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Product Description ------------------- "A lot of people believe Mali will be the next Cuba," says Putumayo VP of A&R Jacob Edgar, reflecting on the potential of Mali’s music to crossover to a wider audience. "The music is otherworldly and familiar at the same time, and the artists have really interesting stories." One of the most striking things about Putumayo Presents Mali is the diversity of artists represented. Ramatou Diakité comes from the fields of the bluesy Wassoulou region of southern Mali. Tinariwen is a Kel Temeshek or Tuareg band, whose trancey Sahara desert blues served as the musical soundtrack to a fierce fight against discrimination. Habib Koité originates from the Bambara tribe and is known for integrating a diversity of Malian styles into his repertoire. Habib is signed to Putumayo and has released two successful albums, Ma Ya and Baro on the label. A live track and an enhancement featuring a live concert performance by Habib are highlights of the collection. The Mali album also features legends that didn’t gain re until later in life. Idrissa Soumaoro didn’t record his first album until age 55. When he was young, Soumaoro played in Les Ambassadeurs alongside legends Salif Keïta and Kante Manfila. Often seen on stage with Habib Koité, Kélétigui Diabaté is a legendary figure in Malian music and one of the foremost balafón (xylophone) players in Africa. Boubacar Traoré was once heard daily on national radio in Mali, but disappeared into obscurity after his wife passed away. Mali features a Malian recipe for Tiguadégé Na (meat in peanut sauce) and colorful photos from the Lonely Planet book series. A portion of the proceeds from the sales of this CD will be donated to Oxfam America in support of their development efforts in Mali. .com ---- Listeners as yet unfamiliar with the startlingly broad musical geography of Mali might find it hard to believe that the 11 tracks on Putumayo's new Mali compilation all come from the same country. Indeed, part of the pleasure of listening to Mali comes in encountering a musical tradition so rich it encompasses everything from the electric guitar-powered trance music of Tinariwen ("Amassakoul 'N'Tenere") to the picture perfect global pop of Ramatou Diakite ("Gembi") and the virtuosic acoustic guitar fireworks of Habib Koite and Bamada. As compilations go, Mali isn't quite the sprawling musical survey that the West African country so richly deserves--for one thing, worldwide stars like Salif Keita, Ali Farka Toure and Oumou Sangare are unrepresented here. But as an introduction to the almost shocking musical diversity of Mali, it's a good start. Most listeners, after journeying from Boubacar Traore's countrified, accordion-laced "Kanou" to Issa Bagayoyo's house beat-inflected "Bana" to the electronic landscape of Mamou Sidibe's "Bassa Kele," will find it hard not to dig a little deeper on their own into one of the many facets of this musical world that Mali represents. --Ezra Gale