Since for her previous albums Mamani Keïta always collaborated with musicians like Nicolas Repac ('Yelema', 'Gagner L'Argent Français') or Marc Minelli ('Electro Bamako'), one could argue that 'Kanou' ("love") is her first real solo effort. More than a basic combination of voice, ngoni, guitar (Rail Band guitarist Djeli Moussa Kouyate) and percussion 'Kanou' does not offer, making the album sound a lot rougher than its predecessors. Raw unpolished Mali-blues like we prefer it!