“Mamadou Kanda Keita” is a single included in the upcoming album Kôrôlén, a collaboration between celebrated Malian musician Toumani Diabaté and the London Symphony Orchestra. The album, scheduled for release April 23 on World Circuit Records, features arrangements by Nico Muhly and Ian Gardiner.
The track features a vocal performance from acclaimed Malian jali (griot) Kasse Mady Diabaté, is an interpretation of “Mamadou Boutiquier,” an ancient composition well known in another form from In the Heart of the Moon, Toumani’s Grammy-winning album with Ali Farka Touré.
Toumani comments, “This is another In the Heart of the Moon, but in a classical way…it is now even more sophisticated, with orchestra, to show to the audiences: ‘look at this music in a new way, look at African music in a new way.’”
[headline image: Toumani Diabate – Photo by Aboubaker Sidick]
Author: World Music Central News Room
World music news from the editors at World Music Central