Qobuz

At the same time, Amadou Bagayoko, the Ambassadors’ former guitarist, and his wife, Mariam Doumbia, found success under the name of Amadou & Mariam, “the blind couple from Mali”. Over time, they collaborated with M, Manu Chao, and the English artist, Damon Albarn. The latter, passionate about African music, Mali in particular, organises live an... See more

In Niafunké, Ali Farka Touré combined music from his region with the blues, realising that the probable roots of the music came from the banks of the Mississippi. By crossing the acquired techniques with the djerkel, a one-stringed lute, or with the n’goni on acoustic and subsequently electric guitars, he developed a new and fascinating form of mu... See more

Salif Keïta, who settled in the Paris region, found support from the Guinean producer, Ibrahima Sylla, and recorded the Soro album in 1987. Produced by Frenchman François Bréant and arranged with the help of Cheick Tidiane Seck and Jean-Philippe Rykiel, Soro combined Mandingo sounds and pop arrangements and was a prototype of what would soon be ref... See more

These traces can be heard in the Bamako station buffet orchestra guitars, known as the Rail Band, financed by the Ministry of Transport, and which would become known as the Super Rail Band in 1978. Its music is a mix of languages and rhythms representing the region’s many ethnic groups; traditional and electronic instruments and Cuban rhythms, whic... See more

Toumani was one of Ali Farka Touré's last musical companions, recording two Grammy-winning albums, In the Heart of the Moonand Ali & Toumani. He was at the centre of the meeting between Cuban and Malian musicians with AfroCubism in 2010, performed memorable concerts in duet with the Iranian master of kamancheh, Kayhan Kalhor, and also collabora... See more

To find the roots of contemporary Malian music we must go back to the vast Mandé Empire, of which Mali was the beating heart and centre. It also contained present-day Guinea and Guinea-Bissau, southern Senegal, and a part of Niger, as well as Burkina Faso and Gambia. This empire was founded in the 13th century on the ruins of the Ghana Empire by Su... See more