Rokia Traoré has developed into an African diva with an eagerness for musical adventure. On her first three records, the music has a rural origin, but because of her jazzy voice the albums don't sound traditionally West African. Her fourth release Tchamantché (2009), that includes typical West-African instruments such as the ngoni, kora and balafon, has an even more experimental sound. On it, the Gershwin classic The Man I Love can be heard, for example. Accompaniment on Tchamantché is sparse, leaving all of the listener's attention to her voice. As a performer, Traoré has grown tremendously and she can take her band in any direction. A song like Tounka might sound very unpretentious on the album, but performed live it takes off in a subtle way and soon develops into a heavy rock number.
