Dick de Graaf - Fo4r Winds (2002) [SACD]

Fo4r Winds stemmed from my wish to enrich my musical world with those of musicians from 4 physical, spiritual & musical points of the compass. I was seeking for a sequel to a previous project that I produced & played on with musicians from Bamako, capital of Mali in West Africa. The project led to the CD ‘Djigui: Les Sofas de Bamako featuring Dick de Graaf saxophone ténor’. Even though the recording was very exciting & inspiring, I had no choice but to adjust to the musical concept of my West-African friends. The challenge of this album was to steer musicians from all the quarters of the world into a real musical encounter in which my compositions are the starting points for improvisations that value the musical traditions the band members grew up with.
I was immediately attracted to the inclusion in the band of both steel pans & the sophisticated African harp known as the kora. Also percussionist Burhoe plays some mean tablas on several of the tracks, lending an East Indian flavor to the music. Both kora virtuoso Diabaté & bassist Diallo are from Mali. Some attempted mixes of world music & jazz fall rather flat because it sounds like the 2 approaches to the music are just trying to fit in without stepping on each other’s musical toes. Not so De Graaf’s group – most of the tracks sound like completely integrated musical ideas that don’t cry out India / Caribbean / Africa & so on as you hear the various ethnic instruments featured. & there’s no lack of good tunes along with the catchy rhythms that make you want to get up & dance. This is a mostly instrumental album, the vocals are minimal. The clarity of the hi-res stereo puts you up close to the band & digging the unexpected instrumental sounds. The kora is especially well-represented; I don’t believe I had appreciated before what a rich & unique sound Mali’s national instrument has!