Salif Keita at TD Ottawa Jazz Festival

In his last Festival appearance in 2008 the Ottawa Citizen wrote, “… the whole concert was a happy event. Salif’s voice – it’s been called ‘majestic – moves effortlessly from guttural to pure, high and plaintive.”

A master of West African rhythms and credited as one of the founders of the Afro-pop genre, Keita is world renowned for his unforgettable live performances, soaring vocals and his emotionally-fueled songs. He is unique not only because of his reputation as the Golden Voice of Africa, but because he has albinism and is a direct descendant of the founder of the Mali Empire, Sundiata Keita. This royal heritage meant that under the Malian caste system, he should never have become a singer, which was deemed to be a griot’s role. However, Keita pursued his interest in singing – collaborating with African, French and American musicians....

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In his last Festival appearance in 2008 the Ottawa Citizen wrote, “… the whole concert was a happy event. Salif’s voice – it’s been called ‘majestic – moves effortlessly from guttural to pure, high and plaintive.”

A master of West African rhythms and credited as one of the founders of the Afro-pop genre, Keita is world renowned for his unforgettable live performances, soaring vocals and his emotionally-fueled songs. He is unique not only because of his reputation as the Golden Voice of Africa, but because he has albinism and is a direct descendant of the founder of the Mali Empire, Sundiata Keita. This royal heritage meant that under the Malian caste system, he should never have become a singer, which was deemed to be a griot’s role. However, Keita pursued his interest in singing – collaborating with African, French and American musicians.

In 1984 Keita moved to Paris and shortly thereafter, with help from Carlos Santana, Wayne Shorter and a number of carefully picked musicians from Mali and France, the album Amen was produced, making Keita the first African band leader to win a Grammy nomination. Although Salif Keita now tours extensively internationally, and is based in Paris for much of the year, he still resides in Mali. He tours with a mixed Malian/American 11 piece ensemble including singers, drums, percussion, bass, guitar and keyboards. Salif Keita performed to a sold-out audience in Confederation Park during the 2008 Ottawa Jazz Festival and we are thrilled to invite him back to Ottawa as part of our fall/winter series.

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