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Concert Review

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The African albino who did not want to be emperor

CARLOS FUENTES

Cartagena | 11/07/2010

They slammed the door in Salif Keita's face when he announced at home that he would be an artist, that he wanted to be a musician. People like him, whose legendary lineage could be traced back to the XIIIth century Mandinka emperor, Sundiata Keita, were called to greater challenges, and temptations to succumb to vulgar artistic productions were typical of the commoner class, if not of criminals.

If to that secular tradition we add that Salif Keita, who is almost 61, is an African albino in a black land, the magnitude of the challenge faced by the Malian singer in the late 60s is well portrayed. Being someone with a strong will and a self-made man, Salif Keita returned to Cartagena on Saturday to present his new album, La différence, which recently won the award Victoires de la Musique in France, on the second night dedicated to African rhythms on La Mar de Músicas.

Recorded between Paris and Bamako, Salif Keita's recent album ends a trilogy devoted to Malian folklore. And it is not opportunism: after living for a couple of decades in France, the African singer returned home to reunite with his people, but also with their cultural traditions. Those of a country so vast in size (twice Spain) and with a rich cultural heritage.

First came Moffou, dazzling album released in 2002, then M'Bemba (2005) and now La différence, whose contents are to emphasize that human wealth is based on diversity rather than exclusion. "Because difference is pretty. I'm a black man, my skin is white, and I like it. It's my difference. I am white, my blood is black, and I like it. Because the difference is pretty," sang yesterday the albino musician who declined to be emperor.

Cartagena repeated the full capacity with which La Mar de Musicas 2010 started. Three thousand people waiting for one of the liveliest voices of African music, whose owner appeared on the stage dressed in white with a cap adorned with three cowries as an amulet. Salif Keita knelt down to greet the audience, but his group was already at work. Seydou, a track of his latest album, he said very quickly that the night was ideal to dance in a concert that, far from the recent appearances of the singer of Djoliba, had an African pedigree that was beyond question.

It is already a commonplace among African artists that, depending on the stage, the public and perhaps also the state of mind, they select repertoires with more or less Africa flavor. An example of this is another African star, Youssou N'Dour, who in recent years has alternated minimum concerts playing to the gallery, with sometimes surprising athletic performances closer to that marathon nights at the club Le Thiossane of Dakar. With Salif Keita it is sometimes the same, although last night in Cartagena his dedication was beyond doubt.

In the two-hour concert, the singer from the golden voice went over the songs of La différence, including a heartfelt performance of the title track to his album and the most danceable Yambo Yambo, Seydou and Ekol d'amour. From the first chapter of his trilogy, Salif Keita rescued the hypnotic Madam, perhaps the jewel in the crown, Awa played on acoustic, just voice, guitar and two subtle singers.

Given the devoted silence of three thousand souls, some of which ended the night accepting the invitation of the singer to go on stage and share the hectic last few minutes of dancing to the sound of the kamele ngoni (an African guitar), of the sabar drum and of other ethnic instruments Salif Keita's band always played with skill.

The albino musician left happy the concert and later spoke with his usual vehemence about the defense of the life and the integration of young Africans who have problems with skin pigmentation in tribal societies. They are still considered freaks, enemies of decency and carriers of bad luck and illness.

About this challenge, Salif Keita prepares a documentary that will attempt to speak out worldwide for albinos who have not had the luck of being artists. He is preparing these measures of support from a foundation which is promoting solidarity; and he spoke of the satisfaction about the political asylum that Spain has awarded the young Malian albino Abdoulaye Coulibaly, 22, after arriving in a boat to the coast of the Canary Islands. Salif Keita spoke about all this with GuinGuinBali in an interview that will soon be available.

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