Download Malians Songs

In the region of West Africa known as the western Sahel, legendary tales are shared and passed down through different forms of expression. While some famous tales are written down, spoken word is the most well-known way to tell these kinds of stories. They are told by people known as griots (pronounced gree-oh), also known in some cultures as jeliw, who are the narrators of oral traditions. Born into their highly respected position, griots play an important role. As well as being storytellers, they are poets, historians, genealogists, and musicians. Griots often accompany their stories and songs with music from instruments like the kora (a stringed instrument similar to a harp) or balafon (a kind of xylophone).

For centuries, griots have passed down the epics of the Sahel through songs and stories, with each person adding details that related to their lives and the lives of their audiences. This is how the stories remained relevant across generations and cultures.

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For hundreds of years, the music of Mali has been left in the hands of the griots, a social caste of professional musicians whose responsibility is not only entertainment, but also recording the oral history of the people through song. Blues artists like Mississippi John Hurt and Elizabeth Cotten could be considered transplanted griots, recording the daily goings on of their communities through songs like "Spike Driver's Blues" and "Shake Sugaree."

In Bamako, Ciss happened to meet Philippe Sanmiguel who is now his percussionist and manager. Together they began to lay down some tracks at a makeshift studio. One day before Ciss's arrival to the studio, Philippe turned on his new friend's computer and was shocked to find a veritable trove of well-penned songs noted down. In Ciss's mind however, these gems were better off performed by others - he simply enjoyed working for other people, gifting them his words, melodies and guitar lines. After some quick-thinking and well-advised persuasion Philippe convinced Ciss to go it alone and record an album of these compositions himself.

Ciss called on a few friends to add to the musical pot: esteemed ngoni player Djim Sissoko laid down some riffs, Abdramane Tour took to the bass and Mahalmadane Traor found time to slap and smack his calabash. This album also features the mesmerizing soku fiddle playing of Zoumana Tereta, who has worked as producer, band leader and a sideman contributing his sound to many of Mali's most famous artists including Bassekou Kouyat, Nahawa Doumbia, Oumou Sangare, and Toumani Diabate. In just three months, seven songs had taken shape but Anansy Ciss was still filled with doubt that anyone would buy into his musical vision. The infinite possibilities of the internet soon set this fear aside though - Ciss's social media following blossomed with ease, allowing him a platform into the international world music scene.

Equal stimulation for his songs, text and rhythm is drawn from traditional Fulani and Songhai music. Thengoni andcalabash are heard throughout and the themes of the songs cover social issues, love songs, dance themes and tributes to Malian history. 'Sekou Amadou' pays tribute to the leader and founder of the Fulani Empire of Macina. The end of the track features a poignant sampling of a speech by the late Nelson Mandela. 'Horey' is atakamba song from Gao and Timbuktu. The rhythm is historically linked to the Songhai nobility but electrified and re-energised in Ciss's version.

What they lack, however, is a reliable distribution network. With internet access spotty in parts of the country, particularly the desert, many Malians don't have instant access to recordings of their own country's music. To work around this, Malians will store music on the memory cards of their phones, and then share their collections with people they meet via Bluetooth. On a trip to Northern Mali, Christopher Kirkley of music archiving project Sahel Sounds collected the most popular songs from these cellphone distribution networks, tracked down the artists, and put together the compilation Music From Saharan Cellphones.

Music From Saharan Cellphones avoids Malian artists that are internationally-known in favor of musicians whose popularity is pretty much just local. Group Anmataff starts off the record with their song Tinariwen (written in tribute to Grammy Award-winning Malian band Tinariwen), which features a couple guitars jamming to a basic drum machine loop with droning vocals, sounding both very old and quite new at the same time. A couple tracks later we get a Tuareg guitar track in Alghafiat, as Northeastern Mali favorites Amanar play a desert-influenced form of blues with sing-talked lyrics and an occasional blast of wooden flute.

