f36 T
he history of Les Ambassadeurs dates from the colonial period when France ruled vast swathes of sub-Saharan Africa. In 1957 Keletigui Diabaté travelled from ‘French Soudan’, as Mali was then known, to Guinea, to join the first formation of the Orchestre de la Garde Républicaine. A multi-instrumentalist, Keletigui was a master of the balafon (the traditional wooden xylophone), the violin, saxo- phone, trumpet, and the electric guitar. During this early period he began experimenting with mixing traditional and modern music. When Guinea became independent in 1958 the Orchestre De La Garde Républicaine were the first state-sponsored group under President Sékou Touré, and one of the most popular groups in Guinea.
In 1960 Mali became independent, and the following year Keletigui returned to join the nation’s premier group – L’Orchestre National ‘A’ De La République Du Mali. Here he developed Malian traditional music into an orchestra setting, and he was appointed the chef d’orchestre. His solos on such wonderful tracks as Duga and Janfa (which appeared on the group’s only album on the Barenreiter-Musicaphon label in 1970) defined the Malian electric guitar style.
By the late 1960s there were over 100 orchestras in West Africa with many located in Côte d’Ivoire, fuelled by its booming economy from cocoa and timber exports. Many musicians emigrat- ed to Abidjan, the capital, including a young Kanté Manfila who had left his home town of Kankan in upper Guinea at the age of fourteen (he is not to be confused with Manfila ‘Dabadou’ Kanté of Keletigui Et Ses Tambourinis or Manfila ‘Soba’ Kanté of Balla Et Ses Balladins). His career as a musician became established in the mid 1960s through a series of 45 rpm singles released on local labels such as Djima and Safie Deen. In the late 1960s he travelled to Bamako in Mali, where he became an integral part of the bur- geoning music scene by joining the Regional Orchestra of Mopti. Mali’s capital was abuzz with the new orchestra sound, and in 1969 two new orchestras were formed which would shape the music for the next decade and beyond.
In 1969, competition among Bamako’s night spots was becom-
ing intense. Two of the leading venues – the Buffet de la Gare, located at Bamako’s train station, and the Motel du Bamako, a government-run hotel with its own ‘bar-dancing’ courtyard – cre- ated their own orchestras. The management of the Buffet de la Gare formed a group called the Rail Band, while across town the management of the Motel du Bamako created Les Ambassadeurs Du Motel, a rival outfit. Les Ambassadeurs gained their name from their international line-up: they were led by the Malian sax player, Moussa ‘Vieux’ Sissòko, who brought with him the Guinean trum- peter Kabiné ‘Tagus’ Traoré (the two had been members of Les Elephants Noirs, a group from Bouaké in Côte d’Ivoire). They were joined on vocals by Ousmane Dia, a former member of Senegal’s Star Band, one of the great early Senegalese orchestras who would later morph into the legendary Orchestra Baobab.
Over the next few years the two orchestras competed for supremacy of Bamako’s music scene. Initially it was the Rail Band who gained the upper hand. Led by Tidiané Koné, a sax player with L’Orchestre National ‘A’ De La République Du Mali, within three years of forming they had recruited a star vocalist in the Guinean Mory Kanté, a formidable lead guitarist in Djely Mady Tounkara (another former member of L’Orchestre National ‘A’ De La République Du Mali), and taken a risk on a young unknown albino singer, Salif Keita. Born of noble birth and singing Malian folklore like a griot was unheard of, but such was Salif’s passion and remarkable voice that audiences loved him, and a stellar career had begun.
Across town, Les Ambassadeurs Du Motel were also recruiting. Keletigui Diabaté joined the group, and in 1972 Kanté Manfila filled a temporary vacancy, which turned into a permanent role as the lead guitarist, and later the chef d’orchestre. Salif had many good friends in Les Ambassadeurs Du Motel, people whom he had grown up with, and he liked what they were doing with their music. So, in 1973 Salif Keita shocked his fans when he announced that after three years he was leaving the Rail Band to join Les Ambassadeurs Du Motel.
His reasons for leaving centred upon the Rail Band’s singular focus on performing songs from the folklore repertoires. Salif wanted to expand and perform different kinds of music, and Les Ambassadeurs Du Motel performed a wider range of styles. It was
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