Sefo Kanuteh
Album: Together
Label: Self Released
Tracks: 10
Website: http://www.sefokanuteh.uk/

The jeli music tradition together with griot has produced many families of great musicians over many centuries, but it is only comparatively recently that both musician and music have really began making an impression in the west and generally that has involved the relocation of the musician from their native region, in this case Gambia to Europe.

Sefo Kanuteh is one of the more recent musicians to have made the journey, arriving in the UK back in 2011. It wasn't long before he put together Meriya a performance group specialising in Mande. "Together" sees Sefo releasing his first solo album, but one that draws on that rich Mande heritiage.

Kanuteh, is a highly accomplished music with the balafon, a type of xylophone, but it's with the better known Kora that he has, quite rightly, attained a virtuoso reputation for playing. He's also pretty much on the mark as a vocalist, able to really communicate the spirit of a song, even if the listener is able to understand the words.

"Together" finds Sefo Kanuteh, exploring his own arrangement of some of the traditional songs of the Mandinka people and blending them with brand new songs of his own composition, ensuring that the 21st century doesn't get overlooked as the history of the music is pulled together.

I'm not an expert on African music by a longshot , though there are a reasonable number of albums, both traditional and fusion that grace my collection and when the mood is right I find myself reaching out for an album or two. "Together" is an album that is definitely going to be added to that list. Sefo Kanuteh, is a musician that will deserve having an eye/ear kept on, not just for his solo work, but also with Meriya and there are rumours of an album in the pipeline from there.

Neil King