The songs in the middle of the album sound more modern, most notably rap song Yereyira by Papito and Iba One with its trap influences and too-clean Fruity Loops production. However, even these songs have clear traditional influences, like Moribiyassa by Kaba Blon, which despite a fast synthesized drum loop sounds more like an old call-and-response folk song. The closing track Aicha by Bayta Ag Bay brings things back to string instruments, though this time more somber than the chill, upbeat songs from before. If this song is a dirge for lost love or hardship, I wouldn't be surprised.

With such amazing music played all over Mali, you would think that local musicians would be universally respected. However, the rise of extremist Muslim groups in the region in 2012 forced nightclubs, concerts, and artists underground. Radical Islamists, following a strict interpretation of Sharia law, put a ban on all music. They burned instruments and threatened musicians with violence if they played, worried that the artists' songs might give people a voice against their message. Until last year, when the violence quieted a bit, radios in northern Mali could only play Qur'anic verse readings.

Now, though, the extremists are being driven away and people are playing music in Mali again. Malians say going to concerts and playing music from their phones helps them feel like things are returning to normal. With such great music to listen to, as demonstrated on this album, it's not hard to see why.

Musicians in Mberra refugee camp, in the arid region bordering Mali, are among more than 130,000 people who have fled Mali since violence erupted in 2012. Their songs often focus on exile, struggle and love, but the overall message is one of unity aimed at encouraging people not to give up.

Chrif Kete, Carleton College professor, jumped on stage to provide commentary on the songs and to offer song titles as well. Bassekou Kouyat spoke to us in French and occasionally English, preferring to have Kete speak on his behalf.

Each country may has different types of folks musics. From town to town, village by village this can be changed. Different music instrument or different style of folk music maybe used. Please help us to improve the FolkCloud and send us some folk songs from your country. You can upload folk songs by clicking on 'Post a Song' on the top. Also if you can write an article about folk music of Mali, we can put your article on folkcloud with your name.

On the list below you can find some folk songs or traditional songs from Mali. Each song has some tags which specify its genres or musical instrument which is used in that song. Inside each page you can find more information about the artist or music genre. You can listen to all songs as playlist too or you can add each song to your personal playlist.

Our books feature songs in the original languages, with translations into English. Many include beautiful illustrations, commentary by ordinary people, and links to recordings, videos, and sheet music. Your purchase will help us keep our site online!

Many of the songs they created recall the name of a brave hunter who is seen as a model in posterity, and retell that person's particular feats in the field. That would describe most of the repertoire, and that had a profound impact in the evolution of music in the Mande world in later periods. Because that's where many of the songs and the rhythms were taken from: from hunters songs.

C.K.: Ali Farka Tour is, I think, one of the people who in the modern history of Mali music has been a mediator between the north and the south. Ali Farka Tour in a sense belongs to so many different cultural modes. As a Songoi person, he had some Fulani in him. He had also some Tamaschek in him. But he also had probably some influences from southern Mali. In fact, Ali Farka Tour always said that one of the reasons why he started playing the guitar, why he liked the guitar so much, was the influence of Fodeba Keita, who was a Malinke person from Guinea, who started in the 50s very well known Ballest Africains. This group were pioneers in spreading West African music around the world. They used to be called the ambassadors of African music. So Fodeba Keita, who in his ensemble used to adapt many traditional songs to the guitar, was one of the biggest influences on guitar players in West Africa, particularly in that part of West Africa. And Ali Farka Tour was one of the people who started learning melodies that were from the South, but probably were also part of his milieu too.

And I would even venture to say that hunter's music probably was part of the influences that was transported into the New World. When I listen to certain blues songs, as they are based on a single instrument in the case of the guitar, I always think of the simbi, of the single hunter bard singing praises, or singing about his life, the challenges and the joys of his life. So I always think of the blues singer. And I can also hear the influences of hunter's music on the blues. One particular album that really struck me, that I just love, is Kulanjan by Taj Mahal and Toumani Diabate. This to me is one of the best collaborations possible. And one of the musical experiments that probably came the closest to carrying some of those old musical idioms. 006ab0faaa