The Rail Band was from 1969 the home band of the national railways of Mali. The group played in the garden of a colonial building next to Bamako station for more than twenty years. Due to the diversity of the visitors, the Rail Band played many different styles. The group would become proficient in the mandingo beat, the electric version of Mali's ancient griot culture. Salif Keita was the first
… lead singer of the Rail Band and Mory Kanté and Djelimady Tounkara also passed the ranks. After a decline in popularity at the end of the seventies, the group was rediscovered and feted as one of Africa's most important music groups from the late eighties (especially in the West).more
