Griots of the Mande World
The hereditary musicians of Mali, Guinea, Senegal and The Gambia, their instruments, and where to hear a thousand years of oral history for free.
Music of Mali
Home of the griot/jeli tradition, the kora and balafon, Afrobeat, Highlife, Mbalax and the desert blues of the Sahel.
Sung and searched in French, Bambara. The YouTube button above can run your search in that language.
Roots and traditions
National music
The national anthem of Mali is "Le Mali". After independence under President Modibo Keita orchestras were state-sponsored and the government created regional orchestras for all seven then regions. From 1962 the orchestras competed in the annual "Semaines Nationale de la Jeunesse" ("National Youth Weeks") held in Bamako. Keita was ousted by a coup d'état in 1968 organized by General Moussa Traoré. Most of Keita's support for the arts was cancelled, but the "Semaines Nationale de la Jeunesse" festival, renamed the "Biennale Artistique et Culturelle de la Jeunesse", was held every 2 years starting in 1970. Notable and influential bands from the period included the first electric dance band, Orchestre Nationale A, and the Ensemble Instrumental National du Mali, comprising 40 traditional musicians from around the country and still in operation today. Mali's second president, Moussa Traoré, discouraged Cuban music in favor of Malian traditional music. The annual arts festivals were held biannually and were known as the Biennales.
Popular music
20th century popular music
After World War 2 the guitar became common throughout Africa, partially resulting from the mixing of African, American and British soldiers. Dance bands were popular in Mali, especially the town of Kita's orchestra led by Boureima Keita and Afro-Jazz de Ségou, the Rail Band and Pioneer Jazz. Imported dances were popular, especially rumbas, waltzes and Argentine-derived tangos. By the 1960s, however, the influence of Cuban music began to rise. After independence in 1960, Malians saw new opportunities for cultural expression in radio, television and recordings. Cuban music remained popular in Mali throughout the 1960s and remains popular today. Old dance bands reformed under new names as part of the roots revival of Moussa Traoré. Especially influential bands included Tidiane Koné's Rail Band du Buffet Hôtel de la Gare, which launched the careers of future stars Salif Keita and Mory Kanté, and Super Biton de Ségou. Bajourou also became popular, beginning with Fanta Sacko's Fanta Sacko, the first bajourou LP.
Read the full article: Music of Mali Text under CC BY-SA 4.0
Playing now
What Mali is listening to in 2026
Articles 1
Live radio
Radio from Mali
Music only, no news or talk. Stations that play the local tradition come first, then the most listened. They play in the corner of the page.
Station directory by Radio Browser Streams come from each station's own server.
Further reading
Open-access scholarship on the music of Mali. Every one is free to read.
- Growing into music in Mali –perspectives on informal learning in West Africa
- I Play Wassoulou, Jeli, Songhay and Tuareg Music: Adama Drame in Postcolonial Mali, Bimusical or Multimusical?
- Suita za mali orkester (1932) Demetrija Žebreta med »starimi« in »novimi« strukturnimi idiomi
- Gioachino Rossini: Mali in “Crescendo”
- Sample from the audiobook "Veliki in mali kapitan'' (The big captain and the little captain)
Indexed by OpenAlex 43 open-access works in all Metadata under CC0 1.0