LES AMBASSADEURS DU MOTEL DE BAMAKO - S/T (2CD)
Thursday, September 4, 2014 at 05:00PM 
Salif Keita's mid-'70s move from The Rail Band to Les Ambassadeurs is described in Florent Mazzoleni's liner notes as having been spurred on by a desire "to sing new songs, songs that described life in contemporary Mali in the second decade of the country's independence." Along with Teranga Beat's recent live archival set Dexter Johnson & Le Super Star de Dakar Live à L'Étoile, Les Ambassadeurs Du Motel... is yet another irresistible snapshot of Latin jazz-tinged West African music at its height.
"A specially mastered double album compilation of the original 1975 - 1977 recordings by one West Africa's greatest bands, the one which first set Salif Keita on his road to worldwide success. Including tracks never released digitally or on CD before, also containing the first ever release of two recordings from the vaults of Radio Mali." - Sterns Music
"Released to coincide with their historic reunion shows, this is an exquisite double-album reminder of the early days of one of Africa's greatest bands. Les Ambassadeurs were assembled in the early 1970s by a senior member of the Mali's military junta to entertain VIPs at a Bamako motel, and included great musicians from across west Africa, including the late Kanté Manfila on guitar, keyboard player Idrissa Soumaoro and guitarist Amadou Bagayoko (now a star with Amadou and Mariam)." - The Guardian
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