Amadou & Mariam – “Masiteladi (Because)”

I just stumbled upon this very cool song and music video from Malian husband-wife musical duo, Amadou & Mariam. For those of you who are unaware, Mali (officially the Republic of Mali) is the 7th largest country in Africa and 24th largest in the world, and one of the most economically and socially stable nations on the continent.

Apparently these guys have quite a long and established career. Amadou used to play with a band called Les Ambassadeurs du Hotel until 1980 when he and Mariam married and began playing together. Since then they’ve developed their sound to mix traditional Malian music with blues and rock using instrumentation from Cuba, India, Syria and Egypt to form this wonderful blend of culture and music.

In the past decade alone they’ve released an album produced by Latin music star Manu Chao, recorded the official anthem of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and even performed at Lollapalooza in 2008. And just two days ago, on May 26th, they played a gig to support the homeless charity Crisis at the Union Chapel, in north London with Dave Gilmour playing second guitar. This track is from their most recent studio record, Welcome To Mali…

Artist: Amadou & Mariam
Song: Masiteladi (Because)
Album: Welcome to Mali
Label: Nonesuch Records
Directors: Aurélia Vernhes, Clement Bolla, Laurent Gillot