HAROUNA SAMAKE 'KAMALE BLUES'

         ©℗One World Records 2018         

Distribution   Trapeze Music    Xango Music    aurumcph   Indigo.de   iTunes

A Comtempary mix of Groovy Jazz, Wassoulou Blues & West African Bambara Traditions

Harouna Samake, long time Kamale n’goni player for legendary Malian musician Salif Keita, is releasing his anticipated first solo album, Kamale Blues, in August, 2018. 

Recognised as Mali’s foremost Kamale n’goni player, Harouna has a long history of award winning musical collaborations. He arranged and recorded on five of Salif Keita’s albums and has also recorded on more than 50 albums with artists including Blick Bassy, Djessou Mory Kanté, Etienne Mbappé and Bassekou Kouyate, to name a few. On his new solo album, Harouna employs his talents to reflect upon issues present in the world around him. His lyrics are the foundation for this conceptual approach, referencing themes of immigration, wealth & inequality, gender relations, and human rights. Sung mostly in his native Bambara with some English and French phrasing, Harouna’s album mixes various genres – from manding styles, to jazz and blues. His sound is unique, groovy and full of lawyers of tradional Malian arrangements with comtemporary ideas and strong solos. The chorus are song with the soft angelic vocal of his wife, Assetou Diakite that contrasts Harounas soft yet somewhat 'raw' voice.

Harouna's career as a Kamale n’goni player started from humble beginnings. He fell in love with the instrument at the age of eight when he first witnessed a performer play in his small village in Mali. He collected a calabash, a branch of wood and found some strings. With help of a master, who gave him an old antilope skin, he constructed his first Kamale n’goni by hand, and perfected his musicianship while working on his family’s arable lands. Over the subsequent years, his style and abilities have impressed many internationally acclaimed artists such as Bonnie Raitt, who he jammed with at Festival au Dessert, Mali, and gave him his first electric guitar as a thank you, and Bella Flick, with whom he recorded 2 albums. After eighteen years touring internationally with Salif Keita, Harouna is ready to use his exceptional talents as a musician, composer, arranger and producer to marvel a whole new global audience of listeners through his exquisite full-length album, produced by Harouna Samake & Carolina Vallejo, One World Records 2018.

HAROUNA SAMAKE 'KAMALE BLUES'

Forbes Afrique TOP 16 Best Albums of 2018 

Nominated for AFRIMA AWARDS 2018  

Selected for WOMEX Show Case 2018 

KEXP Live performance 2018 

TOP 40 Transglobal Worldmusic Charts Sept, Oct, Nov & December 2018 

The Academia Award Gold Medal 'Best World Music Album' Oct 2018 

The International Song Competition 2018, 3rd Prize (given in May 2019) 

REVIEWS in Forbes Afrique, Lust For Life, Heaven, KayaFm, Mixed World Music, Jassizm, Songlines, Süddeutche Zeitung & Afropop Worldwide.