Album: Dimanche à Bamako
Artist: Amadou & Mariam
Sabali has a wonderfully evocative sound and the song led me to explore Amadou & Mariam's back catalogue, and that's when I came across the brilliant Dimanche à Bamako. Sabali is actually quite similar to a track on this record, Djanfa, on which Mariam sings in her distinctive, wistful way. Another of my favourite songs on the record is La Realité, which has a great rhythm and the sounds of the busy city of Bamako, like the police siren, that constantly crop up in the mix. It has the same glorious freewheeling freedom as some of Manu Chao's best work, like Me Llaman Calle. Chao's influence is even stronger on Sénégal Fast Food, with its upbeat rhythm and brilliant lyrics (sung by Chao himself) about immigration from the immigrant's perspective. No doubt a knowledge of French helps understand some of the political themes at play on the album, but it's not essential. Politic Amagni is an impassioned plea for better governance in Africa, with Amadou crying out at the end of the song against "hypocrosie", "dictature" and "démagogie" (none of which really need translating). Much of the album is full of lighter moments though, like single Coulibaly, with its lovely harmonies and Amadou's superb blues guitar playing, and La Fête au Vilage, which is rooted in ancient African musical traditions. Amadou's guitar also stars on Artistiya, while Mariam's best vocal performance probably comes on La Paix. This record, like the music of Mali, really is something to treasure.
Born: Institute for the Young Blind, Bamako, Mali
Released: August 2005
Genre: Worldbeat
Mali is one of the creative hotbeds of African music, from the kora playing of Toumani Diabaté to the Fula guitar blues of Ali Farka Touré and the Touareg desert rock of Tinariwen. The most successful musical act to emerge from the country though is the duo of Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia, who first met in the late 70s at the Institute for the Young Blind in Bamako, Mali's capital. Amadou was in his 20s at the time and had already started his musical education as the guitarist in the Ambassadeurs du Motel de Bamako, one of West Africa's most popular bands of that era. Amadou & Mariam first started performing together in the 80s and later moved to Abidjan, the capital of Côte d'Ivoire, where they found fame thanks to a series of popular cassette releases that mixed Afropop, blues, reggae and Cuban music. They then moved to Paris and put out a record called Sou Ni Tilé in 1999, which captured the attention of Latin superstar Manu Chao, who agreed to produce their next album. Recorded in Paris and Mali, Dimanche à Bamako was first released in France in late 2004, followed by the UK and US in summer 2005, and benefited from the input of musicians like keyboard player Check Tidiane Seck and reggae singer Tiken Jah Fakoly, as well as the singing of Manu Chao himself. My first encounter with the group's music was the single Sabali, which became a huge international hit following the release of their 2008 LP, Welcome To Mali.
Mali is one of the creative hotbeds of African music, from the kora playing of Toumani Diabaté to the Fula guitar blues of Ali Farka Touré and the Touareg desert rock of Tinariwen. The most successful musical act to emerge from the country though is the duo of Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia, who first met in the late 70s at the Institute for the Young Blind in Bamako, Mali's capital. Amadou was in his 20s at the time and had already started his musical education as the guitarist in the Ambassadeurs du Motel de Bamako, one of West Africa's most popular bands of that era. Amadou & Mariam first started performing together in the 80s and later moved to Abidjan, the capital of Côte d'Ivoire, where they found fame thanks to a series of popular cassette releases that mixed Afropop, blues, reggae and Cuban music. They then moved to Paris and put out a record called Sou Ni Tilé in 1999, which captured the attention of Latin superstar Manu Chao, who agreed to produce their next album. Recorded in Paris and Mali, Dimanche à Bamako was first released in France in late 2004, followed by the UK and US in summer 2005, and benefited from the input of musicians like keyboard player Check Tidiane Seck and reggae singer Tiken Jah Fakoly, as well as the singing of Manu Chao himself. My first encounter with the group's music was the single Sabali, which became a huge international hit following the release of their 2008 LP, Welcome To Mali.
Sabali has a wonderfully evocative sound and the song led me to explore Amadou & Mariam's back catalogue, and that's when I came across the brilliant Dimanche à Bamako. Sabali is actually quite similar to a track on this record, Djanfa, on which Mariam sings in her distinctive, wistful way. Another of my favourite songs on the record is La Realité, which has a great rhythm and the sounds of the busy city of Bamako, like the police siren, that constantly crop up in the mix. It has the same glorious freewheeling freedom as some of Manu Chao's best work, like Me Llaman Calle. Chao's influence is even stronger on Sénégal Fast Food, with its upbeat rhythm and brilliant lyrics (sung by Chao himself) about immigration from the immigrant's perspective. No doubt a knowledge of French helps understand some of the political themes at play on the album, but it's not essential. Politic Amagni is an impassioned plea for better governance in Africa, with Amadou crying out at the end of the song against "hypocrosie", "dictature" and "démagogie" (none of which really need translating). Much of the album is full of lighter moments though, like single Coulibaly, with its lovely harmonies and Amadou's superb blues guitar playing, and La Fête au Vilage, which is rooted in ancient African musical traditions. Amadou's guitar also stars on Artistiya, while Mariam's best vocal performance probably comes on La Paix. This record, like the music of Mali, really is something to treasure.
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