Rail Band

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The Rail Band or Rail Band is one of the most popular musical groups in the history of Malian music; the band was later known as Super Rail Band, Bamako Rail Band or, most comprehensively and formally, Super Rail Band of the Buffet Hotel de la Gare, Bamako. It was founded in 1970, sponsored by the Ministry of Information and the railway administration; the Malian government had, since the 1960s, been sponsoring cultural events and groups to promote national traditions, and The Rail Band was among those programs.

The band performed regularly at the Buffet Bar at the Station Hotel in Bamako, performing Manding music. The band performs traditional-style music, using kora and balafon with Islamic-style vocals and elements of Latin music, in the Bambara language.

The Rail Band’s lead singer at its inception was Salif Keita, and the group soon became a training ground for many of Mali’s most popular performers, like singer Mory Kanté and guitarist Kante Manfila. Guitarist Djelimady Tounkara has been a member of the band for most of its history.

Tagged as:

mali, african, world, world music, west african
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Belle Epoque Vol. 1: Soundiata
Rail Band
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Belle Epoque Vol. 3: Dioba
Rail Band
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Rail Band
Rail Band
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Top Tracks

1	Duga	43
2	Duga (Bambara Version) full track	31
3	Armee Malienne full track	21
4	Jurukan full track	18
4	Soundiata (L'Exil) full track	18
6	Armee Mali full track	17
7	Mali Cebalenw full track	16
7	Fankante Dankele full track	16
9	Mali Tebaga Mogoma full track	12
9	Sunjata full track	12
11	Maliyo full track	9
12	Soundjata (new version) full track	6
13	Foliba full track	4
14	Soyomba full track	3
15	Mali Cebalenw (feat. Salif Keita) (from 'Belle Epoque Vol. 1')	2

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TippinMyStuff wrote:
March 2009

reminds me of something...

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chancer wrote:
September 2008

MIndblowing music from a group of superstars. So happy they reunited.

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eyloni wrote:
March 2008

Coolest sound on my station for a while! I want more!

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Recent Activity

LamentoNegro added Rail Band to LamentoNegro’s library. 11 days ago
Parisblues tagged Rail Band with ‘africa’. 12 days ago
morifakan, jammn1, sugarlime and 7 other people added Rail Band to their libraries. 14 days ago
Creativeuphoria tagged Rail Band with mali, african, world and 2 other tags. September 2009
saravigote, la_tisha and 1 other person added Rail Band to their libraries. September 2009
loudyloudy tagged Rail Band with ‘xoo’. August 2009
Ongoiba, jogar-germany, sanendiaye and 3 other people added Rail Band to their libraries. August 2009
sufi17 tagged Rail Band with ‘mali’. June 2009
triangula, siradjan, Monsunchen and 11 other people added Rail Band to their libraries. June 2009
dianashamilton tagged Rail Band with ‘hear’. May 2009