Independence had come to Mali in 1968 and the country’s new president, Moussa Traore, had set in motion a number of cultural reforms designed to spark a roots revival in a vast country where music had been the lifeblood of the people for centuries. The creation of orchestras and traditional ensembles was formalised and the Semaines Nationales were organised where regions would compete against each other for the title of national orchestra.
These Semaines Nationales later became the Biennales and competition between the regions was at its fiercest in the early 1970s. The Super Biton de Segou, representing a small city in south central Mali, had been prize-winners in 1970 and 1971 but the national title eldued them.
The defection of guitarist Mama Sissoko from the Orchestre Regional de Kayes at the other end of the country changed all that. The guitar had become popular throughout Africa after the second World War. The music of the Super Biton was rhythmic and full of energy, largely based on tradional Bamara foundations but also progressive in its incorporation of Cuban influence in particular.
With the dynamic Sissoko as the main soloist, the Super Biton sound was significantly boosted and they claimed the top prize at the Biennales in Bamako in 1974 and 1976.
These victories lead to some recording time at the famed Radio Mali studios in 1977. Hundreds of songs were recorded involving dozens of musicians. Enough material for two LPs was cut under the expert tutelage of Bouboucar Traore.
He was something of a hero in Bamako, famed for his ability to play guitar in a style that blended all sorts of influences from American blues to Arab music.
It would be another 14 years before he recorded an album of his own but his considerable skills and musical openness put a unique stamp on the Super Biton sound at a critical time.
Traore manages to expertly blend all the elements and coral the mass enthusiasm into something coherent and irresistible. The powerful singing of Mamadou Doumbia, Toussaint Siane and Papa Gaoussou Diarra intertwine magnificently. The horns of chef d’orchestre Amadou Ba are subtle and insistent in all the right places. There must have been much joy in the creation of this music. Its uplifting powers get more striking by the day.
