{"id":11175,"date":"2016-07-27T05:30:45","date_gmt":"2016-07-27T09:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=11175"},"modified":"2026-08-12T20:49:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T00:49:45","slug":"mamadou-kelly-we-are-musicians-we-play-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2016\/07\/27\/mamadou-kelly-we-are-musicians-we-play-music\/","title":{"rendered":"Mamadou Kelly: “We Are Musicians. We Play Music.”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe American blues form is foreign to us,\u201d says Malian master guitarist Mamadou Kelly<\/strong>. That may come as a surprise to American audiences who hear in Kelly’s music a connection between his soulful approach and the American indigenous musical form born in the Mississippi Delta.<\/p>\n

That purported connection between African music and the blues seemed clear when Mali’s most celebrated musician Ali Farka Tour\u00e9<\/strong> released 1994’s Talking Timbuktu<\/i>, a Grammy Award-winning collaborative project with American guitarist Ry Cooder<\/strong>. But Kelly \u2013 who studied under Tour\u00e9 \u2013 emphasizes that Malian traditional music does not conform to the blues. Though a translator, the French-speaking Kelly says, \u201cWe have a lot of different styles of music in Mali, but the ‘blues’ is not a word we use; that\u2019s an American word. It was not something we thought too much about.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\"mamadou_kelly\"<\/p>\n

So what is it that Western ears hear that leads them toward making that connection? \u201cMaybe it is the feeling and the rhythm that may have resonated with people,\u201d Kelly suggests. \u201cMaybe it\u2019s a pre-blues kind of thing that hits people.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Within the northwestern African country of Mali \u2013 a country of more than 15 million people \u2013 each region has its own cultural traditions, Kelly says. \u201cHowever, we are all engaged in valuing cross-cultural expression while staying true to our own source.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Born in 1969 in the Niger River Delta, Kelly went to study under Tour\u00e9 when he was only 17. \u201cI grew up in a small town a short distance away from where he lived in Niafunke. As a teenager, I wanted to learn from him.\u201d At first, Kelly learned to play the calabash, a gourd percussion instrument. He eventually learned guitar and several other instruments from Tour\u00e9. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI learned a lot from him,\u201d Kelly says. \u201cIt was like a family there. There were a group of guys who hung out at his studio; we played all the time, learned the traditions and the songs, drank tea. We watched what he did. We practiced a lot. He was like our father or older brother: he scolded, encouraged.\u201d Today, Kelly’s band Ban Kai Na<\/strong> includes members of the late Ali Farka Tour\u00e9’s Allstars<\/strong> group. <\/span><\/p>\n

In recent years, Mali has experienced internal strife including a Tuareg rebellion. Islamist forces in Mali are opposed to Kelly’s secular style of music. But Kelly \u2013 who lives in the north of the country with his wife and family \u2013 doesn’t write music that’s overtly political. \u201cOur songs speak about the circumstances of our lives. Not specifically about politics, but the things of everyday life. We are musicians,\u201d he emphasizes. \u201cWe play music.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

That music is sung completely in a language most Americans won’t understand. \u201cThere is always something lost when words are not understood,\u201d Kelly acknowledges. \u201cThe language barrier is difficult sometimes.\u201d But Kelly doesn’t believe this is a significant problem. \u201cI try to give an idea about the songs when we perform. But I have found American audiences to be very gracious; I think they understand what we are saying through the music. The people are dancing, and so our music connects with them somehow.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

On Adibar<\/i>, Kelly’s 2013 debut album, traditional instrumentation was used. 2015’s Djamila<\/i> incorporated guest musicians on modern and\/or Western instruments including organ, electric guitars and cello. \u201cWe were looking to stretch and modernize,\u201d Kelly says. We grew up with Ali Farka Tour\u00e9\u2019s openness to experiment and discovery.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Kelly emphasizes that \u201cit is natural for us to invite people in to play. And we\u2019ll be doing that again during this tour. We want to cross boundaries that divide people.\u201d In between dates on their 19-stop 2016 American tour (which includes a date at the prestigious Kennedy Center in Washington DC), Kelly’s band has recording projects planned. \u201cWhile we are in California, we will be recording in Los Angeles with a Jamaican band called Soul Syndicate<\/strong>. The idea is an afro-reggae collaboration. That is something new for us, and it should be a lot of fun.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

The band will also return to Area 52 Studios near Woodstock, New York, where Djamila<\/i> was recorded. \u201cWe are going to bring in some new collaborators to add to the experience,\u201d Kelly promises. \u201cSo far we have the great slide guitarist Cindy Cashdollar<\/strong> excited to join us in the studio, and we\u2019ve been talking to a few other people as well. We continue to look for ways to stretch our sound and connect with people.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mamadou Kelly is excited about sharing his music with American audiences, and believes a special connection may develop with his Asheville audience. \u201cMany people tell me that our music reminds them not only of American blues but also of American bluegrass music. We will bring a celebration to Asheville. We hope to win over Asheville audiences,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd then they\u2019ll invite us back.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe American blues form is foreign to us,\u201d says Malian master guitarist Mamadou Kelly. That may come as a surprise to American audiences who hear in Kelly’s music a connection […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11176,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,76],"tags":[2786],"class_list":["post-11175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interview","category-world","tag-mamadou-kelly","cat-41-id","cat-76-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11175"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32208,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11175\/revisions\/32208"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}