‘Golden Voice of Africa’ Tours the U.S. 

 

 

Feature by L. N’zinga Strickland

Photography by William Farrington

 

 

 
   
Critically acclaimed singer Salif Keita of Mali, long dubbed ‘The Golden Voice of Africa,’ is currently touring the United States promoting his latest CD titled Moffou. The celebrated Keita, known for his uniquely soulful and operatic voice that blends western electronics with his original West African style, is busy criss-crossing the country at major venues, with a recent stop at New York’s Irving Plaza. SOB’S sponsored the city show. His vast American Tour 2002  takes him coast to coast to 16 locations, like New York, Boston, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Oregon and Los Angeles.  
   
   
Clad in his trademark white and amid the cheers of hundreds of fans on two levels of the Irving Plaza theatre, Keita took to the stage alone and sat quietly on a stool, where he was handed his acoustic guitar. Starting his set off righteously, he proceeded to render songs from past albums, with listeners heartily singing along, and then segued into the new Moffou that showcases his soaring voice accompanied only by the moods of his rhythmic guitar. Bathed in tranquil blue light, Keita introduced songs from his predominately acoustic album, sung mostly in Malinke and Bambara, to a rapt hometown audience.  
   
Born into nobility as a result of his ancestor Sundiata Keita founding the Malian Empire in the 13th century, Keita is internationally known for his previous albums over several decades where he boldly strove into futuristic music with Western collaborators such as Vernon Reid of the Black Rock Coalition, Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter. So the simply named Moffou, a small handmade flute from his childhood, is a marked change for Keita who does away with his regular electrical mix of instruments to go it almost alone with just his illustrious guitar playing for company.  
 
   
On the songs the master musicians do play with Keita, all mesh softly into the work or in more rambunctious pieces, boom onto the scene along with friend Salif’s magnetic voice. All ten songs on the new record are composed by Keita and arranged by longtime colleague, guitarist Kante Manfila. Keita’s Moffou concentrates mightily on themes of love, joy and the beauty of life.  
   
 
   
He dedicates his ‘back-to-the-basics Salif-style’ to his beloved Africa, saying in linear notes: "… Let’s build the country of our children and stop taking pity on ourselves. Africa is also the joy of living, optimism, beauty, elegance, grace, poetry, softness, the sun and nature. Let’s be happy to be its’ sons and fight to build our happiness."  
   
 
   
Plus a handful of specially picked musicians to flow with him on his journey back to Mali and to his very personal roots as a creative artist. Acoustic accomplices include D’jelly Moussa Kouyate (guitar), the late Sayon Sissoko (n’goni), Benoit Urbain (accordion), Mino Cenlu (percussion), Adama Kouyate, (traditional instruments), Jean-Louis Solans (lute), David Aubaile (flutes), Hadja Kouyate (and other background vocalists) and nine other helpers.  
   
   
 
   
Song number one, Yamore, on Keita’s ‘down home’ recording features a fiery duet of salsa-tinged proportions with Cape Verde’s black reigning diva, Cesaria Evora --- who matches the ‘golden voice’ forcefully with her own tempteous timbre. On the classic Ana Na Ming, Keita, partnered solely with his sumptuous vocals and guitar, sings of a trip he took on a private getaway to an African island where he eventually starts longing for the companionship of a woman. Other bouncy tracks are equally personal like Koukou where Keita pays homage to a loyal friend of thirty years in terms of a praise song. The racy Madan is dedicated to the end of the harvest season, he says in an interview, which turns out to be a very big party.  

 

  
 
   
In addition to touring America to promote his new CD, Keita, 53, is still deeply involved with humanitarian programs to enlighten the masses. As an albino, he is founder of the world-wide SOS Albino organization, head of the Moffou social club he recently opened in Mali to preserve the musical traditions and general culture of the country and is an avowed advocate for political stability in his homeland.

The nobleman singer winds up his U.S. tour on the West Coast in November and, prior to other plans, is scheduled to return home to his dual residences in Bamako, Mali and Paris, France.

 
   
Information on Salif Keita’s music and projects can be obtained on-line through any search engine. Journalist L. N’zinga Strickland can be reached at NzingaPaz@aol.com