Various Artists - The Original Sound of Mali 2

Restoring, reissuing and contextualising iconic tracks from Ousmane Kouyate &

Ambassadeurs Internationaux, Rail Band, Les Messagers du Mali, Mystere Jazz de

Tombouctou and many more, the second compilation in this series dives ever further

into the richness of post-independence music emanating out of Mali. One in which

traditional foundations and instrumentation, blended with modern musical advances

and influence.

Following Mali's independence, after ten years of maturation, the 1970s saw modern

Malian culture revealed to the world through musical anthologies and overviews of

national and regional productions. It was a remarkably fertile period of the country's

musical history, with state- sponsored bands and orchestras now able to be

documented and recorded by sound engineers. Mali has always had a diverse

storytelling tradition through music, with each province and ethnic group having its

own unique character and nuances. As influences and sounds from the West drifted

over the Atlantic, Malian musicians began hearing artists like John Lee Hooker, Wilson

Pickett, Johnny Pacheco and Celia Cruz. Elements and ideas from blues, soul, rock

and funk led to bands covering artists they'd heard from these genres. The Tjiwara

Band de Kati's raw cover version of Pickett's soul / R&B classic 'In The Midnight Hour'

and the James Brown funk-channelling cut 'Get Up James' from Les Ambassadeurs

du Motel de Bamako, are two such examples featured on this compilation.

Most bands also relied on playing in hotels in Mali's capital, Bamako, which naturally

became where they honed their sound. With guests wanting to hear the influence of

foreign styles and modern instrumentation becoming more available, this fusion of

Western ideas with traditional Malian rhythms and organic instruments led to a one

of-a-kind musical excellence.