Salif Keïta's "La Différence"

An album dedicated to albinos

Paris 

11/12/2009 - 

Malian music star Salif Keïta has dedicated his new album, La Différence, to albinos, hoping that his new songs will help fight discrimination against people who, like him, were born black with white skin. Keïta - known as the Golden Voice of Africa - puts across his message of peace, love and fraternity against a compelling backdrop of Arabic influences and traditional West African sounds.

Salif Keïta has always been a musical activist, speaking out on causes close to his heart, but this time round the Malian star's songwriting message comes across even louder and clearer. Keïta's new album, La différence, weaves a subtle mix of harmonies and acoustic sounds, but lyrically speaking his songs pack an almighty punch. It is as if after years of quiet revolt the Malian singer has finally reached boiling point, bubbling over with a sense of personal injustice at crimes perpetrated against fellow albinos. What's more, Keïta's new album has been released at a time when sacrificial murders of albinos (targeted in witchcraft killings) have actually increased in a number of African countries.

La différence is not the first time that Keïta, the former frontman of Bamako's famous Rail Band, has defended the albino cause in his songs. However, this is the first time that the singer has been quite so explicit. After years of enveloping his message in sumptuous Mande music, Keïta has now taken direct action, joining forces with the international Red Cross to campaign publicly on the issue. "It's time for nations to take a firm stand on this," Keïta insists, "We're not living in the Middle Ages any more. These acts are totally reprehensible. They're a disgrace to the human race!"

White skin, black blood

Salif Keïta has always presented a calm front, a million miles away from outspoken African music rebels such as Tiken Jah Fakoly or Alpha Blondy. And musically his sound remains masterfully controlled. On the title track of his new album (destined for imminent release as a single) the Malian maestro fuses velvet harmonies with griot tradition and a hint of Arabic influences as he proclaims "Je suis un Noir/Ma peau est blanche. Et moi j’aime bien ça/C’est la différence qui est jolie/Je suis un Blanc mon sang est noir/Et moi j’adore ça". ("I'm Black/ My skin is white. And I like this. It's difference that makes it beautiful/ I'm White/ My blood is black/ And I love this.") From the moment Keïta poses his transcendent vocals over Ousmane Kouyaté's guitar, the shakers kick in and the melody is lifted via expressive kora riffs and driving rim shots on drums. As Keïta's voice, supported by powerful backing vocals, builds towards a crescendo, the oud and the balafon reiterate the melody line, accentuating the singer's simple message.

La Différence aims to raise listeners' political and social consciousness and the eight other tracks on the album deal with various themes ranging from ecology (Ekolo d’Amour) to the problem of democracy waning in Africa. Keïta is particularly forceful on a hard-hitting new version of his 1995 classic Folon, putting an openly political spin on his lyrics as he calls Africans to take their continent's future in their hands. A presage that the singer could one day enter the political arena himself?  

Unexpected sidekicks

The distinctive musical feel of La Différence is thanks, in part, to a number of contributions from renowned jazzmen such as Lebanese trumpet virtuoso Ibrahim Maalouf (who appears on Samiga.) La Différence, recorded between Beirut, Los Angeles, Bamako and Paris, draws on multiple musical influences, too, with Arab sounds coming to the fore at several points. "I'm a big fan of Arab sounds," says Keïta, "Arab music is very similar to Mande music in many ways and it's always present on my albums."   

Keïta's new album also includes a number of more unexpected collaborators. Besides the Malian star's regular accomplices (who include the Cameroonian bassist Guy N’Sanguie) Jannick Top, a studio bassist better known for his work accompanying French pop stars, appears on Gaffou. And the American jazzman Bill Frisell puts in some superb guitar-playing on Keïta's classic Folon. Together with Seydou, Folon (taken from Keïta's 1995 album of the same name) has been specially rearranged here by Jean-Philippe Rykiel. And the new version of the song sounds particularly poignant. As Keïta himself reminds us, "Folon was written at an important turning-point in Mali's history with the overthrow of Moussa Traoré's dictatorship. This song will always be very special to me." 

Folon and other classics will no doubt play a central role on Salif Keïta's European tour which kicks off on 20 March 2010. Parisian fans are already getting excited about the Malian star's eagerly-awaited concert at the Olympia on 12 April next year, six months after he brought the house down at the city's Salle Pleyel.

Salif Keïta La Différence (Universal Music France) 2009

Upcoming concerts: Bamako (31 December 2009) and Segou, Mali ("Festival Sur le Niger" 6 February 2010)
Salif Keïta kicks off a European tour on 20 March 2010 and will be performing at L'Olympia, in Paris, 12 April 2010

Frédéric  Lejeal

Translation : Julie  Street