Salif Keita to grace PAM awards gala

Oct 30, 2008

HE was born an albino — a sign of bad luck in his Mandinka culture — and was ostracised by most of his family and community. Still, his father stuck by him even though Salif Keita was different from other children. “My father was confused in the beginning, when I was still a baby.

By Gilbert Mwijuke and E. Ssejjengo

HE was born an albino — a sign of bad luck in his Mandinka culture — and was ostracised by most of his family and community. Still, his father stuck by him even though Salif Keita was different from other children. “My father was confused in the beginning, when I was still a baby.

He did not know what to do with an albino. But afterwards, he became my friend. He helped me a lot in my life,” Salif Keita told The New Vision columnist,
Opiyo Oloya, in 1996.

Twelve years later, Salif Keita is set to perform in Kampala at the Bell Pearl of Africa Music (PAM) Awards gala, tomorrow at the Shimoni Grounds.

In the past, Uganda’s premier music awards galas have been graced by top South African musicians, including Chaka Chaka, Ringo and Chicco Chimora.
Keita becomes the first artiste outside South Africa to grace the awards as a guest artiste.

Born in Mali, West Africa in 1949, Salif Keita comes from a noble lineage; a direct descendent of Sundiata Keita, the Mandinka warrior king who founded the Malian empire in the l3th century.

“We chose Keita because he has all the qualities we are looking for. He commands respect worldwide; has a huge following in the African music industry and there are many Ugandan artistes who look up to him,” says Shamim Asiimwe, the awards administrator.

Credited with pioneering the Afro-pop genre (the kind of music almost every Ugandan musician is doing today), Keita is a master of West African rhythms.

He made himself a name worldwide almost four decades ago with his unforgettable live performances, soaring vocals and emotionally-fuelled songs.

His music is a blend of the Malian traditional griot music with influences from Cuba, Spain and Portugal.
Originally, Keita’s wish was to become a teacher. But with the widespread unemployment in Mali at that time, he decided to switch to music.

But this would not be the easiest of moves for the aspiring musician. In Mali, musicians were thought of as immoral and irresponsible.

For a son of a royal family to go into music — a profession that was traditionally the preserve of the lower castes — was virtually unthinkable.
In 1967, Keita moved to Bamako where he began playing in nightclubs with one of his brothers.

Two years later, he joined the 16-member, Government-sponsored Rail Band. In 1973, he quit the band to join Les Ambassadeurs. Four years later, Keita scored his first hit, Mandjou, which would become his signature tune in the years to come.

In 1984, he relocated to Paris, France, from where he released the successful SORO album in 1987. A record deal with Island Records followed, and the rest, as they say, is history.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});