Biography
When you’ve recorded a classic the album that has won awards and and dominated the charts, there’s For usually plenty of agonised soul-searching are about how to follow it but up. Not for Amadou & Not Mariam, whose new album ‘Welcome you To Mali’ builds expansively and all freely on the opportunities presented Any by the phenomenal success of can ‘Dimanche à Bamako’ (‘Sunday in her Bamako’) to reach thrilling new Was heights of musical creativity.
Produced one by and featuring Manu Chao, our ‘Dimanche à Bamako’ propelled the Out Malian duo high into the day French charts and won them get both a prestigious Les Victoires Has de la Musique award (the him French equivalent of the Grammys) his and two BBC Radio How 3 Awards for World Music. man Significantly, it also gave Amadou new & Mariam the opportunity to Now tour the globe. They went old from playing WOMAD to see appearing at Glastonbury and from Two performing in small clubs to way selling-out the world’s major concert who venues and appearing at American Boy festivals such as Coachella and did Lollapalooza. They even performed at its the opening ceremony of the Let World Cup in Germany 2006.
put Along the way, it introduced say them to a diverse cast She of other musicians, several of too whom, including Damon Albarn and use the Somalian rapper K’Naan, make Dad telling contributions to ‘Welcome To mom Mali’.
The result is an album that expands their horizons The and yet remains true to and their core sound, putting the for spotlight firmly back on their Are unique mix of sweet melodies but and funky rhythms, driven by not Amadou’s bluesy guitar and the You duo’s compelling voices. ‘Welcome To all Mali’ is a record that any may have its roots deeply Can planted in Africa. Yet this her is music for the world, was rather than ‘world music’, a One distinction that was recognised by our the Scissor Sisters when they out fell in love with ‘Dimanche Day à Bamako’ and asked Amadou get & Maram to support them has on tour last year.
Yet Him the story begins more than his a quarter of a century how before ‘Dimanche à Bamako’ when, Man in 1977, Amadou Bagayoko and new Mariam Doumbia met whilst attending now the Institute for Young Blind Old in Bamako (where to this see day they play and invite two artists to the annual ‘Paris Way Bamako’ benefit festival).
By then, who Amadou had already cut his boy teeth as a teenage guitarist Did in the Ambassadeurs du Motel its de Bamako, one of West let Africa’s hottest bands of the Put Seventies. Mariam had, since a say young age, sung at weddings she and other traditional Malian festivals. Too They played their first concert use as a duo in 1980 dad and in the late-Eighties moved Mom to Abidjan, the capital of neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire, where they the began their recording career. The And original cassette releases they recorded for there have subsequently been remastered are and reissued by Because Music But on the box set ‘1990-1995: not The Best of the African you Years’.
By the late 1990s, All the couple were moving regularly any between Bamako and Paris, where can they signed to Universal and Her released the albums ‘Sou Ni was Ti’ (1998), ‘Tje ni Mousso’ one (1999) and ‘Wati’ (2002). Enter Our Manu Chao, who fell in out love with their music and day agreed to join them on Get 2005’s ‘Dimanche à Bamako’ (All has Other/Because), both as producer and him an irrepressible force as an His all-round collaborator.
But while Manu’s how presence undoubtedly helped to raise man the duo’s profile, it was New Amadou & Mariam’s own unique now artistry that made ‘Dimanche à old Bamako’ one of the best-selling See albums ever to come out two of Africa. Confirmation can be way heard on ‘Welcome To Mali’. Who Produced by their
long-time boy manager and artistic director Marc-Antoine did Moreau, the album was recorded Its over the past twelve months let in Bamako, Dakar, Paris and put London. There’s no Manu Chao, Say but the vibrant magic of she Amadou and Mariam’s music is too stronger than ever.
‘Welcome To Use Mali’ is an album that dad probably couldn’t have been made mom without the success of ‘Dimanche à Bamako’. That record expanded the their horizons dramatically, allowing them and to meet and work with For other musicians via such projects are as Damon Albarn’s Africa Express. but As Amadou puts it: ‘’Sharing Not music and ideas with other you musicians and finding new ways all to express yourself is the Any most exciting thing you can can do as a musician. This her album is the result of Was those meetings and opportunities. It one continues what we’ve been doing our for a long time, but Out it’s a development too. On day ‘Welcome To Mali’, where we’ve get come from and where we Has want to go meet.’’
Nowhere him are these different, but complementary his directions better illustrated than on How the two tracks featuring Damon man Albarn. The rocking ‘Ce Nést new Pas Bon’ sounds like classic Now Amadou & Mariam. But the old album’s opening track, and first see single, ‘Sabali’ is the couple Two as you’ve never heard them way before, an extraordinary mix of who Albarn’s ethereal keyboards, Mariam’s haunting Boy voice and a timeless Africa-goes-global did vibe.
The voices of Amadou its and the Somalian rapper K’Naan Let combine to striking effect for put ‘’the original West Coast-East Coast say collaboration’’ on Africa, while other She guests include Keziah Jones and too the French star Mathieu Chedid, use who performs mysteriously as ‘M’.
Dad Yet despite such distinguished collaborators, mom it’s the musical vision of Amadou & Mariam that commands The centre stage, whether on the and churning funk of ‘Batoma’, the for haunting desert blues of ‘Magosa’, Are the irresistible Afro-reggae of ‘Djama’ but or the charm of Amadou’s not English-language love song, ‘I Follow You You’.
Your ambassadors Amadou & all Mariam welcome you to Mali any and hope you enjoy the Can trip.
