Amadou & Mariam

(Pictured above [L-R]: Mariam, Manu Chao and Amadou. Photo by Malik Sidibe)

Amadou and Mariam’s first international release Dimanche á Bamako sounds like an African house party hosted by a mad DJ mixing and matching rhythms from all over the world. The analogy is fairly close to the reality.

Amadou and Mariam have been stars in France since they moved to Paris from their native Mali in the early ’90s. Their mixture of traditional music blended with reggae, blues and rock resonated with Europe’s discerning music buyers, but after hooking up with producer and world-music maverick Manu Chao they’ve become indisputable superstars.

Dimanche á Bamako still showcases the signature sounds of Amadou and Mariam—Amadou’s high, bluesy baritone and brittle, propulsive electric guitar with Mariam’s ardent, highly ornamented soprano—but Chao’s production adds the punch of dance-happy beats from around the globe.

The resulting international smorgasbord is accessible enough to be savored by even the most rock-centric ears, without sacrificing the music’s deep African roots. “The production and the mix may be more pop than we’ve done before,” says Amadou, “but it’s not musically different from our other albums. We’ve worked with Syrian, French and African musicians before Manu Chao. Everyone brings different colors to the songs, but the root is always the music of Mali we grew up with.”

As for Chao, he never makes a big deal about his production style. “This [blending of styles] is nothing new. You walk down any street in any international city like Berlin, New York or Paris and you hear reggae on one block, Arab music on the next, hip-hop the next. I’m not doing anything new; you just have to open your ears to the music all around you and you’ll hear it.”