Stirring it up

Oumou Sangaré goes after the men

by Banning Eyre

Malian singer Oumou Sangaré got a boost internationally last year when Island Records chose her to perform in its "Africa Fête" touring extravaganza. Audiences saw how her brand of spare, acoustic Afropop shivers with cool understatement and stylish funk. Built around the bass-like tones and limber melodies of a six-string traditional African harp, her take on the so-called Wassoulou sound has the kind of moody sophistication that appeals to jazz listeners. At the same time, her forceful rhythms rival those of far more heavily orchestrated bands. Best of all, Sangaré sings in a powerful, nightingale-pure alto that soars over her chug-and-shuffle grooves. In her shows, and on her first two records, Moussolou and Ko Sira (all are on World Circuit/Rounder), she chills out the in-your-face brashness of African pop without defanging it. With a third excellent release, Worotan, just out, Sangaré will be coming to the Somerville Theatre next Friday.

I met Sangaré a few months ago at her home in Bamako, Mali, just as Worotan was about to hit the local cassette market. Folks there were impressed that she had collaborated with sax man Pee Wee Ellis to give her third release a taste of James Brown's world-famous horn-section sound. But what they really wanted to know was what she would be singing about. Sangaré became a superstar overnight in 1989 when her first cassette questioned the practice of arranged marriages, a practice common in Mali, though less so since she threw the subject open for public debate. Her second cassette took on the Muslim practice of polygamy, also creating a lively controversy. So what pot does she plan to stir up this time?

Once again, the subject is marriage. (Sangaré herself is the only wife of her manager, Ousmane Cherif-Haidira. They have a three-year-old son.) "Worotan," she explains, "means `Ten Kola Nuts.' Here, when a man wants to demonstrate his intention to marry a woman, he has to bring her 10 kola nuts. So I sing about all that happens after that. For the woman, marriage is virtually like becoming a slave. I ask, `Why do men think that they can pay 10 kola nuts and then treat us like slaves?' " In this loping song of experience, Sangaré advises the young bride, "Do not touch the money that you see under the mattress when you are doing housework. It's there to test you."

Sangaré also expects "Tièbaw" ("Big Men") to touch a nerve. "I'm waiting for the reaction," she says with a mischievous smile, "because I say a lot of things about men. Before, I used to attack them gently, indirectly. But here it's direct. They're going to feel it." With her touch for telling details, Sangaré dissects the misdeeds of Muslim men with multiple wives. The Koran says a man must treat all his wives equally, but as Sangaré points out, "That is not possible. Men today take just what they want from the tradition, and the rest they reject."

For all her pique, Sangaré defends Mali's traditions vigorously. Indeed, she is one of the few musicians I encountered in Mali who observes the fast of Ramadan. "When you see me perform, you can feel that I defend traditions. I dress as a Malian women. My musicians use typical traditional instruments. In our traditions, women are respected. But the traditions are misunderstood."

A few musical elements on Worotan, notably Pee Wee Ellis's contributions, may stretch tradition, but no one is likely to complain. On "Denw," a meditation on children, Ellis's horn works particularly well, weaving through the mix in a seamless dialogue with the African instruments.

"Really, it was extraordinary," says Sangaré, recalling the two weeks she and her band spent in London with Ellis. "He listened. He started right away. It was as if we had been rehearsing for 10 months." When Sangaré adds that she "feels Africa" in James Brown's music, as usual she's on the money. Not only did Brown's classic funk, like the blues and plenty of rock and roll, rely on the same minor pentatonic scale used in Wassoulou music, but his organic method of arranging the band, so that each instrument fills in a small piece of a big textural puzzle, jives with centuries of African music. Bringing Ellis on board marks another inspired move from an African star who has yet to make a misstep.

Oumou Sangaré performs at the Somerville Theatre next Friday, November 8. Call 876-4275.