Salif Keita

They say you can never go home again. But sometimes, it seems, you can. Mali's Salif Keita, celebrated as one of the world's great singers, has managed it on his shimmering new acoustic album, Moffou, a decided change from the more Westernized efforts of recent years.

"I wanted to return to the source, and go back to 'the house,'" he explained. "It's an experience of the heart."

That return has been more than just spiritual. After years of living in Europe, Keita now spends a good part of each year in Bamako, Mali's capital, where he's opened a nightclub (also called Moffou - the name refers to an African flute). It felt perfectly natural to return, he insisted, since "I'm from Mali, so this is home for me. My time in Paris was about experiencing other cultures and experiencing other cultures. Paris didn't influence my music - I was seeking out that music."

"I wanted to return to the source, and go back to 'the house.' It's an experience of the heart."

By rights, Salif Keita should never have been a singer. His family had an aristocratic lineage, making life as a singer socially unacceptable. But a second strike came with Keita being born albino, a curse in Africa. However, music was an innate part of him, and he overcame the odds - including being disowned by his father - moving to Bamako, and helping to form the Super Rail Band, before leaving to join Les Ambassadeurs, "my initiation to modern music," with whom he first made his name, cutting "Mandjou," which has become a classic of the 'golden age' of African music.

It was a solo artist, though, that Keita found international fame, and over the last 15 years and five albums he's become known as the Golden Voice of Africa, winning acclaim around the globe for his keening, glorious singing. But with Moffou, his first disc in three years, Keita, now 53, has become more contemplative, almost reborn back in his native land.

"There's more space, it's more natural. The vital issue for me is love, and I'm not really talking about anything other than love. There are enough problems in the world right now, and the central focus has to be love."

He extends that love to those who have to go through what he experienced when young as an albino, founding the SOS Albino organization in 1990.

"It's going well," he said. "It's about social integration, and studying families with albino children, searching for the real causes of albinism. And we inform the health organizations about it, and to find a cure to prevent albinism. Or if we can't prevent it, then better the condition of their lives - there's nothing established for that."

He does admit to "taking it a little bit slower now," and at 53, he can. Moffou is the sound of a man at peace with himself, and his place in the world. And he's rarely sounded calmer than on the duet "Yamore" with Cape Verdean diva Cesaria Evora.

"I've known her for years, we've seen each other at festivals. I've always loved her voice, and I thought the song would suit her. I've wanted to work with her, and this was the perfect opportunity." And given the opportunity, he'd love to work with Aretha Franklin. "I wish that could happen, but she's afraid to fly. Maybe I could go to her house," he laughed.

Although his sound now is gentler, Keita doesn't know where his music will take him in the future.

"I'm a slave to my heart. I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. Happiness isn't for tomorrow. It's not hypothetical, it starts here and now."

Salif Keita

"I wanted to return to the source, and go back to 'the house.' It's an experience of the heart."

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