In June 2006, Malian superstar Salif Keita begins a U.S. tour to support his new album, M’Bemba (Universal).  (Check the tour dates at the end of this interview.)  M’Bemba continues the rootsy, largely acoustic direction Keita established in his acclaimed 2002 album, Moffou.  Keita’s first U.S. tour in two years also coincides with a remarkable release from the archives, The Lost Album (Cantos), by Salif Keita and guitarist Kante Manfila.  Manfila was Keita’s right hand man in the legendary late 70s band, Les Ambassadeurs, and by the way, he also plays on M’Bemba.  This so called “lost” session was produced in 1980 and never released, and intriguingly, it is also a mostly acoustic album, although far more spare than the likes of M’Bemba and Moffou.  Nevertheless, The Lost Album shows that acoustic music has been a longstanding ambition for the king of African progressive rock.  That is particularly interesting given what Keita has to say in this interview.  It may be that this constantly evolving artist has at last found his groove.   Afropop’s Banning Eyre reached Keita by phone in Paris last February to talk about the new album.  Here’s their conversation. 

Banning Eyre:  Salif, I am finding you in Paris, right?

Salif Keita:  I'm in Paris.  I leave tomorrow for Bamako.

B.E:  Ah.  Have you been away long?

S.K.:  No, no, no.  I'm on tour a little bit.  I was in Greece, in Athens.  But I arrived here today, and I leave tomorrow.  And you?

B.E:  I'm in New York.  There is lots of snow.  It's cold.

S.K.:  That's not the time to be there.  Maybe in June we’ll come.

B.E:  Sounds good.  Let's talk about this new album.  I first heard M’Bemba in London last fall.  Then I heard a copy of the Bamako version, with 11 tracks rather than ten.  And I have the American version, back to 10 tracks but the song sequence is different.  But you know, I love them all.  It's a great album.

S.K.:  Oh yeah?

B.E:  What were your ideas on this record?

S.K.:  Well, I wanted to make it acoustic first of all.  That’s in general.  Acoustic, and to make people dance at the same time.  Because people think that in order to make someone dance, it is obligatory that you have electronic instruments to make something Western and deracinated.  Me, I think that there are enough traditional instruments to make people dance in Mali.  That's what I wanted to do.  But I don't hear anything but pop music, and music that's very plugged in.  I take an image of that and I do something very original, very acoustic, but to make people dance.

B.E:  I hear that.  I love that idea.  It's rhythms, and even melodies, that make people dance.  It's the music, not the instruments.

S.K.:  Exactly.  That's it.  It's not the instruments, it's the rhythms.

B.E:  So make people dance?  There's enough sadness in the world. 

S.K.:  For the moment, too many problems in the world.  [LAUGHS] 

B.E:  But in your singing on this record, there is still sadness.

S.K.:  Well, okay.  There are nostalgic songs, like “M’Bemba.”  That's very nostalgic.  It's as if I am asking permission of the griots, whether I can sing.  I have no other solution.  I have no other door to go through.  I can't live otherwise.  You see?  It is true that I must ask the permission of the griots.  I say that my grandfather gave a lot to the griots to pardon me because I play music.

B.E:  Your grandfather did that?

S.K.:  He gave a lot!  He would have cut off his own tail to give a meal to a griot.  He gave everything to the griots.  Now, because there are no battles, there are no wars, there is no other way to live—the nobles have no other way to survive but to get involved with the trades.  We made wars before, but now there are no more wars.  We have no professions.  So if I interfere in the profession of griots, this is to ask them to pardon me, and let me play a little music so I can eat.

B.E:  It's a new world.

S.K.:  Exactly.

B.E:  Toumani Diabate plays kora beautifully on that song.  I think that is the best thing you two have done together.

S.K.:  It’s good.  It’s done with a lot of love.  There's a lot of love.  A lot of love.  That's true.

B.E:  Speaking of griots, you have this song “Moriba,” with the simbi, the traditional Mande harp.  Is that the first time you’ve recorded with simbi?

S.K.:  Oh, no.  There is a lot of simbi on L’Enfant Lion.  There is a lot of simbi in that music.

B.E:  That’s right.  That was music for a film, as I recall.  You really hear the instrument strongly here; it’s not mixed with anything. 

S.K.:  You can't mix the simbi with anything.  You have to leave it alone.

B.E:  What is the song saying?

