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Bamada

Language:

Songhoi

Genre:

Malian fusion Rock Blues Jazz

Instrument:

Guitar Male vocals

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Biography

"A good kora-player can often make you think you are hearing two or three instruments at the same time", says Habib Koite. He doesn't play kora (West African harp), but guitar with a technique inspired by the kora. Habib Koite comes from Senegal, is a member of the Griot Khassongke family, but has lived in Mali for many years. His grandfather was a master of the stringed instrument n'goni, and his father played guitar. His mother is still an active singer and performs at weddings and other festive occasions. Habib Koite began, like so many other African musicians, by emulating others. After further education it was thought he would study engineering but, following his uncle's advice, he sought a place at the Instituts des Arts in Bamako, Mali's capitol. There he studied music for four years. After completing his studies in 1982, he continued to teach guitar at the Institute and worked with several established musicians, among them the kora player, Keletegui Diabate. In 1988 he formed his own group, Bamada, comprised of a few younger Malian musicians. The group soon took up their positions and released their first single in 1991. The song, "Cigarette A Bana" (Finished with Smoking) became a hit in West Africa and can be heard on Koite's first CD, "Muso Ko", from 1995. That success led to many performances at international music festivals across Europe and Canada.
Habib Koite plays a kind of Malian fusion, several styles are mixed, wrapped up in modern arrangements, sometimes close to rock and roll. The synthesizer is absent in his music. His disks on the Belgian Contrejour label are extremely well produced, and his musical blending sounds unusually authentic. In his lyrics, he writes emphatically about the African society all around him; there is humour and poetry, West African mythology and symbolism. Habib Koite has been award several prizes at international music festivals around the world.

Relevant artists:
Ali Farka Touré
Cheikh Lô
Afel Bocoum
Tama

MUSO KO  
Contrejour/1995

This must be one of the strongest debut albums delivered by any African musicians for many a year. Habib Koite plays with a sovereign authority from the first note with his characteristic guitar sound. The music is sort of rock-like with a phenomenal ensemble, especially Koite himself and the talking drum player, Baba Sissiko. The latter plays in traditional style, but the whole thing is woven together into a formidable "wall of sound". This is neither traditional African music nor true rock'n'roll, but something new that makes one think that all music must originate in Africa!

MA YA  
Contrejour/1998

The most noteworthy thing about this disk is that it is so different from "Muso Ko". One would think that Habib Koite would continue with more of the same after his debut album went to the top of the "World" listing in 1995. Instead, he presents a new and different, but just as original, disk. While "Muso Ko" was full of energetic and danceable music, "Ma Ya" is more relaxed, more along the lines of blues, if you like. But here are the same tasty arrangements. There is well-balanced collaboration between electric and traditional instruments and a production as fantastic as (if not better than) on the debut album. The reward was 3 months at a trot at number 1 on the "World" listing in the summer of 1998. It is beautiful. It is atmospheric. It swings. More, more!

BARO  
Contrejour/Putomayo 2001

Full marks again for Habib Koite!
Three years after the success of "Ma Ya" the band is on the market once more with a follow-up just as strong as we had all hoped. He further develops ideas from the previous album and keeps to the acoustic line. Here is the same crystal clear sound, the same earthiness, and the same beauty in the songs. In the arrangements Habib goes a little further, in that the balafon really stands out in the sound picture, and he has used flute and violin on some tracks. There is also a metal scraper, as found in Wassoulou music, for example with Oumou Sangare. On the whole, the expression is maybe more jazzy than the last release, maybe it also has a stronger European influence. But above all, this is Habib Koite's own musical expression. The guitar playing is just as select, lovely, and poetic as before; this music opens doors into the soul. And there lie the small wonders – you will be touched, glad you are there, are human, are alive. A literary expression perhaps best describes it: it's all about a new sincerity.

FÔLY!  
World Village/Contrejour/2004

This CD should have been reviewed ages ago, it was issued in January this year, not in this part of the world, though, where World Village/Contre Jour has no distribution(?), and marketing/distribution in other countries as well, like England, seem a little coincidental. (A problem for World Village?)
Anyway.
There are no new songs on this double CD, however this does not really feel as a great loss. Many of the old songs are reworked and extended with long solos and to a large extent stand out as new numbers. The playing time is more than 70 minutes on both records; you get a lot for your money here. The technical quality is excellent, as always, so with some volume, this really is like going to a gig with the group. The Bamada members play extremely well together, as they do in the studio, and it is a pleasure to follow the group's dynamic cooperation as well as each member's solos. Kélétigui Diabaté's balafon is for instance well balanced against Habib Koité's electric nylon string guitar, which gives Bamada its very special sound. I cannot see any weak spots on this record. The title could have been more presise: "Live around the world" is not a well chosen subtitle as all recordings are made in Germany, Switzerland, Holland or Italy. But the band and their compositions keep top standard, and when the technichal part of it does the same, I can see no reason for not giving Habib Koité and his band another full score.
(How world music magazine "Songlines" in their rating of "50 essential African albums" TOTALLY ignored Habib Koité & Bamada, is simply a mystery to me.)
Tracks:
CD 1
1.Muso Ko
2.Fatma
3.Ma Ya
4.Sirata
5.Batoumambe
6.Bitile
7.Imada
8.Kanawa
9.Wari
CD 2
1.Nanale
2.Komine
3.Nimato
4.Saramaya
5.Sin Djen Djen
6.Wassiye
7.Cigarrete Abana
8.Kunfeta
9.Takamba

AFRIKI  
Contre-Jour/Cumbancha/2007

I have to admit I'm not at all "objective" concerning Habib Koite. I'm too much of a fan. So I'm afriaid I won't be able to say much critical about his latest album "Afriki". The first time you play it, maybe you think: What's so special about this? Already the second time you start to understand. Habib just sets his own standards. He has found his way to modernise the ancient Mali traditional music. He keeps it the way he has done on his previous 3 albums, accoustic, and as before he sings and plays his way right in to my heart. His Bamada band is in place with Keletigui Diabate on balafon and violin, Souleyman Ann, drums, Abdoul Berthe, bass, kamale ngoni, Mahamadou Kone on talking drum, and Boubacar Sidibe as a second giutarist. On "Africa" there is a brass section, arranged by veteran Pee Wee Ellis, added with good results, "N'teri" includes a beautiful string arrangement, perhaps the best track on the record, also with a female quartet of backing vocals. On "Nta Dima" a percussion group called "Benkadi de Koutiala" shows up and adds some folkloristic elements to the music. So even if Habib Koite keep following his own tracks, he also adds some new elements here and there. Few tracks really stand out as catchy hits; what makes this work is the deepness of the music.
The lyrics follow traditional themes, in "Barra" for instance, he calls on farmers and fishermen to work, to build the nation. In other songs he discusses traditional family matters. "I want to open a small window to the new generations", says Habib Koite regarding his accoustic style with use of traditional instruments, "to help them hear our old traditions even if it is in new music."
I don't really miss anything here. Enjoy, enjoy!

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Swahili: Francis Chagula (francis.chagula@malvik.kommune.no)
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