Description
World Circuit: Oumou Sangaré — Ko Sira (Audio CD)
Brand new! Factory packaged! As pictured! Buy with confidence!
Product Details:
- Product Type: Audio CD
- Brand / Label: World Circuit
- Catalog Number: WCD 036
- UPC: 0769233003621
- Artist: Oumou Sangaré
- Release Year: 1993
- Producers: Nick Gold & Massambou Wele Diallo
- Genre: World / African
- Style: Wassoulou (Malian)
- Condition: New, factory sealed
Product Features
- Format: CD
- Discs: 1
- Tracks: 8
- All compositions by Oumou Sangaré
- Production: A World Circuit Production
- Publishing: World Circuit Music
Overview
Ko Sira was the album that made Oumou Sangaré an international name. Released by World Circuit in 1993, it followed her astonishing debut and confirmed her as the leading voice of Wassoulou music — the hunters'-tradition sound of southern Mali, built on the lilting ngoni, the gourd kamale ngoni, percussion and call-and-response female chorus.
What sets Sangaré apart is what she sings about. From the start she used her platform to speak plainly about the lives of Malian women — arranged marriage, polygamy, the cost of tradition — and Ko Sira ("Marriage Today") puts those themes front and center. The music is anything but heavy, though: it's buoyant, swinging, and carried by one of the great voices in modern African music.
Eight tracks, all her own compositions. A landmark of the world-music boom of the 1990s and still one of the essential Malian albums.
Interesting Facts
- Oumou Sangaré, born in Bamako in 1968, became known as "The Songbird of Wassoulou" for her command of the southern Malian tradition.
- She is an outspoken advocate for women's rights in Mali, and many of her songs address marriage, polygamy and the position of women.
- Ko Sira earned her wide international recognition and helped define World Circuit's reputation alongside its later Buena Vista Social Club releases.
- Wassoulou music traditionally draws on the songs of hunters' societies and features the kamale ngoni, a youth harp popularized in Sangaré's lifetime.
- Beyond music, Sangaré has built businesses in Mali ranging from agriculture to a hotel and an automobile venture.
Track Listing
- Kayini Wura
- Sigi Kuruni
- Mani Djindala
- Saa Magni
- Dugu Kamelemba
- Bi Furu
- Nawo Nawo
- Ko Sira
Publishers
A World Circuit Production, catalog WCD 036. ℗ & © World Circuit 1993. Produced by Nick Gold and Massambou Wele Diallo. Published by World Circuit Music.
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