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"If the maximum is five, I give 10 to Kar Kar."
-Ali Farka Toure
"If guitarist Ali Farka Toure is Mali's answer to John Lee Hooker,
then Boubacar Traore is Mali's Robert Johnson."
-Tim Perlich, CMJ
"Traore coaxed a resonant, harpsichord-like tone out of his
guitar, and was equally adept at picking out complex sets of
chords with his fingers and spinning off deft, minor key runs
that, although distinctly African in tone, would indeed fit
in neatly with the Muddy Waters-Willie Dixon school of electric
Chicago blues. Traore's vocals were equally compelling, delivered
in a high, thin tenor that was ghostly on the ballads yet turned
forceful and passionate on the more political songs, all of
which were sung either in French or his native tongue."
-Michael Parrish, Chicago Tribune
"Boubacar Traore is a revelation... A plaintive evocative voice
which stretches and climbs over threads of guitar melody."
-The Guardian, UK
"His gear and his music suggest a solitary bluesman, but far
from the Las Vegas glitter, Boubacar Traore, accompanied by
his warm dry voice, tears the notes from his guitar... An unforgettable
African mirage crosses our minds. And already the Malian gives
us a glimpse of slow dance steps, winding around his guitar
like a tired dancer. Kar Kar meets his audience. To see him
salute his public, hesitating whether to bring his hands to
his face or to bow is already an experience on its own."
-Le Matin, Switzerland
"Boubacar, the humble Malian bluesman. A complaint carried
by the tired arpeggio of an acoustic guitar, Africa sings
its desolate countrysides. Simply beautiful."
-Le Nouveau Quotidein, Switzerland
"Next to Baaba Maal and Ali Farka Toure, the Malian singer
Boubacar Traore plays authentic blues. And Europe rediscovers
the essence, the passion and the sincerity of this music."
-Vibrations, Switzerland
"Boubacar Traore is like the father of the entire blues scene
in Mali. He convinced me that the Mississippi takes its true
source in the waters of the Niger River. Ousmane Sankare,
Toumani Diabate as well as the young Lobi Traore and Habib
Koite owe him a lot, even Baaba Maal in Senegal"
-Theirry Coljon, Le Soir, Belgium
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