African Sounds

Mali Dub.

Malian

Traditional Inventiveness: Andra Kouyaté and Sèkè Chi Reveal the Innovative Spirit and Polyglot Funk in Mali’s Deepest Roots

In some musically vibrant corners of the world, innovation is the tradition. 

So it is in Mali, where the sounds of the Saharan north have mingled with an array of West African traditions in the south. Musicians like Andra Kouyaté show how his homeland’s deep and diverse roots are a constant source of innovative inspiration. 

The young scion of a profoundly respected griot family, Kouyaté has invented instruments, transformed Malian standards into fresh new pieces, and taken a contemporary ear to traditional sounds, incorporating pop and reggae with the effortless aplomb that has put Mali on the world’s musical map.

On his first major international release, Andra and his youthful ensemble Sèkè Chi bring a wide-ranging, aesthetically linked set of songs on Saro (Studio Mali; July 31, 2012). Saro features contributions by Amadou and Mariam; by wife and local star Mah Bara Soumano; by older brother Bassekou Kouyaté; by respected Malian singer Ami Sacko; by Harouna Samake the kamele n’goni player for Salif Keita; and by balafon whiz Lassana Diabaté of the Grammy-winning project AfroCubism. The album reveals Andra’s stunning ability to embrace not only all the musical possibilities of Mali’s many traditions, but also a relentless drive to create and re-imagine the music he loves. 

“I am always searching and listening and trying to understand more music. If I only played traditional music in the same way, it would simply be too limiting for me. I want to expand. It’s what I was meant to do.”

{full story below}

Kouyaté’s life may seem to straddle two worlds, but in Mali, in his circle of hereditary musicians and oral historians (jeli or griots), it’s all part of one all-embracing creative effort. From a long-standing, very prominent family of griots, Kouyaté has followed in the footsteps of his forbearers (the meaning of the group’s name, Sèkè Chi). Andra performs a beloved cannon of traditional songs and pieces at weddings, social events, and other major secular and religious celebrations in his community.

Andra’s central role in this community is woven throughout his songs and music. “In ‘Lagaré,’ for example, I mention other griots, and I praise them and acknowledge their significance in our culture, in life in general. I thank them for what they do in life and in society,” Kouyaté explains. “The role of the griot is to bring back to life things that are broken between people, between family members, villages, even countries. And to resolve conflicts.”

And like griots before him, he has kept his musical work all in the family. To build Sèkè Chi, he travelled back to one of his ancestral villages and recruited several young relatives to play with him. His wife, a well-loved griot in her own right, adds her nimble, passionate vocals to tracks like “Den Massa Lou.” Songs praise Andra’s father and his elder brother (“Bassekou”) and memorialize his young, bright brother who recently passed away tragically (“Saro”).

“I was born with music, and my life is music,” reflects Kouyaté. “This is what we do in my family. If I don’t make music, I am nothing.”

At the same time, Andra’s part in the long chain of tradition and family is marked by a restless, joyful creativity and innovation. He’s a master of incorporating new elements and sounds into songs he has heard and played his entire life, including the northern Malian sounds made famous by bands like Tinariwen and singers like Khaira Arby. Tracks like “Ya Baba” feature the kind of desert-blues string work that drives many Western music fans wild.

Andra has toured the world with Grammy-nominated global indie favorites, Bassekou Kouyaté and Ngoni Ba; spent almost a decade with Rokia Traore; and most recently has been playing and touring with African reggae legend Tiken Jah Fakoly.

 Inventing a new version of the ngoni—the precursor to the banjo that can render lightning-fast melodies in skilled hands—Andra took a fresh approach to the traditional instrument, adding the bass sounds he missed to the mix by carefully modifying the n’goni until it achieved a deeper, richer resonance and found the new expressive quality he craved. A relentless rehearser, arranger, and stickler for detail, he thoughtfully incorporates subtle reggae vibes (“Saro,“ “Yereko”) or funk flourishes (“Aye Anflé”) to his deep roots.

“Music is something that has no borders. Music is something that speaks all languages. It has no limits and crosses all cultures,” notes Kouyaté “It’s all the blues, all jazz. It can be Malian, Ethiopian, anything. Everyone can understand it and play together.”


Andra Kouyate "Saro"

African & Caribbean soul music

BURNING SPEARMUSIC

Malin Music

montserrat

Grooves

africa

Rokia Traoré - Sabali 
PROMO USE ONLY 
NOT FOR SALE

Rokia Traoré - Sabali (Little D. & Stamy Remix)

Get the album now: http://glitterbeat.com/glitterbeat_store/

Voiced with deep passion and grace, Aziza Brahim's music adeptly travels the expanse between her Western Saharan roots and Barcelona, the European cosmopolis where she now lives. Aziza is both a contemporary sonic poet and a prominent and eloquent spokesperson for the Saharawi people and their ongoing struggle for recognition and justice.

