Salif Keita (bottom left) with Les Ambassadeurs Internationaux. Listen to their album Tounkan/Mana Mani here . by George Turner A flurry of notes from the lead guitar, then a blast of forceful brass kicks off the album with a wonderfully arranged intro. The plucking rhythm guitar picks up a two-bar repeating refrain which carries on for almost nine minutes. The shifting, halting rhythms of drums, bass and percussion lock together like a puzzle, breaking into interludes in perfect stride, along with generous solos in turn from the roaring tenor sax, the strident lead guitar and the joyous and tantalizingly discordant organ. The backup singers sound as relaxed and familiar as your uncles at a barbecue. And above it all, a transcendent voice is soaring. Soaring to the heights; soaring above the expressible. The voice is Salif Keita’s. It raises the hairs on my neck, permeates my being and stirs me to my heart. I’ve never heard music like this. This is Les Ambassadeurs Internationaux with...