S.K.:  In “Moriba,” I said, "All the fetisheurs are not there to serve people.  All the marabouts are not there to serve people.  The visionaries who serve people are those rare one who are ashamed to lie to people.  Moriba is a defender of orphans, a defender of the defenseless, someone who is not there to make money, but to defend people and serve them.”  I say that these are rare people, the ones who serve us.

B.E:  I read about your work on behalf of albinos.  I was very surprised to read about it on the front page of the Wall Street Journal?

S.K.:  Oh yeah?  That's good.  But you know my brother, there are things that still go on in Africa that are hidden, that we can't say, and that make us ashamed, but that you see up to the present.  People take the blood of albinos to use in rituals.  We never talk about that.  I say that.  Even now in Mali, there someone who is in court for that.  In court for killing a fat albino child.

B.E:  In Mali?

S.K.:  In Mali, yes. 

B.E:  It's good that you are speaking about that.  It takes courage.

S.K.:  You have to say something.

B.E:  Tell me about the song “Bobo?”

S.K.:  It's a very amorous text.  I say, "My love, if you love me, tell the truth.  But don't just say so out of shame.  Because shame can force you to accept something that is not good for you.  If you never do something that is not good for you, you don't have to live with regret.  That is not a good life.  So tell the truth.  If it pleases you, or it doesn't please you, you tell the truth.  Never say the opposite."

B.E:  What about “Laban?”

S.K.:  “Laban” is similar.  It's an exclamation point about the success of love.  It ends with dancing.  We clap.  We dance.  We make a party.  It's a successful love.

B.E:  There are two melodies I particularly like.  One is on “Dery.”

S.K.:  “Dery.”  Ah, voila.  Finally I have fallen in with the person that I should be with.  I'm with the person I love.  And happily.  I say, “When young people marry, they take chances.”  Because you don't know.  Your girl who is there, or your girls who are there, how do you know what sort of men are demanding their hands?  Are they good people?  Are they bad?  They cannot know unless they experience life together.  Otherwise, if it's not good. it is difficult to go back and fix it later.  But me, I'm good landed.  I'm happy with what I have.

B.E:  Good for you.  What about “Tu Vas me Manquer?”

S.K.:  Well, it's a beautiful woman I love, and I'm saying, "I went to a bar in Burkina Faso, in a nightclub, and someone wanted to a hit on my girlfriend.  And I said her, ‘You can’t accept that.  You will miss me.  Don't just believe everyone who says they love you.  There are some who will say they love you.  They don't love you.  You must never follow someone who is not good.  I'm here.  I love you.  And you are my love."

B.E:  You talked about making dance music.  The most danceable song to me is “Yambo.”

S.K.:  “Yambo, Yambo.”  That's the party.  They call the party Yambo.  That means something good.  That means good food, good ambience, and beauty.  People dance.  The Africans don't just have to dance like Africans the whites don't just have to dance like whites.  There are Africans who know how to dance white, but they don't dance black.  There are ones who know how to dance black, but they don’t dance white.  There are some who know how to dance the Wolof sabar, but they don't know how to dance reggae.  But me, I like someone who knows how to dance to everything.  A person who knows how to dance all the rhythms of the world, and can hit in any rhythm. 

B.E:  Harouna Samake plays great kamele ngoni on that one.  This song is the cousin of “Madan” from your last album, isn’t it?

S.K.:  That’s right.  And Harouna is very strong. 

B.E:  Then there’s “Kamourkie.”

S.K.:  “Kamourkie.”  What do you want me to do for you?  You want what?  I'm there for you, in every way.  I give you everything you want.  All that you want, I want.  All that you don't want, I don't want.  Even if you go to another friend and you asked me to go with you, I will go with you, because I love you always.  Anything to satisfy my love.  Anything you want.

B.E:  Beautiful.  What about “Ladji?”

S.K.:  Ah, in “Ladji,” the basis of that is that I'm talking about an ex-combatant who went to war, and who killed many people, who fought the war in this way, and who has returned, but he receives no pension.  He cannot do all he should as a husband and father.  Neither his wife nor is children respect him.  So now he regrets.  He thinks about all the people that he killed, and he regrets all the violence.  He finds himself in a miserable condition.  But he remains a military man to the end.  He has done his duty.

B.E:  Wow.  That's a theme we think about a lot hear these days, with so many soldiers coming home from war.  Who is it that sings in English on this song?

