Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Super Rail Band - Armee Malienne

Malian currency. Original source CIA Factbook Online.

Armee Malienne by the Super Rail Band.

A classic track from this band's early days in the '70s, from the recently re-released Soundiata LP.

Super Rail Band originated as, of all things, a cost-cutting effort by the Mali Ministry of Information. Following the country's independence in the early 1960s, the Ministry had originally been tasked with sponsoring multiple music programs to support Malian culture. However, after large budget cuts, they were unable to continue any of these programs at their original level. In order to stay within budget, they pulled together some street musicians (including a local griot singer named Salif Keita, who was later to become an African pop megastar) and set them up at the local railway station hotel in Bamako to play gigs. The band became an enduring sensation, and the rest is history.

So perhaps fiscal responsibility has its ancillary advantages...

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