From Senegal to Senatobia

Mississippi fife legend Turner is joined on this outing by a loose union of players billed as the Afrosippi All Stars. This makeshift band is comprised of members of Turner's family, visiting Senegalese musicians, a university percussion student/organizer, and slide guitarist/producer/North Mississippi All Star Luther Dickinson. Their sympathetic accompaniment on African percussion, kora, and bottleneck guitar give "Shimmy She Wobble," "Station Blues," and Bounce Ball — reprised from his recording debut, Everybody Hollerin' Goat — a depth lacking on his earlier versions. Traditional African drums exchange rhythms with marching-band snares and bass drums. Staccato kora melodies complement whining slide guitar riffs. And Turner's shrill, archaic fife floats freely over it all. The title track is the album's most distinctly African number, and probably the only track here easy on the listener's ears. The closing "Sunu" is five minutes of nothing but drums. This is hardly good-time music for casual blues listeners or weekend world music fans, but it's important music all the same, bridging, as it does, great distances between continents and traditions.