This is a song calling for unity among Africans, to work together not against each other, for Peace and progress.&#13;
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Album available From iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/tamala/id722299420
Bandcamp: http://amiwassidje.bandcamp.com
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FISF1T4
Deezer: http://www.deezer.com/en/album/6986109
eMusic: http://www.emusic.com/album/art-melody/wogdog-blues/13939852/



Aminata Wassidjé Traoré is a rising voice in Mali. Tamala is her debut album, recorded in Bamako between 2000 and 2008. Born in Diré, near the fabled city of Timbuktu, Ami was raised within northern Mali's rich cultural brew. From an Ethnic Songhai family, Ami started singing as a young child. Her music, like the environment that surrounded her growing up in Diré, near Timbuktu, incorporates various cultures and traditions. On Tamala, an album she self produced with the help of artist Mamadou Kelly (http://www.rockpaperscissors.biz/index.cfm/fuseaction/current.bio/project_id/721.cfm) 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. Ami believes people can work together for a solution, she 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 (http://www.npr.org/2013/03/21/174416220/baba-salah-a-malian-musician-speaks-to-his-nations-displaced), Khaira Arby (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UDecjaj4ek) and Afel Bocoum (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afel_Bocoum), it also enhanced her vision of a diverse and connected Mali.

Tamala is considered a modern-traditional album in Mali: it is rooted in northern folk musical traditions, but arranged in a contemporary way. it was conceived locally, for a Malian audience, and shines in its subtle simplicity. This album is also the first collaboration between Paul Chandler's Studio Mali (http://www.studiomali.com) and Akwaaba Music.

Paul set up Studio Mali as a label and artist management company, and has worked with legendary musicians such as Afel Bocoum, Vieux Farka (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vieux_Farka_Tour%C3%A9), Baba Salah, Andra Kouyaté (http://www.afropop.org/wp/3319/3319/), Samba Touré (http://www.samba-toure.com/) and most recently on Mamadou Kelly's album Adibar. Paul also founded i4africa.org (http://i4africa.org/), an NGO whose goal is to preserve traditional music, and provide training in the arts to underprivileged and at-risk youth in Mali.

Aminata Wassidjé Traoré - "Afrique"

In the twenty years since Malian guitar legend Ali Farka Touré won his first Grammy, a whole spectrum of African Blues has become hugely popular with a global audience. The shades of Blues on this Rough Guide range from the deep indigo of the Saharan nomads to a vivid Madagascan cobalt.

For more information, visit www.worldmusic.net/africanblues

Africa is considered by many to be the home of the Blues, both musically and spiritually. Musically the connection is particularly evident in the music of Ali Farka Touré and other artists from Mali and Saharan West Africa. Elsewhere, the link to the Blues can be described as more spiritual – the intensity of the emotion comes across in the passion of the voices and the rawness of the music.

West Africa provides the first few songs on this Rough Guide. Ali Farka Touré himself said that he was ‘an absolute fool for the guitar’ in the 1970s when ‘Yer Mali Gakoyoyo’ was recorded for Mali’s national radio station, while ‘Dani Dou’ by his acolyte Samba Touré hints at the loping gait of a camel-train.  Tamikrest and Bombino represent further variations of the blues of the Sahara.

Senegalese artists Nuru Kane and Amadou Diagne are joined by musicians from their adopted communities in France and the UK and it’s English guitarist Ramon Goose who provides the springy electric riff to accompany Modou Touré’s vocals in the West African Blues Project.  Meanwhile, Zambian-born Dominic Kakolobango is joined by American Elijah Wald on the dual finger-picking guitars of ‘Gueza Tabiya’ (Change Your Habits) and an international band, including oud and piano, provides a lush backing for Amira Kheir’s jazzy exploration of her Sudanese heritage.

The complex traditional music of their native Madagascar influences the blues of both Nogabe Randriaharimalala and Lala Njava, while Menelik Wesnatchew’s ‘Teteza’ is a beautifully swaying version of ‘Ethiopia’s majestic hymn to the blues’. 

Dilon Djindji, from Mozambique, made his first guitar from an oil can when he was twelve years old, 63 years before his first solo album was released. The final track on the album is a unique unaccompanied vocal piece by La Reunion’s greatest maloya artist, Danyèl Waro.

Nuru Kane: Niang Balo (taken from The Rough Guide To African Blues)

Sokosondou

Figli Di Madre Ignota -Drop the rock (Gaetano fabri remix) taken from BALKAN CIRCUS out now

Lajko Félix - A bokorból - A gödörből / From the ditch

Vieux Farka Touré's beautiful latest album was recorded as an homage to his homeland. Being that his native Mali has been splintered by territorial fighting between Tuareg and Islamic rebels since January 2012, his new album, Mon Pays, is devoted to reminding the world about the beauty and culture of his homeland.

‘For me it is a statement for the world that this land is for the sons and daughters of Mali, not for Al Qaeda or any militants. This land is for peace and beauty, rich culture and tolerance.This is our heritage, what we must always fight to protect in any way that we can. For me, that means making music that reminds the world of who we are.’

Translating as ‘My Nation,’ this predominantly acoustic undertaking had been planned before the invasions began. Inspired by his work with Israeli pianist and vocalist Idan Raichel, Touré initially went into a Bamako studio to honor the acoustic blues tradition of Northern and Southern Mali. Since that time, Mon Pays transformed into an artifact of cultural preservation.

Two songs on the project -Future’ and ‘Peace’ feature Sidiki Diabate’s kora leading an emotional charge complemented by Touré’s spectacular guitar work. Both tracks represent an important generational "passing of the torch" as Sidiki’s father, Toumani is considered one of the greatest living kora masters and was a close friend of Vieux’s father Ali. Their two records together, In the Heart of the Moon and Ali and Toumani, were awarded Grammies. At the 2011 ceremonies, Vieux accepted the prestigious award for his father, who had recently passed from bone cancer.

Mon Pays is the most mature and lovely record yet from one of this generation's most exciting artists to come out of Mali and one of world music's true rising stars.

02 Vieux Farka Toure -Safare

03 Vieux Farka Toure-Doni Doni

04 Vieux Farka Toure -Yer Gando

05 Vieux Farka Toure-Nouhoume Maiga

06 Vieux Farka Toure-Kele Magni

08 Vieux Farka Toure-Allah Wawi

Six Degrees Records produces and markets accessible, genre-bending records that explore world music traditions, modern dance grooves, electronic music, and overlooked pop gems. The label’s catchphrase, “everything is closer than you think,” is a real reflection of Six Degrees’ commitment to different styles of music that appeal to a curious and increasingly sizable audience.

05 Vieux Farka Toure-Nouhoume Maiga

Six Degrees Records

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