Salif Keita
Known around the world as The Golden Voice of Mali, Salif Keita's unique sound blends the traditional styles of his West African homeland with influences from Cuba, Spain, Portugal, and the Middle East. The instrumentation that accompanies his singing represents a fusion of European and African popular music, ranging from guitar, organ, and sax to traditional African instruments such as the kora, balafon, and djembe, often synthesized and sampled. He has enjoyed a prosperous career not only in his native Mali, where he was awarded the National Order of Guinea, but also in Europe and America, where he became well-known after moving to Paris and collaborating with other African musicians based there.
In 1968, in the Malian capital of Bamako, a 19-year-old albino boy scrapped the conventions of his noble ancestry to become a professional singer. Poor despite his social standing, rebellious, and vexed by poor eyesight, the boy chose music over the only alternative he saw, a life of crime. Salif Keita sang with the legendary, Latin-tinged Rail Band of Bamako in the early '70s before starting his own more fusion-oriented group, Les Ambassadeurs which also featured brilliant Guinean guitarist Kante Manfila.
Keita moved to Paris in 1984, and there he recorded “Soro,” a dazzlingly beautiful realization of his brooding, modern take on Malian tradition. “Soro” set a new standard for electric Afropop, and it legitimized African music in the progressive rock mold-music for listening, not just dancing. Keita sings with belting, no-holds-barred passion that evokes blues shouters and R&B screamers. But his sound hews close to the style of the Islamic Manding griots, who sing to evoke the grand struggles and tragedies of history.
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May 13, 2010
Salif Keita Returns with "La Difference" and North American Tour
October 17, 2008
Leni Stern to Play with Morley, Salif Keita, Adam Rudolph's Organic...
June 17, 2008
Leni Stern to Open for Salif Keita 6/24 in NYC
November 09, 2007
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voice / vocals

voice / vocals