This has been riding on the back roads of my mind for weeks: Sekou Oumarou - Songhoy Blues [View all]

[JHan]

This track is from their album "Music In Exile".

After Jihadists involved in the Northern Mali Conflict imposed sharia law banning music, with a focus on targeting traditional music, groups like Songhoy Blues made music in exile.

But there have been revival efforts:

Faced with this situation, measures are being taken by concert promoters, musicians and some government officials to save the Malian music industry from this state of atrophy. Among the events at the forefront of such efforts is Festival sur le Niger in Segou, notwithstanding the precarious security situation in the region. The festival's organisers have the advantage of established infrastructure, such as places offering accommodation, to stage the festival. This has allowed them to develop a sustainable programme over the years. Speaking after the 2017 event, Festival sur le Niger organiser Mamou Daffe said: "Our festival was able to resist, but the situation is worse for other cultural events. In short, the security crisis has spared no cultural activity in the north as in the south".

I've posted before my love for Malian music, and really, this is roots stuff right here.. Blues before there was the blues as we came to know it. I recommend getting "Music in Exile", I can't sing enough praises.

#MalianBlues #RealBlues #Roots