New release for Afel Bocoum and his group Alkibar, Tabital Pulaaku on Contre Jour. Afel Bocoum and Alkibar constitute one of Mali’s strongest musical voices. Bocoum was mentored by the veritable king of desert blues, his uncle and two-time Grammy award winner, the late Ali Farka Touré. But since his 1999 debut recording Alkibar (on World Circuit), Bocoum has clearly proved to the world that he is his own man.

Since then Bocoum and his band Alkibar have followed through with the acclaimed Niger album in 2006, building a solid international reputation with extensive touring. Further spreading Bocoum’s visibility have been his collaborations with Habib Koite, Toumani Diabate and Ali Farka Touré, as well as the surprisingly dub-drenched, electro-West Africa meeting with Blur's Damon Albarn in 2002 on a CD entitled Mali Music (on Honest Jon’s).

" Bocoum is now riding the crest of this wave with a new release, Tabital Pulaaku. As on their 2006 CD Niger. his band again dips into the deep matrix of Saharan /Malian tradition, where the sounds of West Africa are informed by centuries of living with desert nomads and intercontinental Atlantic coast trade. Within all this is Bocoum’s focus on lyrical content that emphasizes dignity and unity, combined with an infectious musical flow that illustrates why in their homeland he and his band are known as 'messengers of the great river'. " (Darrell Jónsson )

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