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Salif Keita
How could a 19-year-old albino boy, descendant from the founder of Mali’s kingdom in the 13th century, turn his back on convention and become one of Africa’s greatest musicians? Only Salif Keita can truly answer that enigma. Since he arrived in Paris in 1984 the singer has established himself as one of the most celebrated personalities in “world music”. Keita has since returned to Bamako and spends much of his time in his home village of Djoliba.
Born on August 25th, 1949, in the Malian village of Djoliba, Salif Keita was the latest in a royal line that went back to the founder of the great Manding empire, Sunjata Keita. Yet, his mother had to hide him, and then fled her home to escape hordes driven by superstitions that deemed that albinos are incarnations of the devil. The third of 13 children, Keita originally trained to be a teacher. But he turned his back on the profession and, at the age of 17, embarked on a singing career that took him from bar to bar in the capital Bamakoo.
The decision was an audacious one as Keita’s royal traditions excluded members of the nobility from becoming singers. Music was reserved to the lower Jali caste and Salif had to count on his soaring vocals and emotionally-fuelled songs to win over the sceptics. In 1969 he joined Bamako’s Rail Band du Buffet de la Gare, one of Mali’s most popular orchestras. Two years later he moved on to the Rail Band’s arch rivals Les Ambassadeurs. He took with him a certain Guinean guitarist called Kante Manfila.
Manfila turned out to be Keita’s greatest musical influence. “It was Kante who taught me how to compose,” Keita told Mondomix’s François Bensignor in October 2005. “Since I was not in a griot family, I was not allowed to learn traditional compositions...Kante Manfila was my school. In fact, we always played together.” With Les Ambassadeurs, the duo added jazz, Latin American sounds and European tempos to their traditional folk playing.
In 1978 Keita founded Les Ambassadeurs Internationaux in Côte d’Ivoire city of Abidjan. For five years they electrified West Africa with songs like the epic 12 minute track “Mandjou” which features on the “Mansa of Mali” album. The band broke up in 1984, persuading the Malian to try his luck in Paris. There, he struggled until producer Ibrahim Sylla helped him bring out “Soro” in 1987.
The album set a new standard with its modern re-interpretations of the music traditions from the Islamic Manding griots. “Keita sings with belting, no-holds-barred passion that evokes blues shouters and r&b screamers,” drooled one music critic. Island Records spotted his potential and signed him up in a deal which resulted in the release of “Ko Yan”. Partly inspired by Weather Report, it led to Keita collaborating with Joe Zawinul in 1990. Zawinal persuaded Wayne Shorter and Wayne Shorter to work with his new protégé, leading to the Grammy-nominated album “Amen”. Keita became the first African band leader to win such a nomination, a feat he was to repeat with his record “Papa”.
This was the first in a series of collaborations with top-class artists from diverse musical horizons, including the likes of Grace Jones and Cesaria Evora. The latter featured in “Moffou”, a magnificent series of ballads that saw the 53-year-old return to his acoustic best.
Three years later, in 2005, Keita brought out the dancier “M’Bemba”. The title translates as ancestor. It refers partly to his father Sina, with whom the musician had a troubled relationship. “This is the fruit of love,” he told Bensignor. “And, wherever you find it you can see how love can pierce a heart more powerfully than any bullet.” After testing the worth of songs like “Laban” on the dance-floors of his Bamako nightclub, Keita decided to move away from the spirit of “Moffou” and integrate melodies from Spain, even spicing some of them up with raggas. Accompanied by his faithful lieutenant Kante Manfila, the 56-year-old recorded it in his Wanda Records studios, where he hopes to record from now on.
The title track “M’Bemba” is a moving call to all those who have not been able to forgive the singer for taking up music. “I ask for forgiveness to all those who still cannot stand (this) idea. I want them to know that music for a Keita is another way to defend noble causes. It is not a way of reneging one’s nobility or origins.”
October 2005
Daniel Brown
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