'This album is comprised of single-take recordings,' say the liner notes of this fourth album from the US-based kora musician Mamadou Diabaté. While Malian-born Diabaté, barely in his 30s, riffs and rolls the harp's 20-odd strings through its paces, one can't help but give a thankful thought that some music, somewhere, is still made in this way. The result of this style of recording from someone so young and talented is 12 tracks of clean, clear, musical excellence, pushing Diabaté to his limit, while he keeps masterful control of the whole creation.

...Where some of the traditionals can feel hard to access, Mamadou Diabaté's great skill is in improvising his own way, making seemingly light work of these West African classics. 'Bolomabory' is a fine example of this, an improvised track recorded at the end of the recording session which explores the strings he felt had been left out in the other tracks – it's exceptional stuff.

The melodies are light and sparkly, the bass lines rip and reverberate at just the right moments, and there's a good pace throughout...these are songs full of ideas, innovation and youthful interpretation. This might just be the new contender to the kora throne." - 4 STARS Rose Skelton (full review)




The music may be from another land and played on instruments we have not seen, but it comes to us like an ancient wisdom, one that is passed from person to person in a secret handshake. Mamadou Diabate is from Mali and plays the kora, a 21-string Mande harp. He learned the intricacies of the instrument from his father and his cousin Toumani Diabete, along with other African elders. The sound of the kora is elemental and heavenly at the same time. The rushing of the notes, like beautiful butterflies all chasing each other, builds into a celestial crush until Diabate backs off and gives the songs room to breathe. In so many ways, the kora offers a religious feeling to this folk-flavored music. Much of that is because we're in the hands of a master on Douga Mansa, as Mamadou Diabete almost defies gravity in extending the scope of Mande music. Because of his relatively young age and wide range of musical collaborations--everyone from Taj Mahal to Donna the Buffalo--he is more open to expand the boundaries of the traditional forms. The kora finds a new freedom here, even if these songs are deeply rooted in the past. Needless to say, it is unlike almost any other music being played today, but at its essence is the exploration of inner space and a quest for transcendence. There are moments in this music that reflect the same effect of Ravi Shankar's inspiring ragas: a desire for music to show us a higher place and, hopefully, point the way to get there. – Bill Bentley (link)