Tama was a Pan-African world fusion project made in the late 1990s. The Tama album Nostalgie came about when Tom Diakite (Mali), Sam Mills (UK) and Djanuno Dabo (Guinea Bissau) met while performing with Bengali master Paban Das Baul. According to Sam: “We had some spare time booked in a studio and played a few songs which were impromptu but sounded really good and were enough for us to convince Real World to record an album.”
Primarily based on singer and multi-instrumentalist Tom Diakite’s material, the album displays a combination of rhythms and influences from West Africa with European music elements. Tom said: “Originally I came from the same part of Mali as Oumou Sangare and Nahawa Doumbia, the Wasulu and the music I learned there was already a mix – something different from the mainstream Malian tradition. Now I use aspects of the tradition like the pentatonic scale adding some blues and non-Malian elements both in the vocals and in the guitar, piano, cello and ud instrumentation.”
Tama made a second and final album titled Espace (Real World, 2002).
Discography:
Nostalgie (Real World, 1999)
Espace (Real World, 2002)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
Both are really lovely albums. Recommended.