Pape Fall and African Salsa, Artisanat (Stern's, 2002)

The African salsa path is a well trodden one by now, and as a member of the all-star ensemble, Africando, Senegal's Pape Fall is no stranger to it. This is by no means African Salsa's first outing together, but will probably be the first to garner widespread international interest, largely thanks to their appearance on the appropriately titled Stern's compilation, African Salsa.

African Salsa is a unit that will inevitably exude a kind of nostalgic charm for African music lovers. They do possess a certain warmth, a sense of reminiscence for humid, starlit nights spent in the bars of old colonial-style hotels. For real salsa enthusiasts, however, they lack that forward drive, that absolute cohesion that is essential to the greatest salsa. The members of the band (with the merciful exception of the horn section) seem to be on edge, slightly uncomfortable with what they are doing, and so the smoothness of movement, the sense of direction and focus, are lost. Pape Fall's voice is, in itself, something of a sticking point. The fact that it is not smooth or warm enough to be that of a true salsero is forgivable, but neither does he possess a voice of nuance or character.

"Artisanat," the title track, contains samples of several of the weaknesses inherent in African Salsa. Overall, the song lacks substance -- the bass is dull, the chorus lacks any kind of punching power, and the whole thing seems to collapse during the section changes. Is anyone listening to anyone else here? "Voulidiema" is another case where the lack of conviction causes problems. If the individual instruments had the courage to pursue their line of thought, then perhaps the resultant effect would seem less sloppy, less shambolic. Again, on "Adji Seye", it becomes increasingly difficult to follow the pianist's train of thought. Piano and bass go on, pointlessly, till both seem to lose all sense of one another.

While African Salsa may work within the right live setting, they lack the vital spark, that intangible ingredient that the best salsa bands seem to naturally hold. As a result, unfortunately, this album does not make for easy listening. In the end, Artisanat is but a series of tracks that eventually start to blur, vocals that start to grate. This is, frankly, dance music that fails.