Ramata Diakité
Ramata Diakité grew up in one of Africa's richest musical environments, the Wassoulou region of southern Mali. Renowned for its ancient spiritual traditions, magic, and hunters' lore, it's been said that Wassoulou has also been at the forefront of pushing the boundaries of 'traditional' music and instruments in Mali, producing sounds that could be given names like 'blues' 'pop' and 'funk'.

Ramata's parents were farming folk and her first gig was apparently at a harvest party she went to with her grandmother. At 17, her singing career began as a backing singer on her aunt Djeneba Diakité's own debut album. Because she is able to sing in many of Mali's principal languages and in a variety of musical styles, invitations from other musicians followed and before long she was in high demand, working at Bamako's then busiest studio, Studio Bogolon.

It didn't take long for her to start singing with the big guys, starting with Siaka Sidibe, the most renowned djembe drummer in the region, and then Salif Keita. It was the Wassoulou singer Souleymane Sidibewho saw her talents as a singer in her own right, and he invited her to record her music. The cassette was an instant success in Mali, and led Ramata to record her first international release, Na in 1999. Later that year, she participated on Toumani Diabaté & Taj Mahal's collaborative album, Kulanjan.

For the recording of her 2003 album Maba, Ramata assembled an array of Malian and American musicians in New York to produce an adventurous fusion of Wassoulou, blues, rock and pop.

But it seems like there's not been much since then. I have the 2003 Djonya album on cassette and it's a good, fun sound she produces. It reminds me of Yvonne Chaka Chaka from the late 80s -- that 'party' sound you can click your fingers to. There's poppy beats, echoing voices, synthesisers and even the Latino beats shimmy their way in too. But it all feels a bit... heavy to me, all I can see is the studio guys saying, "I know... let's put in a trumpet here... what about some percussion here..?"

But it's definitely a modern idea for its time, and really what musicians from the continent are always trying to do, to mix pop and Africa's traditions to produce an album that can CROSS OVER.

Discography
2003 Maba
2003 Djonya
2000 Confirmation
1999 Na

Khaira Arby
Khaira Arby has been on Mali's music scene since the 1980s but there is very little information on her out there. What I have found out is that she is from the desert -- from Agouni, north of Timbuktu -- born into a family of mixed ethnicity: a Songhai Arab mother and an Arab Berber father. Another linguist, she sings in Sonrai, Arabic, Tamashek, and uses a wide range of instruments and rhythms from all over Mali -- calabash, traditional violin and guitar, and the drumming that creates that abrupt squared sound from the Northern part of the country.

But with no relations who were musicians preceding her and a father who forbade her to sing or to play music, Khaira had to go out on her own and it seems to have been a slow, twenty-year journey for her. She started out by working with Orchestre Badema in Bamako, then performing at biennales, the Festival au Desert, some dates in Europe in 02 and now some in 05 in Brussels and Holland.

I have her Ya Rassoul album -- released domestically, no info on when though but I really rate her. She was given the title 'The Nightingale of the North' a long time ago and it's well deserved. The tracks on the Ya Rassoul album are lovely and long -- some over 6 minutes. There is 'Amandiath' which showcases that unique round sound of the traditional guitar. The production is so good you can hear the player's fingers tugging the strings, accompanied by the harsh haunting sound of the violin.

Then the funky electric sound of 'Ehe Youma' with its intricate guitar moves, the soft slow bass guitar and all the while the call and response of the vocals, with the 'response' of the chorus just managing to hold down Khaira's soaring 'call'. The language is new too -- soft rounded vowels, rolling r's, guttural sounds -- words like 'biobini' pronounced 'bwaibini', the curvaceous 'sourgou'.

Like Khaira herself, her music travels on an audio journey to the essence of Mali -- a meeting point of compass points, religion, culture, the past and present. She sings about marriage, love, peace, the lives of the people from the region she comes from, development and democracy. The music is subtle and understated, and Khaira's voice tops it all with its incredible range and pitch.. magic.

Discography
Ya Rassoul