The Rail Band

• Rail Band 1: Soundiata [Belle Epoque, 2007] **
• Rail Band 2: Mansa [Belle Epoque, 2008] A-
• Rail Band 3: Dioba [Belle Epoque, 2009] B+
• Buffet Hotel de la Gare [Mississippi, 2024] A-

Consumer Guide Reviews:

Rail Band 1: Soundiata [Belle Epoque, 2007]
The root source of Salif Keita, Mory Kante and Djelimady Tounkara put to a completist test few bands still working stuff out can ace ("Armee Malienne," "Fankante Dankele"). **

Rail Band 2: Mansa [Belle Epoque, 2008]
Formed by the Malian government in 1970 to beguile visiting businessmen and long recognized as the equal of Orchestra Baobab and Étoile de Dakar, Bamako's Rail Band was sparked initially by future crossover pioneer Salif Keita, who quit shortly after the 1973 arrival of vocalist-instrumentalist Mory Kante. Its presiding genius is master guitarist Djelimady Tounkara, backbone of the three maddening double-CDs that now constitute the band's legacy. Each set is dominated by four-to-10-minute recordings from 1973 to 1977, with synthed-up '80s tracks snuck in here and there, and though it's possible true cognoscenti can fathom an organizational logic that goes unexplained in the notes, I cannot. My mind tells me that the first volume is the least accessible not because it's appreciably earlier but because it seeks out deep-Malian lyrical content. And my ears tell me that all three volumes lag when third banana Makan Ganessy takes the mike, though various fourth bananas acquit themselves with distinction. In the absence of the jaw-dropping best-of this project has in it, Keita's inspirational "Mansa," Kante's gorgeous "Mamadou Boutiqui," and grooves reliably vigorous and hypnotic by turn make Vol. 2 where to start. A-

Rail Band 3: Dioba [Belle Epoque, 2009]
Figure the final volume is odds and ends. Mory Kante's embrace of rumba is relaxed and weird, his stab at Afrobeat merely spacy. Makan Ganessy will lose you everywhere but the entranced "Mady Guindo"; Salif Keita will make life worth living on "Maki" even if "Soyomba" then disappoints. The first three tracks on Disc 1 wander toward obscure destinations. The last two tracks on Disc 2 reach better places faster, harder, and in different rhythms. B+

Buffet Hotel de la Gare [Mississippi, 2024]
Discographically I'm somewhat hornswoggled by what would seem to be the fourth U.S.-available album by this government-supported or do I mean state-railroad-supported Malian band, not least because legendary lead vocalist Salif Keita, an albino not to be confused with the football star of the same name who died last September, is said to have retired decades ago. But I can responsibly report that there's a relaxed yet impassioned feel to this particular collection that achieves a simple sweetness I don't find on the Rail Band CDs I'm happy to have acquired over the years. For Afropop adepts only, you could say if so inclined. But also an excellent reason to get on board. A-

See Also

• No Gimcracks: Tounkara Takes It to the Stage [2001-07-31]