Amadou and Mariam produce music that infuses traditional Malian sound with rock guitars and instruments from Cuba, Egypt, Syria and India in a combination that has been dubbed “Afro-blues”. The duo originally met in the “Mali Institute for the Young Blind” performing in the Institute’s Eclipse Orchestra. It was here that they discovered a shared interest in music. The couple made a name for themselves in the mid-80s playing Malian blues music, they attracted the attention of Stevie Wonder and went on to perform at festivals around the world.
Seven studio albums later and the duo have continued to expand their horizons – touring with Coldplay and U2 and jamming with musical heroes David Gilmour and Johnny Marr in recent years. As worldwide attention for the husband and wife duo has grown, so indeed has the scope and ambition of their music – their latest album, Folila, features African artists from the duo’s hometown of Bamako as well as contributions from American artists such as TV on the Radio, Santigold and Nick Zinner.