Salif Keita

A nice greatest-hits compilation from the Mansa of Mali. While previous compilations (primarily Mansa of Mali...A Retrospective) have focused on more limited ranges of Salif Keita's career, this one attempts to cover the full expanse of work that he's done post-Ambassadeurs: six songs from the seminal Soro album, two from Ko-Yan, four from Amen, seven from Folon, and three from the score to L'Enfant Lion. It's a nice overview of his work, focusing admittedly somewhat more on the Mango years than on other albums. Somewhat surprisingly, the work jumps back and forth through time, picking from early albums and late albums in a seemingly random order. The saving grace of this approach is that some of Keita's more acoustic work isn't terribly well represented here, so the listener isn't shocked back and forth too much by the jolt from traditional to contemporary too often. Still, it would be nice to have a more chronological look at his output, to better show the development of Keita's signature mixture of the traditional and the urban contemporary. Despite this, it's an entirely enjoyable album, showcasing Keita's powerful vocals throughout. For someone looking to make inroads into the Malian music scene, this wouldn't be a bad place to start, as it covers a good deal of Keita's work. For the ultimate combination, one would do well to pick up this compilation for the later work and a compilation of Rail Band and Ambassadeurs hits to cover the earlier sound. For the listener acquainted with Keita's sound, it's also a nice album in its breadth and length. ~ Adam Greenberg, All Music Guide