Various
The Lost Maestros Collection Vol. 1
The Lost Maestros Collection is the fruit of a collaboration between the recently created Deviation Records and the independent Malian label Mieruba. Mieruba has been working since 2010 to ensure that this golden age of Mande music is not forgotten. Aware that these nuggets are not eternal, Mieruba, based in Segou on the banks of the River Niger and capital of the ancient Bambara kingdom, has spent eight years preserving this musical heritage by recording these 16 tracks at the Kôr studio in Segou and the famous Bogolan studio in Bamako. The highly laudable aim of this album is to reveal to the world all the musical riches of Mali, and more particularly the music of the Mande region, the cradle of the great griot families. To perpetuate and pass on this ancestral musical history, The Lost Maestros Collection brings together 8 wonders of Mali, each of whom in their own way has taken this tradition to more modern and electrified lands, combining the pioneers of Mandingo music with the young post-independence generation of Mali. The album features 2 tracks from each of these 8 great names in Malian music. In all, there are 16 tracks that testify to the richness of Mandingo music, inspired as much by the pentatonic tradition as by American blues or Nigerian afrobeat.