Born and raised in the Saharawi refugee camps lining the frontier between Algeria and Western Sahara, Aziza’s life has been marked by both daunting hardship and inspired will. Fleeing from these camps and the regime of political oppression that followed Morocco’s 1975 invasion of Western Sahara, as a young teenager Aziza travelled to Cuba for her secondary school studies. There she experienced first hand the deep Cuban economic crisis of the 1990’s and the subsequent denial of her request to pursue a university degree in music.

Music had been Aziza’s passion since she was a small girl and despite this setback she returned to the Saharawi camps in Algeria and began singing and playing in different musical ensembles, a process that continued when she moved to Spain in the year 2000. There she founded the eclectic Saharawi/Spanish band Gulili Mankoo with whom she released two acclaimed self-produced recordings: the EP “Mi Canto” (2008) and an album “Mabruk” (2012) both on Reaktion, a French label specializing in Saharan music. In the last years Aziza has performed extensively appearing at major festivals and venues including WOMAD Cáceres (2012) and Queen Elizabeth Hall in London (2009).

Aziza’s new album Soutak (“Your Voice”), her debut for the Glitterbeat label, is her first recording to predominantly focus on the cadence of her majestic voice and the soulful critique of her lyrics. The album was produced by Chris Eckman (Tamikrest, Ben Zabo, Dirtmusic) and was recorded live and direct in Barcelona in June of 2013.

In the liner notes to the album Aziza describes her vision for Soutak: 

“Feeling the need to make an acoustic record, I imagined a somewhat modest musical outline, which would not involve too many instruments and in which the voices would take the expressive emotional lead. I wanted to further explore the range of possibilities found in the Haul, the Saharawi’s traditional rhythmic sources, played on the tabal and a source of inspiration for the Desert Blues.”

The hand picked band she assembled for the album consists of Spaniards Nico Roca (percussion) & Guillem Aguilar (bass), Malian Kalilou Sangare (acoustic lead guitar), Aziza’s sister Badra Abdallahe (backing voice) and in addition to singing, Aziza contributes acoustic rhythm guitar and the tabal, the traditional Saharawi hand-drum.

The music on Soutak is a powerful and nuanced mixture of musical cultures and features Malian, Spanish, Cuban and contemporary Anglo-European motifs all held together by Aziza’s deeply rooted knowledge of traditional Saharawi song and sound.  

Throughout Soutak, the band frames Aziza’s voice with dignified restraint and leaves unvarnished space for her lyrics, lyrics which range from the sharply political “Gdeim Izik” (named after the “Camp of Dignity” crushed by the Moroccan-backed authorities) to the whispered enigmas of “La Palabra/The Word” (“Cradled by the wind it left/ it went around the world and returned/ and there beyond the word was heard”)

The song “Julud,” dedicated to Aziza’s mother, is possibly the most emblematic song on the album combining intimate and stark desert poetry with an unyielding faith in the Saharawi political struggle:

You are like the night and the stars/ Your voice goes beyond the top of the clouds/ 
You are the smiling breeze of today/ You are an example of humanity and of fight.
Resist, immortal, resist.

Though the songs on Soutak can be unsparing in their details of oppression, there is more often than not a “smiling breeze” to be found. Aziza’s essential voice, headstrong commitment and subtly inventive music are that breeze. 

With Soutak Aziza Brahim has delivered an empowered flight to freedom; an alternative world where hope is imminent and dancing is justified.


Aziza Brahim:
Homepage: http://aziza-brahim.blogspot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aziza.brahim.official
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AzizaBrahim1

Glitterbeat Records:
Homepage: http://www.glitterbeat.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Glitterbeat
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/glitterbeattv
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Glitterbeat_Rec

Aziza Brahim - Julud

Elani-Koo Koo

Elani-Hapo Zamani

Elani-Mahindi

Abdallah AG ALHOUSSEINY et Saghid AG AYAD

Wɑ̆r jɑ̆nnet tibudar

Get the LIMITED EDITION vinyl here: http://glitterbeat.com/glitterbeat_store/

Aminata Wassidjé Traoré is a rising voice in Mali. Tamala is her debut album, recorded in Bamako and released in 2009. Born in Diré, near the fabled city of Timbuktu, Aminata was raised within northern Mali’s rich cultural brew. From an ethnic Songhai family, Aminata started singing as a young child. Her music, like the environment that surrounded her growing up, incorporates various cultures and traditions. On Tamala, an album she self-produced with the help of the artist Mamadou Kelly and arranger Baba Simaga, she sings in Songhai and Tamasheq.

While northern Mali still suffers the repercussions of religious and ethnic warfare, Tamala sends a message of reconciliation and inclusion. Aminata believes people can work together for a solution, and sees the vast potential of Mali’s diverse north. Moving to the Southern capital of Bamako not only enabled her to develop as a musician, backing up well known artists like Baba Salah, Khaira Arby and Afel Bocoum, it also enhanced her vision of a diverse and connected Mali.

Tamala is considered a neo-traditional album in the context of the Malian music scene: it is rooted in northern folk musical traditions, but arranged in a contemporary way and mixes drum programming and synthesizers with the banjo-like n'goni and the sokou, a one-string violin. Hints of Hip Hop and electronic dance music sit side by side with the pentatonic sounds of the interior Niger delta.

