In , Amadou and Mariam were married and began performing together. Amadou, then still continued his solo music career and led the music program at the Institute for the blind in Bamako. In , the couple made famous by playing ". In this year he also made a successful tour of Burkina Faso. A year later, the couple moved to the Ivory Coast. Together they recorded several demo tapes, which led to the recording of their first album Sou Ni Tile in Paris, which became a hit in France. Amadou born Amadou Bagayoko in Bamako in October of began his musical career in , and by had joined Les Ambassadeurs du Motel , a leading group which counted Salif Keita as a member in his home country.
He wound up at the aforementioned institute after becoming blind as a teenager through a congenital cataract. His future wife, Mariam Doumbia born in Bamako on April 15, , was already at the institute she became blind at the age of five , studying Braille as well as teaching classes in dance and music.
Over time, the pair would have a huge influence on the artistic programs at the school, with Amadou directing a group of pupils and Mariam handling lead vocal duties for the school orchestra. In , the pair married and decided that they would make a good collaborative musical team.
Over the next five years, they performed in their home country, and Amadou 's solo career and work won him many accolades and awards.
In , the two toured out of country for the first time, with shows in Burkina Faso. There they began to release a series of cassettes with help from the Nigerian producer Maikano that would become the foundation of their later successes. By , the pair had released four volumes of their work on cassette, and the buzz was great enough that, in , they were invited to Paris to perform and record new music there. From to , a series of releases highlighting their early work both together and solo preceded their next album, Wati.
The success of the album led to tours, awards, and accolades from all over Europe and Africa. The Magic Couple followed in There are some who are good at certain music styles only; we are not like this. We sing in French, but not like French singers. We sing with our style in French. We mix in Bambara, this is very good. We do not sing like the French, but we sing in French.
Would you like to play a little music for us live in the place? Would that be something you would be interested in? Yes, we will try something, because it would be a pity to come without playing. I think we can play something now, yes. I sang this as a little girl. That day there were many celebrities, high-standing people, many people. I was successful. There were many people throwing money at me. Since that day I have always had courage. This is from the Mali era.
In the song we say that to be blind is natural, it is a handicap, no one has looked to have this illness. It was to increase awareness of the parents to not blame and not marginalize their children. But to look after them. I was not the first to be blind, but many before me.
It is not a problem, but destiny. Everyone gets a chance in their lives. There are people who are normal, there are others who are handicapped. Life is like this, so you have to use the means you have.
It made us famous in France and with it we started our international career. When I do not see you, I cannot say anything, I cannot do anything, I do not want to see anything, my love, my sweetheart. It was a very tender sight to see you both there, singing this love song together that you have created and being so close to each other, very beautiful. How does the song writing happen? As a couple, what is your creative flow as a couple and musicians? For the lyrics, we do it each for ourselves.
I compose my songs during the night. Then I ask Amadou and we arrange together. For him, it is early in the morning. For me, it is during the night because there is no one disturbing me. It happens that we compose together. We arrange together, but at the beginning we are each on our own. Inspiration often comes to me early in the morning; people are not up, there is less noise. This is good for writing lyrics. Also, during our trips there is a lot of inspiration. Everyone for himself, and then we come together to work it out.
Mariam, you mentioned that you like to write at night. Why do you like to write at night? I like to write at night because there is no noise at night, no one disturbs me. At night it is calm. Where are you pulling some of your inspiration for the lyrics, obviously your own experience?
But are you reading a lot of poetry books, looking at the news, keeping open to the world? Yes, we listen a lot to the radio. Inspiration comes from daily life, this is what we generally sing about.
We are inspired by daily life, by the society in which we live. We try to take the good things, we describe the bad things, we sing about mutual love, because it is very important. We need love in life, we need peace, we also need freedom. Justice as well. We create some of our texts, we also witness things happening, we try to put them into a song. This is how it works now. When we sing, we sing about what we have experienced and how we would like society to be.
Our style is blues and rock, and Bambara music is linked to those. We listened a lot With the traditional instrument Ngoni, we try to mix tradition and modernity, and this is what mostly makes our music.
