If you do music, you do it positively. You have to have something positive to say to your listeners. It is not easy to find something positive to say every day. If you wanna talk about nothing in your music, sure you can do music everyday.
Salif Keita
There are many positive things to say about Salif Keita aka the Golden Voice of Africa. Beside from his outstanding music, his life story and struggle are a rare testimony of a cast-away that managed to change his “fate”, going on to become an internationally renowned artist. Even though he is a direct descendant of Sundiata Keita (the Mandinka warrior king who founded the Malian empire in the 13th century.) Salif was born an albino, a sign of bad luck in the Mandinka culture. He was rejected and ostracized, not only by the community but by his family also. His poor sight, which was a result from the albinism, estranged him even more from the people around. Under the pressure of these social circumstances, Keita left his hometown of Djoliba and settled in Bamako, where he started his musical career. He began playing in nightclubs with one of his brothers, but his luck changed when two years later he joined the 16-member, government sponsored Rail Band that played at the Bamako railway station's “Buffet Hotel de la Gare.”
In 1973 Salif Keita, along with the guitarist and bandleader Kante Manfila, left “Super Rail Band de Bamako” to join “Les Ambassadeurs.” By 1977, Keita and the band expanded their reputation beyond the borders of Mali, becoming highly popular in the neighboring countries. Collectively they fled political unrest in Mali during the mid-1970s for Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and subsequently changed the group's name to "Les Ambassadeurs Internationaux". In the peak of their popularity, Salif Keita was awarded the National Order of Guinea by President Ahmed Sekou Toure. In return, Keita composed “Mandjou,” telling the history of the Mali people and praising Sekou Toure.
By 1984, Keita had relocated to Paris to reach a wider, more European audience, where he joined other African stars like Mory Kante, Toure Kunda, Tabu Ley Rochereau, Ray Lema, Papa Wemba, and Manu Dibango among others. Keita found success in Europe as one of the African stars of world music. He went on to record numerous albums, which included guest musicians such as keyboardist Joe Zawinul, saxophone player Wayne Shorter, drummer Paco Sery, guitarist Carlos Santana, and percussionist Bill Summers.
At the beginning of the new millennium, Keita went back to live and record in Mali. His first work after the return, 2002's “Moffou”, was hailed as his best album in many years, and Keita built a recording studio in Bamako, which he used for his album “M'Bemba,” released in October 2005.
Keita's album “La Différence” was produced in 2009. The music is dedicated to the struggle of the world albino community. “La Différence” was recorded between Bamako, Beirut, Paris, and Los Angeles. The album won him one of the biggest musical awards of his career: the Best World Music 2010 at the “Victoires de la musique.”
Keita's music blends the traditional griot music of his Malian childhood with other West African influences from Guinea, the Ivory Coast, and Senegal, along with influences from Cuba, Spain, and Portugal, with an overall Islamic sound. Besides the western instruments such as the guitar, organ, and sax, Keita's sound also includes traditional African instruments such as the kora, balafon, and djembe, often synthesized and sampled. He is the first Malian superstar, and one of the most famous, respected, and influential musicians to come from this country.
Read previous articles:
THE MUSIC OF MALI VOL.5 - INDEPENDENCE AND REVIVAL
THE MUSIC OF MALI VOL.4 - OTHER INSTRUMENTS
THE MUSIC OF MALI VOL.3 - OTHER CALABASH HARPS
THE MUSIC OF MALI VOL.2 - THE KORA
THE MUSIC OF MALI VOL.1 - THE GRIOTS
