Mali's musical marriage

They grew up listening to Hendrix, Lee Hooker and Clapton. They’ve been championed by luminaries like Andy Kershaw, Charlie Gillett and Lucy Duran. But their own brand of exuberant African pop remains outside mainstream radio playlists. Sunil Peck talks to Amadou et Mariam, the Blind Couple from Mali about life and music

There’s nothing unusual about blind middle-aged pop stars playing to packed audiences and selling millions of albums worldwide. But unlike Stevie Wonder, José Feliciano and Ray Charles, Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia, otherwise known as the Blind Couple from Mali, aged 55 and 51 respectively, are unusual because they were relatively unknown by a non-African audience until 2005, some 25 years after they began performing as a duo.

Sitting in a poky office backstage shortly before they are due to take the stage for a gig at the HMV Forum in London, and to the accompaniment of roadies rushing around making last minute preparations for the gig, I wonder how they will be able to tell how big the audience is and whether or not they are enjoying the show?

Speaking via their manager, Marc-Antoine Moreau, who agrees to translate for us for the interview, Mariam says: “When we play it’s easy for us to know that there are plenty of people in the audience because of the noise they make - when we sing people sing with us and we can also get a sense of the size of the audience when they applaud.”

Amadou and Mariam have been performing around the world for several years. So what has struck them about the venues they play in Europe compared to those in Mali?

“The difference between venues in Mali and here or other Western countries is that people stay seated in Mali but here they stand. That might be because the audiences in the West are younger,” says Amadou.

Then Mariam adds: “The sound is different. The sound isn’t as good in Mali.”

Mariam became blind aged five and was singing at baptisms and weddings by the time she was six. Amadou lost his sight as a teenager by which time he was already an accomplished singer and guitarist.

The couple met at the institute for blind people in Bamako in 1976 when Amadou, already a member of the Malian group Les Ambassadeurs, was 22 and Mariam was 18.

They married in 1980 and left Mali for the Ivory Coast in 1986.

They began to record and distribute cassettes of their music which caught on among African people in Europe and particularly in France during the 90s.

They came to the attention of the UK public with the release of Dimanche à Bamako in 2005 which received rave reviews in the UK’s music press.

It’s a great pop album – even if you can’t understand the songs which are sung in French and Bambara – because of its punchy rhythms embellished with police car sirens, tablas and blasting trumpets.

They went on to record the official anthem for the World Cup in 2006 and collaborate with Damon Albarn on Africa Express, the coalition of Western and African musicians. They have also performed at Glastonbury, and they have supported mainstream acts like Scissor Sisters and Coldplay.

But despite their popularity in the UK, their music rarely crops up on mainstream radio. Why do they think that is?

“The main problem is the language we sing in. Because we don’t sing in English it’s not broadcast much.”

Right on cue, their press officer chips in to point out that the track Masiteladi made it into the digital radio station BBC 6 Music’s top 100 tracks of 2009.

Along with the kora player Toumani Diabaté and the group Tinariwen, Amadou and Mariam have been credited with introducing Malian music to an international audience.

Amadou, who grew up listening to Jimi Hendrix, John Lee Hooker and Eric Clapton, says: “We are proud. The fact that we used to listen to lots of music that we didn’t understand makes us expect that people in this country can listen to our music without understanding it. The main thing is to make universal music, whatever the language is.”

According to Simon Broughton, Editor-in-Chief of the world music magazine Songlines, they have succeeded in breaking out of what he refers to as the “world music” ghetto. Indeed, Amadou and Mariam won the Best Group category in the inaugural Songlines Music Awards in 2009.

“Unusually for African artists, their last album was written about in The Sun and the Daily Express as well as Mojo, Songlines and the Guardian,” says Broughton, and adds: “I’m a huge admirer of Amadou and Mariam, not because of overcoming their disability to be international stars, but simply because of the quality of their music. Their songs are catchy and soulful and Amadou is a magnificent guitar player.”

But what would the couple be doing if they had not struck gold as international pop stars? Would they be languishing in Mali now struggling to make a living?

Amadou suggests that failure was never an option and that their fame is the reward for the years of hard work they put into fulfilling their dream.

“We have been trying to be pop stars since we were young and we have been successful.”

In fact, the couple say that their success has made them role models in Mali and is already paving the way for disabled people in Mali to lead more successful lives.

Or, as Mariam puts it: “We are examples for disabled people in Mali and the fact that we are successful gives them hope.”

Amadou adds: “We have already given a kind of example at the blind institute in Mali. There are already blind people who are getting jobs and having successful careers.”

The couple talk with such enthusiasm about their career that it would be a surprise if they were to retire any time soon. They will be appearing at All Tomorrow’s Parties in May in Minehead, a festival curated by Matt Groening of The Simpsons fame.

They have also just become patrons of the charity Attitude is Everything and given their backing to the campaign to make live music venues more accessible to disabled people.

Talking to Attitude is Everything’s Chief Executive, Suzanne Bull, after agreeing to become patrons, they said: “We feel very concerned about this issue because we are both disabled ourselves and it is something that directly affects us. We must make sure that everybody can go and watch shows.”

In 2009, the couple played a gig with David Gilmour from Pink Floyd in aid of the homeless charity Crisis. So can we expect more rock-inspired music from them in the future?

“We love rock music. We love Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin,” says Amadou, before adding: “Maybe Stevie Wonder, we’ve already met him in Africa and if the opportunity comes up it would be a pleasure to take advantage of it.”