Salif Keita Notes.Indd

Cal Performances Presents Wednesday, April , , pm Zellerbach Hall Salif Keita Cal Performances’ – season is sponsored by Wells Fargo. 24 CAL PERFORMANCES About the Artist Salif Keita’s career as a musician will always be to the (then) second most prolifi c group in Mali, colored by the fact that he is a member of the Les Ambassadeurs, that performed a more mod- Royal Family of Mali. He can trace his ancestors ern repertoire. Th e group’s popularity soared, all the way back to Soundjata Keita, who found- and in Salif Keita was appointed Minister ed a kingdom Mali in . It has never been for Music and Culture by the president of neigh- easy for Salif Keita to explain the reasons for his boring Guinea. In gratitude, Keita composed the total break with tradition when he decided to song “Mandjou,” which became an enormous become a musician. Perhaps it was something to success. Keita and Manfi la continued to develop do with the fact that he is an albino, an outsider their fusion music and create hypnotic sounds, from the word “go.” He had originally planned one after another. Several of Les Ambassadeurs’ to become a teacher but, because of trouble fi nd- historical recordings from the late s are still ing a job, he changed his mind. Th at a man available on CD. from the Royal Family would choose the life of In the early s, Keita dissolved Les a musician in Mali in the s elicited a storm Ambassadeurs and embarked on a solo career. of protest, and Keita was expelled from school. Since then, his infl uence has been felt in many ar- However, he soon formed a trio with his broth- eas—from Western pop and rock to Pink Floyd, ers and began to play on the streets and in the among others—and he has collaborated with nightclubs of Bamako, Mali’s capitol. such notable Western artists as Carlos Santana, In , he was invited to play in the Rail Wayne Shorter and Josef Zawinul. Today, Salif Band, an orchestra supported in part by public Keita is one of world music’s most central and money that played in the restaurant of the rail- infl uential artists, and each and every one of his way hotel in Bamako. In the Rail Band, he came albums is greeted with great expectation. into contact with guitarist Kanté Manfi la, who His latest album, M’Bemba, was released had many of the same ideas as Keita concerning by Decca in June and is the fi rst of Keita’s the blending of disparate styles. Mali has always albums to be recorded in Mali, in a studio he been a melting pot for various musical styles, built for himself in Bamako. M’Bemba features mainly because it stands as the last outpost of outstanding performances by Kanté Manfi la black Africa. Arabic, French, Spanish and lo- and Ousmane Kouyaté of Les Ambassadeurs, cal Malian traditions have infl uenced its music. percussionist Mino Cinélu and griot kora master After three years, Keita and Manfi la moved on Toumani Diabate. Musicians Salif Keita vocals Diely Moussa Kouyaté guitar Ousmane Kouyaté guitar Souleymane Doumbia percussion Harouna Samake n’goni Mamadou Kone calabash Marie-Line Marolany backing vocals Maria Marolany backing vocals Mike Clinton bass Ghislain Roger Biwandu drums CAL PERFORMANCES 25.

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