Around the Crocodile Pond

Ba Balance are Danish blues-rock guitarist Preben Carlsen and West African percussionist Sal Dibba, and the title of this hard-rocking album refers to a sacred pond containing some 80 crocs in the Gambian fishing town of Bakau on the country's Atlantic coastline, where Dibba grew up. Both have played together in various bands over the years and worked with Dawda Jobarteh, Toumani Diabaté, Tony Allen and Bassekou Kouyaté among others. This album consists of nothing but rocking electric guitar and percussion duets, like an African White Stripes.

The ten instrumental pieces are all improvised, Carlsen's stinging lead guitar lines soaring over the polyrhythms of Dibba's virtuoso percussion. At its rawest, Carlsen's playing is reminiscent of the playing of the late Lobi Traoré at his funkiest. At other times, such as on the opener ‘Djembe’, there's a hint of Touareg desert blues. It's essentially an album of jams, which means there's an inevitable touch of self-indulgence in places. Yet there's a nicely balanced ebb and flow to maintain interest and the fiery dynamic suggests they're probably great on a live stage.