Boubacar Traoré (born 1942 in

Kayes Kayes ( Bambara: ߞߊߦߌ tr. ''Kayi'', Soninké: ''Xaayi'') is a city in western Mali on the Sénégal River with a population of 127,368 at the 2009 census. Kayes is the capital of the administrative region of the same name. The name "Kayes ...

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

) is a Malian singer, songwriter, and guitarist.

Early fame

Traoré first came to prominence in the early 1960s. He had taught himself to play guitar and developed a unique style that blended American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

music,

Arab music Arabic music or Arab music ( ar, الموسيقى العربية, al-mūsīqā al-ʿArabīyyah) is the music of the Arab world with all its diverse music styles and genres. Arabic countries have many rich and varied styles of music and also man ...

, and pentatonic structures found in West Africa's Mande cultural region. He was a superstar in Mali and a symbol of the newly independent country (see

History of Mali Mali is located in Africa. The history of the territory of modern Mali may be divided into: *Pre-Imperial Mali, before the 13th century *The history of the eponymous Mali Empire and of the Songhai Empire during the 13th to 16th centuries The bor ...

). His songs were immensely popular and he enjoyed regular radio play. However, he made no recordings, and since there were no royalties paid to musicians, he was very poor.

Decline and revival

In 1968, when

Moussa Traoré Moussa Traoré (25 September 1936 – 15 September 2020) was a Malian soldier, politician, and dictator who was President of Mali from 1968 to 1991. As a Lieutenant, he led the military ousting of President Modibo Keïta in 1968. Thereafter he ...

overthrew Malian president

Modibo Keïta Modibo Keïta (4 June 1915 – 16 May 1977) was the first President of Mali (1960–1968) and the Prime Minister of the Mali Federation. He espoused a form of African socialism. Youth Keïta was born in Bamako-Coura, a neighborhood of Ba ...

, Boubacar Traoré, widely seen as an artist associated with the previous regime, disappeared from the airwaves. During the 1970s Traoré's popularity faded, until a surprise television appearance in 1987. Soon after this "rediscovery," Boubacar's wife died during childbirth. Grief-stricken, he moved to France and did construction work to support his six children. While there, a British record producer discovered a tape of one of Traoré's radio performances, and he was finally signed to a record deal. His first album, '' Mariama'', was released in 1990. Since then, Traoré has enjoyed international popularity, touring Europe, Africa, and North America. Boubacar figures in the book ''Mali Blues'' (Lonely Planet, Australia), by Belgian writer Lieve Joris. The book inspired Swiss film director Jacques Sarasin for the 2001 film '' Je chanterai pour toi'' ("I'll Sing For You") about Boubacar, released on DVD in 2005.
Along with several blues artists, he appeared in the film '' Blues Road Movie'' ('' Au Coeur du Blues'') by

Louis Mouchet Louis Mouchet is an independent film-maker born in Geneva, Switzerland in 1957. Biography Louis Mouchet studied history and literature at the University of Geneva and graduated from London International Film School in 1983. He has directed mai ...

(2001). Boubacar then released ''Kongo Magni'' (Marabi, 2005), produced by Christian Mousset, director of the Festival Musiques Métisses d'Angoulême (Angoulême Cross-Cultural Music Festival), who would also produce his ''Mali Denhou'' (Lusafrica, 2010). Kar Kar made up for lost time with acclaimed live performances around Europe and then the United States and Canada. ''Mbalimaou'' (My Brothers) was released in February 2015, followed by ''Dounia Tabalo'' in November 2017.

Discography

* '' Mariama'' (1990) * '' Kar Kar'' (1992) * '' Les Enfants de Pierrette'' (1995) * '' Sa Golo'' (1996) * '' Maciré'' (2000) * '' Je chanterai pour toi'' (2003) * '' The Best of Boubacar Traoré: The Bluesman from Mali'' (2003) * '' Kongo Magni'' (2005) * '' Mali Denhou'' (2011) * '' Mbalimaou'' (2014) * '' Dounia Tabalo'' (2017)

References

External links

Biography from World Music Central

Biography from Concerted Efforts

(republished on Global Village Idiot) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Traore, Boubacar 1942 births Living people Traoré clan members Wrasse Records artists People from Kayes Malian blues guitarists 20th-century Malian male singers 21st-century Malian male singers Label Bleu artists