Salif Keita and Les Ambassadeurs are among that select company of African performers to attain commercial success in the U.S. This early recording reveals the Afro-Cuban sound so prevalent in the Ambassadeurs' music, and features Salif Keita's distinctly rich, scintillating voice.
After first breaking into the Malian music scene with the Super Rail Band, Salif Keita left to help form Les Ambassadeurs. The strong Cuban influence in the music (obvious not only in the rhythms, but also in the horn charts of a track like "Kolangoman") helped bring them local fame in the mid-'70s before Keita embarked on a solo career. With some stunning, but laid-back, guitar work from Kante Manfila, this record moves at a wonderful pace, never straining at the leash, but more danceable than 12 albums of funk. Compiled from the band's Malian releases, it offers a good cross-section of what they achieved (however, it's worth noting that "Mousso Gnaleden" was recorded after Keita's departure with a different vocalist), and how they could indulge in a song without it ever being forced. An absolute delight.
These 1970s cuts were recorded when Keita and fellow Guinean guitarist Kante Manfila were helping to revolutionize African music by blending traditional rhythms with Caribbean and Latin beats. The resulting convergence yielded a fresh, invigorating, influential hybrid. Rounder hedged their bets a bit by advertising this CD highlighting Keita; he's only on the first two cuts, and vocalist Minx makes a slightly more exciting contribution on his featured cut, "Mousso Gnaleden." But Keita displays his formidable skills on "Seidou Bahkili," and Les Ambassadeurs demonstrate the facility and form that made them part of the new wave of African bands who paved the way for the worldbeat explosion of the late '80s.
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More Afro Cuban Latin Music
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