AMADOU AND MARIAM – SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE – 27 SEPT 2005
September 30th, 2005 by rui
Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia are musicians from Mali. Their latest album ‘Dimanche a Bamako’ produced by Manu Chao is packed full of western pop songs fused with traditional Malian spirit. It made the Top 20 in France and garnered universal critical acclaim on it it’s UK release in June. Andy Kershaw described them as ‘The big African music success story of this year’. And he knows about these things.
If you loved the Toureg bluesmen Tinariwen at Eastnor this year – another critically acclaimed, African/Western crossover also with Manu Chao’s seal of approval – this’ll prove irresistible. Judging by the size of the crowd, a lot of other people had also been intrigued by their wide-spreading press coverage.
The backing band come onstage as the lights dimmed and a small mirrorball filled the Empire with stars. A drummer, keyboard player with a couple of synths (Nord Lead, Korg MS20, if you must know), a digital piano, bass/acoustic guitar player and a djembe player (djembist? djemberer?). So far, so standard-ish pop/rock combo.
The band kick off with a pop rhythm and Amadou is led onstage. Did i mention that he’s blind? Well he is. Wearing traditional African garb and a Fender strat, he starts playing a simple riff. You know straight away that Africa is in the house from the simple, insistent, monophonic guitar riff. Then Mariam is led onstage. Did I mention that she’s blind too? Well she is.
They’ve been partners in music and in life since meeting 25 years ago at The National Institute for the Young Blind in Mali’s capital, Bamako.
When they start singing (in French), the chilled lyrics are hard to decipher, but the melodies jump out and grab everyone by the scruffs of our necks. Specifically, that bit that responds to catchy choruses. The sound of the band in full flow is bass heavy, drum light, and packed with hooks. The rhythms range from poppy, through r&b/rock&roll, cod-reggae, contemporary dancefloor and even disco punk, covered with happy, afro-pop, sunshine vibes.
Amadou is a happy B.B. King, rock solid both vocally and with his guitar technique, whilst Mariam is all funky attitude. They stand side by side and sway gently in time to the music, proving you don’t need to flail to be funky. The crowd are either outright hands-in-air dancing, or sitting down moving. Amadou occasionally breaks out of his one-note-at-a-time style and strafes the crowd with power chords, his over-enthusiastic bass player kneeling by him and overdoing the stage antics by weaving towards then away from Amadou’s swinging guitar neck.
The lyrics of titles such as Fatigue, Miserable et
Malhereuse – a singalong finalé that’s more joyous than the title would lead you to believe – and every introduction were delivered in French and broken English which meant that enjoyment was purely musical. Their vibe is all unique voices, infectious guitar hooks and relentless,upbeat rhythms. Special mention must be made of the Djembe player who combined stage presence with brilliant drumming. A call & response solo with the band’s full-kit drummer was absolutely spot on and tight as a gnat’s proverbial. And special mention too of the bass player, who proved that over-enthusiastic, on-knees action can sometimes be a bit of a distraction. Solid playing though.
At their strongest when sticking to straighter backing tracks that let the African influences shine, the band wandered into reggae (a bass solo? in a reggae track? different!), and while rock&roll and synth led techno were the weak points it was an hour and a half of joyous, uplifting music.
Wild cheers from the appreciative crowd proved you can leave physical and mental autumnal shivers at bay given the right sonic tonic! No matter if you missed them live, owning their recordings to play indoors is an even better option.
‘Dimanche a Bamako’ is out now on Because.
More info at www.amadou-mariam.co.uk
Amadou and Mariam are due to return to the UK in February 2006 for a twelve date ‘African Soul Rebels UK Tour 2006’ with Souad Massi and Emmanuel Jal.
There will be a promotional sampler with 2 tracks from each of the artists for special give-aways around the tour (Coulibaly, Gnidjougouya).
There will be film screenings of ‘Dimanche à Bamako’ the documentary about the making of the album in the tour venues and cities.
- Friday 17 Manchester, Bridgewater Hall
- Saturday 18 Poole, Lighthouse
- Monday 20 Leicester, De Montfort Hall
- Tuesday 21 Brighton, Dome
- Wednesday 22 Basingstoke, Anvil
- Friday 24 Warwick, Arts Centre
- Saturday 25 Edinburgh, Usher Hall
- Monday 27 London, Barbican
- Tuesday 28 Gateshead, The Sage
- Thursday 2 Dublin, Olympia
- Friday 3 Bristol, Colston Hall
- Saturday 4 Liverpool, Philharmonic Hall
Press Quotes
“You don’t have to be a fan of African music to enjoy this. It’s a fantastic album” - BBC
full review
“great songs, and an irresistible performance style” - BBC
full review
[i]“Dimanche a Bamako feels like an album of overwhelming place…it finds significant strength in its diversity; tracks that freshen the mood” - Stylus Magasine
full review
