Browse by Artist: RAIL BAND

Artist:	RAIL BAND
Title:	Belle Epoque Volume 1: Soundiata
Label:	STERNS AFRICA
Format:	2CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	STCD 3033CD

"Mali's legendary Rail Band, so named because they were initially sponsored by one of Mali's largest railroad lines, were one of the finest West African pop combos of the 1970s. Unlike their peers in countries like Nigeria and Ghana, the Rail Band eschewed the frenetic rhythms of American soul and funk to concentrate on pioneering an electrified version of traditional Malian manding music. Their sound is dominated by the relaxed, tremolo-laden guitar work of Djelimady Tounkara, who embarks on masterful guitar excursions over the flawless grooves of the Rail Band's gently propulsive rhythm section. This two-disc retrospective contains the entirety of The Rail Band's 1975 masterpiece, Soundiata, and includes a host of other stellar Rail Band tracks from that era. Full-colour, 20-page booklet with notes detailing the history of the band and full-page reproductions of original album covers."

Artist:	RAIL BAND
Title:	Belle Epoque Volume 2: Mansa
Label:	STERNS AFRICA
Format:	2CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	STCD 3039CD

"The second volume in Stern's three-volume Rail Band retrospective, Belle Epoque Volume 2: Mansa contains a number of rare recordings made by the Rail Band in the early '70s, featuring the talents of the Malian songwriting prodigy Salif Kieta, as well as a host of other selections featuring Malian singers like Sekou Kante and Magan Ganessy. Though these compilations provide an admirably thorough overview of the Rail Band's discography, they are not arranged chronologically. On this volume, early '70s cuts featuring the golden-voiced Kieta often sit somewhat uneasily beside equally stellar, but stylistically distinct, offerings from later in the Rail Band's career. Despite its potentially confusing sequencing, Stern's Belle Epoque series offers the listener unparalleled access to the Rail Band's sprawling and influential body of work. Full-colour, 20-page booklet with notes detailing the history of the band and full-page reproductions of original album covers."

Artist:	RAIL BAND
Title:	Belle Epoque Volume 3: Dioba
Label:	STERNS AFRICA
Format:	2CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	STCD 3043CD

"With Belle Epoque Vol. 3 - Dioba, the estimable Sterns Africa label has completed another definitive archive project documenting West Africa's post-colonial 'belle epoque' of the 1960s and 1970s. The three two-disc volumes in the series present the hits, highlights and lesser known treasures made by the Rail Band, the era's pre-eminent Malian modern-roots band -- which featured world music stars-to-be Salif Keita and Mory Kante, both winningly represented -- in a collection that is both as scholarly and as vibrant as the label's The Syliphone Years series, showcasing the contemporaneous bands of neighbouring Guinea. Dioba showcases the Rail Band in all its splendid moods and colours: from Keita's spiritualised and virtuosic 'Maki' and 'Soyomba,' through Ganessy's fierce going on feral 'Kadia Kandian' and 'Djamban,' the re-Africanised Stax-Volt soul of Kante's 'Mariba Yassa' and his mesmeric take on Afrobeat, 'Sinsimba,' spacier and nimbler than originator Fela Kuti's style, on to the rumba-infused 'Foliba' and 'Talassa.' Two 1982 tracks, 'Diby' and 'Diabate,' feature the psychedelicised keyboards of Alfred Coulibaly, a late but valuable addition to the line-up, inhabiting adjacent territory to that being explored by the American keyboard player Marco Benevento on Me Not Me (The Royal Potato Family, 2009), two and a half decades later. 3rd and final volume in the critically-acclaimed Belle Epoque series that tells a 13-year story -- from 1970 to 1983 -- of Mali's legendary group. Full-colour, 20-page booklet with notes detailing the history of the band and full-page reproductions of original album covers."

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