Mark Savage
Track Correspondent
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Amadou Bagayoko realized guitar via finding out British bands like Led Zeppelin and Red Floyd
1000’s of folks accrued in Mali on Sunday for the funeral of musician Amadou Bagayoko, of the world-renowned duo Amadou & Mariam.
Buddies, family, fanatics and fellow artists flocked to the rite within the capital, Bamako – together with musician Salif Keita and previous top minister Moussa Mara.
One of the a hit African musical acts of the 2000s, husband and spouse duo Amadou & Mariam completed international reputation via combining West African influences with rhythm and blues.
Their leap forward album, 2004’s Dimanche à Bamako, offered part one million copies international and ended in collaborations with Blur’s Damon Albarn, in addition to appearances on the Glastonbury and Coachella fairs.
Mali’s tradition minister, Mamou Daffé, mentioned on state TV that Bagayoko had died on Friday in Bamako on the age of 70.
The musician’s circle of relatives showed the inside track, including that he “were in poor health for some time”.
No additional knowledge used to be given on the reason for dying, however his widow, Mariam Doumbia, described her husband’s closing moments.
“I took his hand and attempted to make some actions with it, nevertheless it did not transfer,” she mentioned.
“I mentioned, ‘Amadou, do not do that, talk to Mariam… however he did not talk any further.”
The musician used to be taken to clinic, the place he due to this fact died.
“I believed that, if Amadou went identical to that, then me, I am by myself,” Doumbia added.
“I used to be by myself and I can stay by myself in existence.”
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1000’s of mourners and well-wishers attended the funeral on Sunday
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The megastar’s frame used to be carried via participants of the Coverage Civile of Mali, denoting the regard with which he used to be held within the nation
Franco-Spanish megastar Manu Chao, who produced Dimanche à Bamako, led tributes to Bagayoko in a publish on Instagram, announcing: “We will be able to all the time be in combination… Anyplace you cross.
“Mariam, Sam, the entire circle of relatives, your ache is my ache. I really like you,” he added.
Younger Malian singer Sidiki Diabate lamented “some other immense loss for Malian track”.
Youssou N’Dour mentioned he thought to be Amadou & Mariam to be “the ambassadors of African track nearly far and wide on the planet”.
Chatting with France’s TV5 Monde, he mentioned Bagayoko had pursued his profession with “a dignity and a lifestyle that impressed us all… and inspired us in what we have been doing”.
Inventor of ‘Afro-rock’
Born in Bamako in 1954, Bagayoko went blind when he used to be 15 as a result of a congenital cataract.
He due to this fact enrolled at Mali’s Institute for the Younger Blind, the place he met his long run spouse, Mariam, who had misplaced her imaginative and prescient on the age of 5 after contracting measles.
They shaped a band referred to as Mali’s Blind Couple in 1980, and moved to the neighbouring Ivory Coast in 1986, having realised that Mali’s under-developed track trade could be a hindrance to their profession.
There, they recorded a chain of cassettes, pairing Doumbia’s soulful voice with Bagayoko’s tough guitar taste, impressed via British acts like Led Zeppelin and Red Floyd.
The purpose, Bagayoko mentioned, used to be to “discover a hyperlink between them and our Bambara tradition”. He christened the sound “Afro-rock”.
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The duo carried out on the Glastonbury Pageant in 2023
Their lives have been modified when Manu Chao heard one among their songs at the radio and introduced to supply their subsequent album.
He ended up co-writing and making a song at the file, including eccentric rhythmical touches to their logo of desolate tract blues.
The outcome used to be Dimanche à Bamako, which gained each the Victoire de los angeles Musique – France’s an identical to a Grammy Award – and the BBC Radio Global Track Award in 2005.
Their follow-up, 2008’s Welcome to Mali, used to be nominated for perfect fresh global track album on the Grammys.
That file used to be produced via Albarn, who had invited the duo to participate in his Africa Specific mission in 2007, and invited them to excursion with Blur throughout their 2009 reunion presentations.
Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters used to be additionally a fan, and took Amadou & Mariam at the street along with his band in 2012.
“What they do hearkens again to vintage rock and actual musicianship,” he instructed the Occasions because the excursion kicked off.
“Now with all bands, when you are taking part in reside, everyone’s were given backing tracks occurring. Everybody’s running with a web. They’re a right kind old-school rock band.”
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“I believed that, if Amadou went identical to that, then I am by myself. I used to be by myself and I can stay by myself in existence,” Mariam instructed journalists, following her husband’s dying
In 2009, they performed in Oslo as Barack Obama used to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize; and in 2011 staged a chain of live shows at nighttime to turn audiences how they skilled track.
A 12 months later, they determined to file two variations in their 6th album Folila – one in New York and one with conventional musicians in Bamako.
The speculation used to be to liberate every one after the other however, in any case, the duo determined to mix the recordings, blending other takes of the similar music in combination in a 3rd studio in Paris.
That includes contributions from Santigold, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and TV On The Radio, it earned the gang a 2d Grammy nomination in 2012.
2017’s Los angeles Confusion, addressed the political turmoil of their fatherland, the place Islamic extremists had imposed Sharia regulation and banished track.
Songs like Bofou Safou introduced messages of energy, resistance and optimism amidst the turmoil. Bagayoko mentioned he was hoping the track used to be common
“We began to paintings at the issues that have been taking place in our fatherland, however then realised that they may well be carried out to a large number of different international locations on the planet,” he instructed OkayAfrica.
“There’s a confusion in all places the area, and it is time to be in contact, to speak and percentage concepts for a greater long run and figuring out.”
The duo were because of cross on a Ecu excursion in Might and June, together with UK dates in Cheltenham in Brighton.
Bagayoko’s ultimate efficiency got here on the last rite of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Video games.
He’s survived via his spouse and a son, Sam, additionally a musician.
Bagayoko “might be buried in circle of relatives intimacy within the courtyard of his house”, his spokesman Djiby Sacko instructed the AFP information company.
