Words by Justin Turford
Not unlike the political and cultural situation in Ethiopia at the time, many musicians and bands in Mali got their breaks through a series of regional and national competitions and politico-military patronages. Record labels were often formed in partnership with government departments and state-sponsored orchestras represented their regions, the rich musical talents of Mali correctly perceived as ‘soft power’ but (luckily for us) also due to a long-sighted vision that the music of this newly independent country needed to preserve their culture for posterity before the modern world accelerated away their history. So, from across this great arid country of diverse ethnic groups, Mr Bongo’s David Buttle and French musical archivist, writer and journalist, Florent Mazzoleni, have curated this superb second collection of rare Malian musical jewels from the 1970s’ and early 80s’.
Widely acknowledged as the birthplace of what we now call ‘blues’ music, the musical caste system whereupon only the jeli (griot) is regarded as a professional musician, has dominated the country’s culture regardless of whether the individuals are Mande, Fula, Bambara, Malinké or any of the other ethnic groups. Many of these jeli surnames appear on this record - Kouyaté, Kamissoko, Sissokho, Soumano, Diabaté - but in many ways, much of the music here was less steeped in tradition and looked more to the future. Electric guitars, funk, soul and rock influences from Black America, Cuban rhythms and the liminal blurring of the sounds from Mali’s many neighbours in West Africa. Having said all of that, there are moments here where the ancient holds hands with the contemporary. Where the ngoni harp and the Maninka voices that could only come from Mali, fill the void between the desert and the sky.
Formed in 1956, Mystère Jazz de Tombouctou were one of the first modern Malian orchestras but it was only when Cheikna Sidi Mohammed joined in 1973 that the version of the band developed into what we hear on ‘Sidi Yahia’. With a mission to honour their great city of Tombouctou (Timbuktu) and the desert that spread like an endless vista around them, the hypnotic groove and widescreen desert blues-jazz of ‘Sidi Yahia’ contains traces of early Ethio-jazz to my ears: a relentless, looping guitar and bass pattern, fantastically loose but well arranged horns and a strident vocal from (I assume) Cheikna Sidi Mohammed. Stretched out past eight minutes, the addictive performance has acres of space and time for expressive guitar and brass solos. I can’t stop playing it.
Tiwara Band de Kati appears twice on the compilation and the songs couldn’t be more different. The smoky atmosphere of ‘Kogola’ has trippy circling guitars that resemble the electrified chime of a thumb piano with great drawn out solos from the exiled Guinean master Grand Papa Diabaté. Their muddily recorded version of the Wilson Pickett R&B monster ‘In The Midnight Hour’ reveals the reality of demanding international audiences at the hotels where they would earn their livings in the capital Bamako. Naive yet super-funky, the scything guitars and crazy drum solo add some garage rock rawness to the Atlantic Records classic.
Les Ambassadeurs du Motel de Bamako are another band who appear twice in strikingly different ways. ‘Western’ and Afro-Cuban influences had been seeping into the musical consciousness all across the continent by this point and Les Ambassadeurs were masters of both. ‘Get Up James’ may as well be James Brown, Moussa Doumbia’s voice a near perfect replica of the Godfather of Soul, the band tight as hell, the brilliant swirling organ player taking the song beyond pastiche. In stark contrast, the slow melancholic rumba of ‘Matou Kagni’ features the hauntingly romantic tenor vocals of Beidy Sacko and it is incredibly beautiful.
Actually, members of Les Ambassadeurs do appear again on this excellent collection as the Ambassadeurs Internationaux, renamed whilst exiled in Ivory Coast. One of the later recordings included here, ‘Kefimba’ is a fabulous (and well produced) dance tune led by the intricate lead guitar lines of Ousmane Kouyaté. With touches of afrobeat, Senegalese soul influences and unbelievably funky (the multiple guitars and melodic bass lines are astoundingly fluid), every performer from keys to horns and rhythm section are blazingly hot.
One of Mali’s most famous sons appears on this record. The great vocalist Salif Keita features as a young man on Rail Band’s ‘Massare Mousso’, a part folkloric, part Congolese rumba influenced song with killer guitar and saxophone parts. The callow Keita hasn’t quite developed the sky bursting voice of his later career but is already rich in emotional punch, his struggles as a non-griot and as an albino exposed in his bluesy song. Interestingly, Mory Kanté, the Guinean star famous for his 1987 hit ‘Yé ké yé ké’ took Keita’s spot as vocalist when Keita left to join Les Ambassadeurs du Motel before his ascent to international fame.
Another fantastic voice comes courtesy of Sokona Sacko on ‘Mamaniya’, her vocals soar over a backing of what sounds like an early drum machine and some quite amazing ngoni and guitar interplay from her uncle Bouba Sacko. One of the most traditional songs included here, one can hear a sonic link between Sokona and the contemporary Queen of Malian song, Oumou Sangaré.
The Wassoulou region (where Oumou Sangaré hails from) brings us the unbridled dancing joy of Allata Broulaye on two songs. The irresistible ‘Moussokeleyato’ and ‘Yayaroba’, are propelled by claps, bells and beads, sweet female backing vocals and the vibrant acoustics of his kamelan ngoni playing and happy voice. I could gladly listen to him all day but he only recorded one album and one cassette unfortunately, success eluding his opulent rural talents.
A distorted, electrified interpretation of ‘Yayaroba’ is also included here by Tentemba Jazz du Mali and is unrecognisable from Broulaye’s version. Raw and hypnotic, with tough vocals and a gnarly guitar (or ngoni) riff that never sits still, there’s grease and grime in this tale of the nether regions of a woman.
Wrapping up my review of this wonderful compilation is the political commentary of ‘Diamana Diarra’ by Les Messagers du Mali, a shimmering polyrhythmic masterclass in looping grooves and virtuosic guitar playing. Similar to the music of the Senegalese band Dieuf-Dieul de Thiès from the same period, the production is relatively unpolished for the early 80s’ but the sophistication of the musicians is unhidden. The twisting, interweaving countermelodies from the horns, organ, lead guitars and bass are something else: each listen exposing another moment of inspiration.
Remastered and with fantastic liner notes by Florent Mazzoleni (without which I couldn’t possibly have written this review), this compilation feels like a gift to those of us who love African music and a lighthouse for those who have yet to discover the exuberant riches of Malian music. 10/10
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