“Balaké” (2015) – Amadou Balaké * Traditional * LP: In Conclusion * Produced by Florent Mazzoleni * Label: Sterns Africa
The online bios all recycle the story of how the late Burkina Faso legend Amadou Traore named himself after a hit song called “Balaké,” which translates to “porcupine” in the mandika language. If he did record such a thing, good luck finding it—perhaps he made it with another group shortly before 1975, when his records started billing him as “Traore Amadou dit Ballaké.” Or maybe he adopted the name simply because “Balaké” is actually a traditional song that was already familiar to West Africans. In any case, Balaké, who passed away in 2014, left a legacy of diverse sounds incorporating upbeat warba and Mandé dance music, Cuban son montuno, charanga, and salsa. Adding him to playlists in today’s bubble-world climate would be good principle. His final recordings appeared in 2015 on an album called In Conclusion assembled by the Sterns Africa label, and among them, lo and behold, is a beautiful late-life rendering of “Balaké,” featuring voice, guitar, and ngoni, with nothing else.