S.K.:  That’s Buju Banton. 

B.E:  Speaking of that military theme, it looks like you're wearing some kind of military costume on the cover of the album.  What's that about?

S.K.:  Ah, yes, yes.  I made a mixture.  It is a message of peace.  My hairstyle is African.  I'm wearing the jacket of Napoleon.  And at my side, there are Dogon dancers.  All that together, that is peace.  That's it.  When there is peace, we can all live together.  We can do everything together.

B.E:  The other great dance song here is “Calculer.”

S.K.:  That song says, “I love you but you don't love me.  I have seen you everywhere.  I have added, multiplied, subtracted, and divided.  I've analyzed it every way.  It is me who is in love.  You, no.  Well, if you are not in love, it is not worth it.  You can't force love.  But with all that, there is gaity.  There is dancing.  We can't kill ourselves because someone doesn't love us.  [LAUGHS]

B.E:  You recorded most of this album in Africa.  Is that the first time you've done that in awhile?  Did you record Moffou there too?

S.K.:  No, no, no.  Moffou, we rehearsed but we did not record in Africa.  That one we recorded in Paris.  But this time, we recorded in Africa because we had a good studio to do it in. It was great to be in my own environment.  In the studio, it was Africa.  When we left the studio, it was Africa.  We were truly Africans.  We brought everyone to our side so we would not go wrong.

B.E:  This is really the first time you've recorded in Africa since the days of Les Ambassadeurs, is that right?

S.K.:  Yes, that’s true. 

B.E:  So what is the difference for you?

S.K.:  The difference is that I had everything.  I had Toumani.  I had Lasana Diabaté.  I had Mama Cissoko.  I had Kante Manfila.  I had Djely Moussa Kouyaté.  I had Ousmane Kouyaté.  I had everyone.  It would not be easy to bring all these people together in the West.  And we were in Africa.  It was beautiful.

B.E:  I think you can sense it in the music too.  You know, Salif, looking back over all of your records, I notice that most of them are different.  Most of the time, we hear a new Salif record, and we don't know what we are in for.  But now, you have done two records in a row using more are less the same approach, and the same band.  Does this mean you have finally found your true road?  Or can we expect other revolutions in your sound in the future.

S.K.:  No, I think I found the road that I must follow.  I must try to combine my experience and my sensibility.  Me, I always wanted to do acoustic music with a lot of heart, a lot of soul, without a lot of electronics.  This is what I have been wanting to research.  I think I’ve found my road.

B.E:  That's fascinating.  We could say that the history of all those other records was a voyage that led to this sound, right?

S.K.:  In a sense, that is true.  I would say that all the records I have made are good.  But I think that now, with these two records, this is really what I want to do, more close to my heart.  To my reality, in fact.  Because I had not been to school, I had to work with other people, engineers, musicians, producers.  I had to meet other cultures.  This gave me a lot of experience in order to find my road.

B.E:  That's a great story.  My sense is that most of your fans are very happy about where you have ended up.  Salif, I understand you will be touring here later this year.  Will it be the same band we saw when you are last year?

S.K.:  It is similar.  We still have the calabash player, and Harouna on kamele ngoni.  We have Djely Moussa Kouyaté and Ousmane Kouyaté on guitars.

B.E:  Ousmae Kouyaté is back?

S.K.:  Yes.  He is back.  So, bass and drums.  The two girls singing on stage are not the same ones.  On M’Bemba, they are my sisters singing, same father, same mother. 

B.E:  I guess that's why the blend is so perfect.

S.K.:  The record comes out in the U.S. in June.  And I think we are touring in July and August.

B.E:  We can’t wait to see you.  Greet our friends, especially Djelimady Tounkara.

S.K.:  I will see him on Monday.  His daughter, Mbau, is recording her album and my studio.

Salif Keita Summer 2006, US Tour Dates:

June 28th                     Washington DC                                  MisnerAuditorium
June 29th                 New York, NY                                   BAM
June 30th                     New York, NY                                   Apollo Theatre
Aug 4^th                        Raleigh, NC                                        Museum of Art
Aug 6^th                        Piercy, CA                                          Reggae on the River
Aug 8^th-9^th                 Oakland, CA                                       Yoshi’s
Aug 10^th                      Santa Monica, CA                              Santa Monica Pier

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