Zani Diabate was the first musical super hero I met. The bandleader and ace guitarist, who passed away in Paris last year while recording his final album, often wore a dark beret with an enamel brooch of Superman pinned to it. When I asked him if he was Superman during an interview many years ago, he replied: "No, it's not Superman. It's Super Zani."
Zani Diabate and the Super Djata Band. — photo by John Clewley
It was 1988 and Diabate was about to play his first Tokyo shows, bringing his unique brand of Malian music to Asia for the first time. In fact, Diabate was one of the first Malian musicians to ride the first wave of the "World music" boom that began in the early 1980s. Salif Keita and Ali Farka Toure had already begun the process _ Keita with his haunting Malinke-based music and Toure with his vast repertoire of northern Malian music _ but Diabate, ably backed by his Super Djata Band brought music that was rhythmically harder, more danceable. It also featured Zani's amazing psychedelic guitar playing.
But back to Super Zani. He told me that I would understand his powers when I saw his concerts. He would, he said, perform a one-handed cartwheel, while playing a talking drum. True to his word, he really did do a one-handed cartwheel with the drum in the other hand but that was only a neat trick, a gimmick really. What really marked out Zani was his hard-driving guitar play, during which he would play the guitar upside-down, backwards, on the floor while spinning around (breakdance with a guitar) and every which way. His riffs and runs would always surprise, coming as they would from unexpected angles.
He was born into a family of traditional, hereditary praise-singing musicians, or jalis as they are known in Bambara (the main language used in Mali) and learned dance, acrobatic tricks, belafon (wooden xylophone), kora (African 21-stringed harp) and singing. His parents performed with the National Ballet of Mali, which he joined in the early 1960s. He found himself being caught up in the development of Malian popular music in the period, learning guitar and coming under the spell of Sekou "Diamond Fingers" Diabate, the legendary guitarist of the influential West African dance band, Bembeya Jazz. He also studied the styles of Western guitar tyros like Jimi Hendrix and Carlos Santana.
He put together his Super Djata Band, which featured belafon, bass, rhythm guitar, percussion and the wonderful voice of lead vocalist Daouda Sangare and began his recording career. The sound the band played, based on the Bambara language, was rootsier than the cool rhythms of Malinke-based singers like Keita. His reputation soared and he was offered an international contract with the Mango label, which resulted in the 1988 album Zani Diabate And The Super Djata Band and a first major overseas tour (the album has since been reissued on CD and is well worth checking out).
But while Keita, Toumani Diabate and the late Toure all went on to even greater international success and visibility, Zani Diabate seemed to fade from the international circuit. He still performed but when the Super Djata Band disbanded in the 1990s, he turned his attention to his new position as director of the Malian National Ballet. He continued to champion young Malian musicians (all his children are accomplished musicians and dancers).
In late 2010, he returned to the studio with his son and many young musicians under the band name Les Heritiers to record an album, the result of which, Tientalaw was released last month on the UK-based label Stern's. It's already high on the European Broadcast Union's World Music charts for last month and has been garnering stellar reviews from critics. I've ordered the album and have only heard a few tracks but those trademark bubbling rootsy rhythms I first heard more than 20 years are very evident, as is the guitar sound he created. Definitely one to look out for.
Diabate's amazing guitar work was highly influential on guitarists who followed him. You can hear his influence on one of the most successful Malian guitarists of recent years, Amadou (of the band Amadou and Mariam) and on many others. Despite this, he is not as well known as the other Malian stars, which is a shame. Perhaps this new album and the posthumous tributes that have followed will finally give him his due.
If you haven't had the privilege and pleasure of seeing his live shows _ and those gigs in Japan I saw more than 20 years ago are among the best I've ever experienced from a Malian musician _ then track down his 1988 Mango and get hold off his final release.
It's time to pay tribute to a real African super hero.
More information and orders for the new album can be found on the internet at www.sternsmusic.com.
This column can be contacted at: clewley.john@gmail.com.
