One of the genres of music that I started to listen to more over the last several years is World Music. There is so much good music out there made in countries that we as Americans don’t know about. One of the countries whose music I have really come to enjoy is Mali. I was first introduced to the music of Mali through the album One Night on Earth:Music from the strings of Mali by Derek Gripper.I explored his music last November 14th, which is  Gripper’s birthday. Here is the link to the post about the album, Gripper and the music of Mali. Yesterday in Music -Nov 14, 1977 – Derek Gripper is born and leads to the discovery of the Music of Mali!!
In addition to the album from Derek Gripper, I have also listened to and enjoyed the album Toumani & Sidiki. from Toumani Diabaté. The album finds father and son playing together at the same location where Toumani played for the first time with his father! It’s a terrific album. Here is my post about the album – 2014 World Music – Toumani Diabate – Toumani & Sidiki – Beautiful Music from Mali!!
Now in the s pirit of social studies let’s find out a little about the country and the music of Mali. First, the country of Mali.
From Wikipedia – Mali….
is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali is bordered by Algeria to the north, Niger to the east, Burkina Faso to the south, Guinea to the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania to the west. It is the eighth largest country in Africa, with an area of just over 1,240,000 square kilometres (480,000 sq mi). The population of Mali is 14.5 million. Its capital is Bamako.
Mali consists of eight regions and its borders on the north reach deep into the middle of the Sahara, while the country’s southern part, where the majority of inhabitants live, features the Niger and Senegal rivers. The country’s economic structure centers on agriculture and fishing. Some of Mali’s prominent natural resources include gold, being the third largest producer of gold in the African continent,[7] and salt. About half the population lives below the international poverty line of US$1.25 a day.[8] A majority of the population (55%) are non-denominational Muslims Read More
Since 2012 there has been an ongoing conflict in northern Mali where  several insurgent groups have fought against the Malian government for independence or greater autonomy for northern Mali, an area known as Azawad. The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), an organization fighting to make Azawad an independent homeland for the Tuareg people, had taken control of the region by April 2012. In April of 2013 a United Nations peacekeeping mission became active in Mali. From the UN Mission Page…..
The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) was established by Security Council resolution 2100 of 25 April 2013. Under the terms of the resolution, the mission would support the political process and carry out a number of security-related stabilization tasks, with a focus on major population centres and lines of communication, protecting civilians, human rights monitoring, the creation of conditions for the provision of humanitarian assistance and the return of displaced persons, the extension of State authority and the preparation of free, inclusive and peaceful elections. Read More
Senegalese peacekeeper with United Nations mission is killed in rocket attack on a joint United Nations-French military base in northern town of Kidal, Mali; Islamist insurgents in country’s north have stepped up attacks on foreign forces in recent weeks. Read More
Mali has also confronted been confronted this year with the threat of the Ebola Virus. The major outbreak of the virus has been in the countries located along Mali’s southwestern border. The following map shows the areas of the Ebola outbreak in 2014. From Wikipedia :Â Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa
From the map you can see that Senegal, Guinea are both located along the border and that Sierra Leone and Liberia are close by. So I’m sure the level of concern in Mali is very high! Like they need more to worry about!!
Initially this post was going to include more about the Music of Mali but considering the length of the post I think that I will save that discussion for the another  post!!