The blues and Mali are very linked, and many people say that the roots of the blues are really in Mali. And there are instruments in West Africa that are connected to the American banjo, and the transition of instruments and ideas and people. Do you feel those roots when you are in Mali?
Do you feel that there is not a gap of an ocean and a continent, but that those are one and the same? Yes, American blues and Mali blues are both blues. There are links, but there is a difference. For example, the Americans have developed their music a lot; they can do 12 beat, 16 and others.
In Mali, people have stayed in the tradition. What comes to heart, we sing it in our music. The difference between American and Mali blues is mostly based on the beat. We often think of Mali, because it is our home country. So, we think of Mali when we are in Paris. We write songs also for Malian people, for everyone. When we are in France we are connected to Malian people; they come to visit. We go to Mali. So, we are not at all disconnected, we always think of Mali.
We also think of Europe. The European influence comes mainly from playing with professionals and to blend this in our music we are creating. These are the two sides we have. In all our albums we speak a lot about Mali, about things happening there. This is a question for the people in the room. By show of hands, who has been to Mali? Can you tell us a little something about the spirit of Mali that people outside of Mali might not know that is most powerful to you?
For those who do not know Mali — it is a welcoming place. They like people coming from abroad. There is hospitality. Even if you do not know anyone, you will always find somewhere to stay or to have company. People will try to show you many things.
Mali is also known for its musical variety, because each race has its music. The Bambara have their music. The Songhai have their music. When women run the household There is music for hunters, for farmers. Mali is a country that likes people to come and to learn, to take everything as it is. We like blending, we like learning and traveling as well. People from Mali travel a lot.
Mali is great, on this cultural level. For music, Mali is a good country. And for hospitality. Yes there are troubles now, but before, Mali was a peaceful country. We always try to talk about things happening in Mali. It is a party everywhere on Sundays.
Is there music from every corner? What is the sonic texture of the city? Yes, in Mali there is music in every street. What he just said: On Sundays people dress up, we celebrate, we play, we dance, we eat well. Maybe not now. Before, Mali was a good country. In Mali, they really like foreigners. There is music at the markets, in the houses, young people gather in front of the doors to make tea.
There are maybe 10 or 15 people. They listen to music everywhere. They like music. For a long time there was no music industry in Mali. So, we listened to music coming from somewhere else, which is why we have listened to many people. People from Mali enjoy music, and they have no borders for music.
You said people dress very nicely on Sunday, but you dress very nicely on Tuesdays as well. Yes, because the visual aspect goes with music also. What we convey also needs appearance. In Mali the singers, the big artists like to dress well, they like to wear a lot of gold. This is part of musical culture. We like to be in sync with what we feel.
We sing Bambara music, and we have clothes associated with this. But one specific thing about you as a couple is maybe sharing being blind. And it is something that happened when you were both young. But you also bring people into this world a bit. And so people are focusing on the environment, the atmosphere and the music. It looks like Amadou is about to say something. Each year after harvesting, young people organize events, mostly in the villages.
People dress up, they come on bicycles and motorcycles, on lorries to the party at the village. It is mostly after harvesting, after having sold the rice and millet. This is when you celebrate. And also through the songs. You help them elevate. But both of you had vision during your lives, early on.
Is there a part of the visual memory that stays with you as humans and as musicians or has it become something else? There are two phases in life. When you are blind you have to be able to say that you are blind and accept it. The second thing is to know what to do. You have to try and see what you can do, because in life everyone tries to do something.
You try to do what you can do and not just sit around. When I could see, I saw the sun, the moon, I played with a ball, I played everywhere, I went on a bicycle. Up to the age of 16, I could see. Afterwards things deteriorated. But I increased my courage with my other senses.
You have to develop the ears, the nose, sense of touch and sense of space. In listening to music you can imagine; also in playing the guitar. When I am in a car, this helps particularly in areas I know well. For instance, we were in Montreux, we took a taxi and I gave the exact instructions to the driver.
