Mariam Doumbia on "Mad Love" & Carrying On The Legacy of Amadou & Mariam

On Thursday, November 13, one of Africa’s most popular singers, Mariam Doumbia of Amadou & Mariam fame, will once again grace the stage in San Francisco. For this concert presented by SFJAZZ, she performs without Amadou, who tragically passed away in April this year.

I spoke with Mariam from her home in Paris where she was taking a break from her current world tour which will bring her and her band to San Francisco for a performance at the historic Herbst Theatre. While grieving the loss of her longtime husband and musical companion, Mariam is determined to continue their shared musical legacy.

“Many people asked me to continue performing, and that is incredibly motivating. I have always been a courageous person and long-time fighter. That’s why I go on stage. It’s true that Amadou isn’t next to me, and it hurts a lot. When I am on stage, I can feel that his space is empty, but my son is next to me, which gives me courage and really strengthens me.”

The duo had three children during their four-decade partnership, and Mariam will be accompanied on stage by her middle son, Sam Bagayoko, also an accomplished musician, guitarist, singer, and bandleader who will perform a few of his father’s songs, paying tribute to the family’s musical heritage.

Despite the pain of Amadou’s absence, Mariam finds comfort in music.

“It is a gift, you know. I have been singing since the age of 6. When Amadou met me, I was already singing.”

It’s a passion she shares with her audience and a creative outlet that continues to inspire her. For fans of Mariam, this return to the stage is not only a tribute to Amadou, but also a celebration of life and love.

Endless Love

The love story of Amadou and Mariam is that of a couple of blind Malian musicians who met in 1976 at the institute for Young Blind People in Bamako, the capital of Mali in West Africa, where Mariam was teaching and singing. They married in 1980 and began a musical partnership that lasted over four decades and produced eight internationally released albums.

She confides that they were influenced my many local and international artists, including the likes of Bazoumana Cissoko, a blind ngoni player and grandfather of Bassekou Kouyaté, as well as Amy Koita, Mori Diabaté, Pink Floyd, Stevie Wonder, the British hard rock supergroup Bad Company, and the American-British hard rock band Foreigner, just to name a few. Absorbing those disparate inspirations, the pair created a unique blend of Malian traditional melodies with rock, funk, reggae, and Afro-Cuban rhythms.

I asked Mariam to share a time when they felt particularly challenged during their artistic career. Thinking about it, she said it was when they emigrated to Abidjan, Ivory Coast, in 1986. The capital city, Abidjan was then the crossroads and music capital of francophone West Africa and had the best, most professionally equipped recording studios. Many singers from West and Central Africa were working in Abidjan, including Salif Keita, Mory Kanté, guitarist extraordinaire Kanté Manfila, and a remarkable list of African singers and instrumentalists from Guinea, Burkina Faso, Benin and Congo regularly visited Abidjan for concerts and recordings during the 1980s. Mariam recalls that on one occasion, a music presenter produced a concert featuring the duo, and the night of the performance, Amadou accidentally left his guitar in a taxi, and when they walked on stage, only two people were in attendance due to lack of promotion.

“We were not known then,” she says. “It was a total fiasco. We performed anyway with vocals only. We did not let ourselves be disappointed or discouraged.”

In the late 80s and early 90s, the pair released a series of cassettes titled Vol. 1, Vol. 2, Vol. 3, and Vol. 4, and as their popularity slowly spread across West Africa, they began their rise to international fame.

Between numerous tours in various West African countries, they first travelled to Paris for a recording session in 1994 and permanently settled there two years later. Their 1998 album Sou Ni Tilé (Night and Day) for the EmArcy label was their first international production, and with it, Amadou and Mariam became an instant European sensation, mainly through the popularity of the leadoff track “Je Pense à Toi” (I Think of You). With its simple lyrics and a poignant meaning, the song that struck a chord with listeners and climbed the pop singles chart in France before achieving massive commercial success throughout Europe.

Amadou and Mariam’s international profile exploded in 2004 with their album Dimanche à Bamako (Sunday in Bamako), produced by the GRAMMY-nominated French-Spanish musician and producer Manu Chao. The release won the BBC Award for World Music Best Album and received the pair’s first GRAMMY nomination along with inclusions on best-of-year lists from Spin and Songlines.

Beyond their own albums, an important part of Amadou and Mariam’s creative lives has been their collaboration with other artists — a process Mariam says they both loved, allowing them to always create something new and unexpected, exploring other kinds of music than their own. A short list of major musicians the couple recorded songs with includes Damon Albarn, Les Scissor Sisters, Sergent Garcia, the Blind Boys of Alabama, K’Naan, and Sofi Tucker, among many others. Mariam believes that no matter your limitations, you can be creative and find common ground with artists of all kinds through the shared love of music.

Mad Love

The duo composed and recorded many songs over seven years prior to Amadou’s sudden death this year. These tracks are featured on their latest studio album L’Amour à la Folie — French for “Mad Love.”

Mariam is touring the world on the heels of the release of this album, which is a symbol of hope and tolerance. L’Amour à la Folie features sounds that blend traditional Malian influences with touches of contemporary music, including notable collaborations with Congolese rumba singer Fally Ipupa on the track ‘Sonfo,’ American singer Santigold on “Dougou Badia,” and French singer Charlotte Gainsbourg on the song “Grand Soleil.”

In the song “Mogolu,” which means “people” in Bambara, Amadou and Mariam highlight the importance of human contact and shared experiences, and other tracks honor their musical journey and offer messages of peace. They sing in the Bambara language (also called Bamanankan), a Mandinka language widely spoken in Mali and neighboring countries, while other songs are in French. Throughout, the melodies and rhythms of Malian culture remain constant in their work. L’Amour à la Folie is the ultimate album of these two African music icons that sums up their universal message of hope, tolerance, and sharing. Mariam’s return to the stage is a watershed event for African music, symbolizing the strength of love and celebrating courage in the face of adversity.

“I am looking forward to returning to SFJAZZ and I would like to express gratitude for the audience's energy the last time we were in San Francisco. Tell my fans to come and share connections and experience the magic of my new live performance, to hear new songs and old favorites.”

Mariam’s fans can expect an unforgettable evening, full of memories and new musical promises.

Mariam performs 11/13 at Herbst Theatre. Tickets and more information are available here.

Hailing from Cote d’Ivoire in West Africa, journalist, promoter, and radio producer Emmanuel Nado is at the forefront of promoting African music and culture in the San Francisco Bay Area. He currently hosts AfricaMix on KALW Radio 91.FM San Francisco, Saturdays from 7-9pm PT.