When President Barack Obama was in Oslo last week to accept the Nobel Peace Prize, he took time to meet Malian duo Amadou & Mariam. The couple went on to perform at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo Friday night. "We were proud to represent Africa during the Nobel Peace Prize celebrations," they say, "and it was a great honor to have met President Barack Obama." The Philadelphia Inquirer names the couple's "deliriously ebullient" Welcome to Mali among the year's best; TIME names the album opener, "Sabali," one of the year's best songs.
When President Barack Obama accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway, last Thursday, he described the award as one "that speaks to our highest aspirations—that for all the cruelty and hardship of our world, we are not mere prisoners of fate. Our actions matter, and can bend history in the direction of justice." The following night, musicians from across the world gathered in Oslo to celebrate in that spirit. Amadou & Mariam joined artists like Lang Lang and Wyclef Jean and hosts Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith at the Oslo Spektrum for Friday's Nobel Peace Prize Concert.
Prior to the concert, Amadou & Mariam were introduced to the President in Oslo, a meeting captured in the image at left from Dinamo Story. Also pictured is Marc-Antoine Moreau, the producer of their most recent Because/Nonesuch release, Welcome to Mali. You can find this and photos of Amadou & Mariam performing at the concert itself, taken by photographer Sandy Young, at nonesuch.com/media.
"We were proud to represent Africa during the Nobel Peace Prize celebrations," say the couple, "and it was a great honor to have met President Barack Obama."
---
"Sabali," the opening track off Welcome to Mali, has been named among the Top 10 Songs of the 2009 by TIME magazine. "A translation from the original Bambara is just a Google search away," says TIME's Josh Tyrangiel, "but all it takes is a human heart to understand that Mariam Doumbia is singing about love. The swirling keyboards and gradually rising dance beat (produced by ex-Blur front man Damon Albarn) are pure '80s pop and sweeter than cheap champagne—but with soul to ground them." Read more at time.com.
---
Philadelphia Inquirer music critic Dan DeLuca put Welcome to Mali atop his list of the Top 10 albums of the year. Amadou & Mariam, says DeLuca, "succeed in creating a deliriously ebullient pop album that's far-reaching and forward-thinking, yet sounds completely organic." Read more at philly.com.
- Log in to post comments
