Tonight in Brooklyn, Salif Keita will be performing at the Prospect Park Bandshell (along with an enchanting “Persian rock goddess”) for free!
Growing up in a Mandinka (Malinke or Mandingo whichever you prefer) household in Sierra Leone and later in Guinea, Salif Keita’s music-one of the finest voices of Africa-was always on heavy rotation. Salifu Keita is royalty, not only as a direct descendant of Sundiata Keita, founder of the Malian Empire, but he’s a musical treasure to Mandinka people and to Africa and the whirled. His exquisite voice is a mountain. “Mandjou” is from his very successful 1995 album Folon recorded in Paris. Download the older, Bamako version here -recorded sometime between 1969 and 1980. I grew up listening to both, the Bamako version on cassette and the Parisian version on CD.
“Folon” is the title track from the mega-popular album. Tremendously sad, haunting, and beautiful.
Stay up.
the forementioned “Persian rock goddess” features my man Brent on cello — he’s GREAT.
in addition to rocking with Haale, he plays erhu (2 string chinese horsehair fiddle) on my new, upcoming, infinitely delayed mix CD ‘Uproot’
Keita is fantastic, ill pull out some vinyl to air on Weds. if i remember…
stay up yessir
Unless Prospect Park is flooding, I am totally trying to go to this… Thanks for the heads up!