From its launch in 1970 in Bamako, Mali, the Rail Band was always a collective entity, bringing together the ideas of a number of first rate musicians, as well as fronting singers of various ethnic and caste backgrounds. In these and other ways, this was the band that introduced modernity to the Malian music scene. And obviously, that ball has been rolling in Mali ever since. This, the third in a set of double-CDs documenting the Rail Band’s early history (1970-1983) completes what is by far the best available document on this crucial outfit. The history, the stories, the personnel changes, and best of all, the music are all here allowing this formative period in West African music to come into focus as never before.
The generally good sleeve notes do claim that the early Rail Band was “free of foreign influence.” Well, if you don’t count electric guitars, keyboards, James Brown, Havana son, and a few other things, maybe. But the point is that the main thrust of the Rail Band’s creativity was interpreting Malian folklore—especially Mande griot songs and pentatonic Bambara tunes—in an entirely new and fresh way.
The band’s home base, the Buffet Hotel de la Gare, opened in 1961, but only in ‘68, when the pan-African, quasi-socialist leader Modiba Keita was overthrown and state funds for music and dance dried up, did the idea of creating a band for the venue gain traction. The earliest version of the Rail Band began to take shape in ’69, under the leadership of Tidiane Koné, and with the reluctant participation of a young Salif Keita. Legend has it that Keita first performed with a towel over his head to hide his albino face. The Rail Band’s earliest repertoire apparently included Egyptian and Chinese covers, aimed at entertaining visiting business interests. (Too bad none of those got recorded!) But the band’s real fame was built on its interpretation of Mande war horses like “Sunjata” “Tira Makan,” although Salif had four Bambara numbers in his repertoire as well, previewing his now legendary versatility.
1972 marks start of the band’s “second period” with an influx of new musicians including the great Mory Kanté on balafon. Kante, born in Guinea but raised in Mali, had become something of a star while still young, and was always an innovator, particularly on the kora, which he would one day make the centerpiece of his large electric band. The Rail Band became his first real workshop for experimentation, a period especially noteworthy for Kanté’s fruitful collaboration with guitarist Djelimady Tounkara, who joined around the same time, replacing to Nabé Baba. Kanté also sang in the band, and this may have helped encourage Keita to decamp to a competing venue simply called The Motel. Kanté soon became the Rail Band’s star vocalist, with Magan Ganessy singing the Bambara repertoire. This was also the point when the band began using trap drums rather than just hand percussion. After playing the Panafrican festival in Lagos in 1977, they experimented with the popular Afrobeat sound, with funky results like Kanté’s bluesy, swinging “Sinsimba.”
Kanté and Tounkara then broke off and spent some time exploring possibilities in Abidjan. They missed gigs at the Buffet, and were fired, marking the start of the band’s third period. Tounkara returned to Bamako, but as he was still barred from the Rail Band, he stared his own trio, which became so popular that in 1981 that it had to be integrated into the Buffet band. From here, the Rail Band becomes essentially a new entity, with almost entirely new musicians under Tounkara’s direction. Two members who would last into the most recent incarnation of the Rail Band enter the picture here, vocalist Damory Kouyaté and bassist Fotigui Keita, who actually began as a drummer, and, sadly, died very recently. During the third period, Sekou Kouyaté sang the Bambara pieces, and Lanfia Diabaté, brother of the great Kasse Mady Diabaté, sang most of the Mande songs. Among the gems on Dioba, Lanfia’s rendition of “Diabaté” provides a great example of a fine vocal transcending unfortunate production—this was one of the first Rail Band songs to use electronic drums. The groove suffers, but that vocal is to die for!
Tounkara also began bringing in elements of Congolese rumba to spice up the blend of Mande adaptations, Bambara songs, Afrobeat and so on. “Foliba” is a fine example, featuring some of Tounkara’s warmest and most winning guitar playing. Congo-tinged Mande music proved controversial among some hard core Malenke fans. But the Rail Band was in no way abandoning its roots, just expanding the palette.
The 19 tracks on Dioba come from the second and third periods, including wonderful vocal performances by Salif Keita (“Maki,” “Soyomba”), Mory Kante (“Wale Numa Lombaliya,” the hard-partying “Jurukan”), Magan Ganessy, Lanfia Diabaté, and others. Ganessy is not quite on the same virtuoso plane as Keita, Kanté, and Diabaté, but his earthy voice adds palpable authenticity to funky Bambara tracks like “Kadia Kandian” and “Maby Guindo,” which foreshadow so much pop music to come in later eras.
Once again, Stern’s Africa has delivered the sort of serious, comprehensive, well documented package that legendary African acts like the Rail Band richly deserve, but rarely receive.
From its launch in 1970 in Bamako, Mali, the Rail Band was always a collective entity, bringing together the ideas of a number of first rate musicians, as well as fronting singers of various ethnic and caste backgrounds. In these and other ways, this was the band that introduced modernity to the Malian music scene. And obviously, that ball has been rolling in Mali ever since. This, the third in a set of double-CDs documenting the Rail Band’s early history (1970-1983) completes what is by far the best available document on this crucial outfit. The history, the stories, the personnel changes, and best of all, the music are all here allowing this formative period in West African music to come into focus as never before.