finetune artist: Amadou & Mariam

Mariam Doumbia (b. 15 April 1958, Bamako, Mali; vocals) and Amadou Bagayoko (b. 24 October 1954, Bamako, Mali; guitar/vocals). Blind from an early age, Bagayoko and Doumbia first met at Mali's Institute for the Young Blind and discovered a shared passion for music. By this point, Bagayoko was already an accomplished guitarist having spent time with Mali's National Orchestra and Les Ambassadeurs Du Motel. He began working with Doumbia, a raw vocal talent, in the Institute for the Blind's own orchestra. The duo cemented their personal and professional relationship in 1980 by getting married. Performing as a duo throughout the subsequent decade they developed a strong regional following for their enthusiastic brand of Afro-pop. Based in the Cte d'Ivoire during the late 80s and early 90s, they recorded a series of cassette-only albums with Aliyu Makoano Adamu for the local market. Over the course of the 90s, their music began to be heard by a number of influential European producers leading to a major relocation to the French capital, Paris. Here, they began to expand on their traditional Malian base by incorporating Latin American percussion, funk, blues and westernised rock into their sound. A new contract led to the release of 1998's full band recording Sou Ni Til and the more restrained Se Te Djon Ye. The former album was a notable critical and commercial smash, leading to invitations to play at several world music festivals and a notable appearance on the 2000 compilation Mali To Memphis.

Listen to Amadou & Mariam at Finetune.

(2005) Dimanche a Bamako
(2005) Dimanche a Bamako

Beaux Dimanches
Coulibaly
La RÃ©alitÃ©