Afropop Worldwide wrote this about Tamala:
“And then there’s the music—in a word, sublime…solos burst forth with forthright clarity and consistent eloquence. Western sounds and production techniques have been appropriated here, but the melodic phrasing, rhythms and modalities in the music are 100% local.”

In 2013, Aminata began a collaboration with Glitterbeat Records when she appeared on the album Troubles by the Austrailian/American group Dirtmusic. The Guardian (UK) noted in their enthusiastic review of the album that »La Paix, an impassioned cry against the terrorist invasion of Mali, is voiced thrillingly by Aminata Traore.”

Glitterbeat Records is releasing Tamala in a limited vinyl version of 1,000. It will be pressed on 180g vinyl with a gatefold sleeve. The album is coming out in cooperation with Studio Mali, a Bamako based label.

www.facebook.com/Wassidje

www.glitterbeat.com
www.facebook.com/Glitterbeat
www.youtube.com/user/glitterbeattv


Aminata Wassidjé Traoré - Un Jour

The Radio Dept - Strange Things Will Happen

Zanga Cissé - Kana djoro (nouveau morceau)

oumou sangare - iyo djeli - josecarlos edit

Sira KOUYATE la paix

Matagalán

Sorta Blues Improvisation over a chromatic scale. 
Guitar: Gibson Es339 ; D' Addario Flat Wounds 10-46 strings.

Chromatic Blues

This is my 2nd collab with Ewen Allardyce on voice and lyrics. Pure awesome talent, Hope you enjoy.
It's been chosen to play on a blues radio programme: Gold radio blues (Maryland) Sunday 20/1/2013 .  Here it on Ewen's cloud: https://soundcloud.com/ewenallardyce/1-2-me-2-with-nothinbutdablues 

1 2 Me 2 (NothinButDaBlues-Ewen Allardice Collab)

Afuera - caifanes

Programming/Production/Vocals and Guitar-Stuart Thomas


Wicked Game Vocal Remix (Chris Issak cover)

Stuntin'

Get the album here: http://glitterbeat.com/glitterbeat_store/

Recorded at Studio Mali in Bamako, in the autumn of 2012, Samba is joined by
his regular band members Djimé Sissoko (n’goni ) and Madou Sanogo (congas,
djembe) and guests such as the legendary, master of the soku (a one-stringed
violin) Zoumana Tereta and the fast-rising Malian neo-traditional singer Aminata
Wassidje Traore. Additionally, Hugo Race (The Bad Seeds, Dirtmusic, Fatalists)
contributes an array of subtle atmospherics on guitar and keyboards.

Samba Toure - Be Ki Don

Les critiques sont très  bonnes à dire, mais ils nous faudrais être très surent avant de les appliquer ou pratiquer sans se tromper afin de ne pas acriminée l'humanité et ses humains ou d'autres sont restés  honnêtes

Siin wiida

Traditional Inventiveness: Andra Kouyaté and Sèkè Chi Reveal the Innovative Spirit and Polyglot Funk in Mali’s Deepest Roots

In some musically vibrant corners of the world, innovation is the tradition. 

So it is in Mali, where the sounds of the Saharan north have mingled with an array of West African traditions in the south. Musicians like Andra Kouyaté show how his homeland’s deep and diverse roots are a constant source of innovative inspiration. 

The young scion of a profoundly respected griot family, Kouyaté has invented instruments, transformed Malian standards into fresh new pieces, and taken a contemporary ear to traditional sounds, incorporating pop and reggae with the effortless aplomb that has put Mali on the world’s musical map.

On his first major international release, Andra and his youthful ensemble Sèkè Chi bring a wide-ranging, aesthetically linked set of songs on Saro (Studio Mali; July 31, 2012). Saro features contributions by Amadou and Mariam; by wife and local star Mah Bara Soumano; by older brother Bassekou Kouyaté; by respected Malian singer Ami Sacko; by Harouna Samake the kamele n’goni player for Salif Keita; and by balafon whiz Lassana Diabaté of the Grammy-winning project AfroCubism. The album reveals Andra’s stunning ability to embrace not only all the musical possibilities of Mali’s many traditions, but also a relentless drive to create and re-imagine the music he loves.

Maningakan by Andra Kouyaté & Sèkè Chi

Jake Bugg

Simple As This

Alkibar Jr. La Paix feat. Afel Bocoum

Takamba

New music by Alkibar Jr. from Niafunké, Mali, Calling for Peace, and featuring the maître, Afel Bocoum. Recorded at studiomali.com

Tech House & Tribal
Oumou Sangare Bamako Singer 

Avraham Ortiz  - I Love You (Original Mix)

An out-of-time, visceral collection of songs & sounds from Bamako-based producer Paul Chandler’s unparalleled archive. These high fidelity field recordings take us deep inside the full sonic power of the Malian musical experience.

Maningakan by Andra Kouyaté & Sèkè Chi

Remote Records/Studio Mali