Toubab Krewe - Stylo (2018) Lossless

It's been far too long since the last Toubab Krewe album, TK2, came out in 2010, but the Asheville-based pioneers of Malian-American fusion music more than make up for lost time with Stylo, eight tracks' worth of richly textured jams that draw on West African and American styles alike.

The intercontinental interplay between Malian strings (kora, ngoni, soku) and American ones (electric bass and guitar) is more pronounced and refined on Stylo than it ever has been before. Opening track "That Damn Squash" demonstrates this perfectly as musicians toss lead parts back and forth between instruments. The result is a cohesive set of grooves that defy narrow classification, evoking Appalachian and Atlas Mountains alike. Electric guitar with a rugged outlaw twang balance out a cosmopolitan kora strut as non-stop drumming drives the group over rocky terrain.

"Night Shade" enters next, steady beats building up momentum until, two and a quarter minutes in, the guitar line bursts into the kind of explosive solo that most jam bands can only dream of. The title track follows and it's a warm and gentle breeze of retro instrumental atmosphere that brings to mind the golden age of Lollywood, another of Toubab Krewe's inspirations for the album.

It's Mali all the way on "Saba Miniya", though; the guitar work here recalls the Saharan desert blues that have become so synonymous with today's internationally known Malian rock scene as, side-by-side, more traditional Malian strings weave together another intricate pattern. It's nothing less than polyphonic bliss and segues well into single "Salut", a traditional Wassoulou tune divided into two parts: a hypnotic mid-tempo opening and a faster, more percussive close.