracas, flute, and violin. The music is instrumentally-rich, but not overbearing by any means. Instead, Seckou knows how to evoke emotive reactions with serene music and styles mainly rooted in West African textures. While the songs are not particularly catchy, they do possess an inherent, addictive quality that is very welcoming and worthy of repeated listens. ~ Matthew Forss