He stopped and asked me whether I really did not see. I have a sense for space. We get around, we know the space around us, we find where everything is. This is very important: You have to remember where you were, you have to know how to get around and find things. Very often I can tell seeing people how to find places. We play at all festivals around the world. What more would you want? Life is like this.
You mention imagination. How in your world, in your minds, hearing a guitar tone or something — do you have this vivid imagination that is inside, an inner vision? Yes, when I hear a guitar, when I hear music, I give it a color. With guitars often it is white, with other sounds it is yellow and red also. Within we imagine many things, which is why in music we can imagine melancholy, the sounds at a beach, the forest. This comes to mind when listening to music. Some music sends you to the countryside, other music into the city.
In your mind you imagine a vibrant city with cars. In the countryside, you see green because you have seen it. When you have seen things, you can imagine them. But we have seen, and so we can imagine things, the colors of our clothes.
What we have inside is sometimes personal, we sense the difference between voices. We even sense the differences in how people walk, so that we know exactly who is coming, and we imagine many things in our minds. In this world one of the things that I believe is that our differences connect us more than our similarities.
That we are all more unique than we are the same. When people start to connect through differences, they actually come together. I think that collapsing of borders internationally through music, bringing sound from places and also the collapsing of preconceptions, I think these things join us, when you celebrate the differences.
I appreciate the effort you put into educating people about your background, your specific experience. We complement each other in this world. The fingers of one hand are not the same, but in life we complement each other. Everyone should know this. The biggest needs the smallest, the weakest needs the strongest. If we were all the same the world would not move, no one would do anything for anyone. We depend on each other and we complement each other.
Handicapped people need able-bodied people, and the able-bodied need the handicapped. It is a task. Absolutely, an exchange. Do you want to play a piece or would you like me to play a recording? I also have a recording here. So, I have a piece here that to me, you talk about these vivid inner atmospheres, colors.
Can you tell us a little bit about that song, about the lyrical content and where that was born? When you are patient, you can get many things. We were courageous, we were patient, which is why we received so many awards, we had many meetings, we traveled a lot.
This is patience. When you travel, you have to be patient. You have to wait in airports. When you love someone, you have to be patient. It is with patience that you make love triumph. You have to be patient. When you are in a hurry, you cannot do all this. In my ears, patience and passion. As a married couple, patience and passion are also pretty integral to your balance in relationship. Yes, it is very important.
When you are married, when you are together sometimes there are problems but you have to manage them, you have to be patient. This way you are gonna live long. In the song — when you love someone you need a lot of patience. This kind of patience is a bit like tolerance and compromise. The three go together. When you love your man, you need a lot of tolerance and comprehension. When you love a woman, you have to try and understand her, so you need patience in order to analyze all this.
This is a big one, but it can also be an easy one. What would be your definition of love? What is love to you? Love is a feeling that you have for each other, a feeling, to love each other naturally and to share the same passion for life, to connect, to understand each other. To look into the same direction, to try to share happiness, that is important in love. In music yes, because we are always there, we play one thing, then another, we communicate — this is good, this is not good.
We can put this in, we can do this. But if the person does things you encourage her, this is loving work, loving your partner, sharing life, love in general. Would love be kind of the greatest mission in your music?
Or what would you define as the greatest mission in music? Justice, love, peace, the message of peace and of love. The message of justice, the message of understanding — all of this is in our music. And giving hope to people. This is very important in everything we do. We are here, and this gives pride to those who stayed in Mali. That we move to other continents gives them hope. People thinking that blind people cannot do anything — well, just seeing us and blind people working gives them hope.
Couples who do not understand each other — we tell them that we have been together since , this can give them hope. Our mission is to give people hope, to make them smile, encourage people to work and to love each other more. Love, peace, but also bringing it back to your early times in Mali, the energy of great dance music and a party.
Hello, first of all thank you for sharing all that music and love. We have sung about the conflict in Mali for years. At one time, music was forbidden in the north. People have fought in order to revitalize this music. We have sung that we want peace in our country, let us hold hands. In our latest album we have sung La Confusion.
0コメント