Where others are hearing everyone from Miles Davis to Toumani’s great mentor Ali Farka Toure in this return to the great kora players acoustic roots, there is something about the space and meditative flow here that brings to my mind both Sun Ra and Alice Coltrane. It was only after reading the sleeve notes that I discovered that for this album this kora innovator had come up with a new way of tuning his kora that he refers to as his Egyptian method.  On his solo return following his outing with the Symmetric Orchestra, Toumani sits alone with his kora, and weaves one of his most beautiful and evocative tracks yet. Full of lyrical beauty and stretched out over 10 minutes ‘Si Naani’ is simply stunning in terms of musicianship (with those trademark intertwining bass lines and melody in full force) and justifies Lucy Duran’s views that Toumani is once again breaking new ground for the kora. This is clear in the way he plays with conventions without losing sight of the ancestral traditions; creating a piece of Malian beauty out of UB40’s Kingston Town melody on ‘Elyne Road’ or improvising with both flamenco and Mauritanian music on ‘El Nabiyouna’. Another essential World Circuit trip to Mali. (Andy Thomas)