Life is good

 La vie est belle, life is good. This might be the slogan of Mali's famous blind musical couple, Amadou & Mariam.They met at the Bamako Blind Institute, where they both played in the house orchestra, the Eclipse Orchestra.

Sharing the faith of falling blind during their childhood, they stayed together, married in 1980 and since 1989, they recorded music together. On their first abums, Amadou plays guitar, and either Mariam or Amadou signed for the vocals. After some years, international success came with working with names such as Manu Chao, Santigold, Damon Albarn and others.

After 5 acoustic albums, 10 international albums and various compilations and live recordings, it was time to compile nearly 35 years of music or more, with a new album Best Of, with 3 new tracks. The physical album comes as a double vinyl, or a collector double CD. The second CD of the collector double CD contains a live recording made in total darkness, hence the name Eclipse, recorded in 2012.

Realising a dream

 Mali's star kora-player Toumani Diabaté does not need any introduction. Much acclaimed and respected, faithful to tradition and open to collaborations with a variety of musicians and vocalists.

Toumani wanted to work with the London Symphony Orchestra since a long time. In 2008, 6 tracks were recorded at the Barbican Centre in London, with Kassemady Diabaté's voice (he passed away in 2018), and Lassana Diabaté on balafon. These recordings are now being released on 23 April 2021.

Other Malian musicians were:

Fanta Mady Kouyaté: acoustic and electric guitar

Ganda Tounkara: Ngoni

Fodé Kouyaté: Calabash & Tama

The CD sticker says it all:

'A groundbreaking collaboration from the Grammy-winning Malian Kora virtuoso & the world-famous Orchestra'

and further:

'An achingly beautiful and fresh sound that will appeal to admirers of African, traditional & new classical, and ambient music'

R.I.P Mory Kanté

In 2012, Mory Kanté released his last album, and it's one of his best albums. The album is dedicated to women of the world,living between tradition and modernity.

On 22 May 2020, Mory Kanté passed away in a hospital in Conakry, Guinea, because he couldn't get the proper medical treatment abroad, due to travel restrictions during this Corona-crisis. He was 70 years old.

New album: Black M - Il était une fois...

Bamba Wassoulou Groove

Back again with a new CD (well, released in November 2015 already), but I bought it this week.

The French Label Bleu from Amiens put a large sticker on the bottom of the cover, with the following text:

BLUESY / HYPNOTIQUE / GROOVE

BAMBA WASSOULOU GROOVE : LE NOUVEAU SOUFFLE DE LA MUSIQUE DE BAMAKO

Le Bamba Wassoulou Groove est donc composé de 7 musiciens (3 guitares, 1 basse, 1 batterie, des percussions et un chanteur. (...)

I saw their concert on 9 April this year, in RASA, Utrecht and I was quite happy to witness this concert, especially because Bamba Wassoulou Groove create a modern version of the Bambara afro-rock by late Zani Diabaté's Super Djata Band, one of my all-time favourites.

Back after years

It has been many years since our latest post. I received this album in the mail today, and I actually thought of scanning it before opening and removing the shrink wrap.

The album is covered with a classic sticker with the name of the artist and the title of the album, plus mentioning a featured artist, singer Piers Faccini. To the right, there is a, seemingly, press text, although the origin is not known.

On the right top, there is a Quality Label, « un événement fff Télérama » (a fff, as in 3-Star event by the French Magazine Télérama).

 I will now unwrap and enjoy listening the album !

African Pearls Collection

Syllart's African Pearls Collection comes with a uniform sticker to attract the attention of the potential buyer to the importance of the songs featured on these compilation CDs.

The Congo 70 volume comes with the text:

• African Pearls Collection - Congo 70 - Rumba Rock
• L'invention du son africain moderne...
• Double CD

thus stating the 70-s Rumba Rock is the invention of modern African sound...

***

The Mali 70 volume featuring some essential tracks that have never been released on CD (and even the LPs are hard to find), which is highlighted by the following text:

• African Pearls Collection -Mali 70 - Electric Mali
• Une folle décennie de création débridée