"A supremely original band blessed with more than its share of great musical innovators, blending Latin and West African into a new formulation in the mid-1970s - taut but relaxed, by turns charming and soulful, with a fabric woven from organ, balafon, hand drums, trumpets and electric guitar. The main singer is a young Salif Keita ... Salif started his professional career with the Rail Band in Bamako (...), but in 1973 he was recruited to their great rivals, the Ambassadeurs - real intellectuals, according to Keita, a step up, who took their professional responsibilities more seriously ... As political circumstances declined [in 1978] (...) most members, [Kante] Manfila and Keita included, decided to try their luck in Abidjan. They became Les Ambassadeurs Internationaux and, standing on their own feet, achieved success. This historic anthology shows exactly why that should be. Well-selected, well-packaged (...), it shows Les Ambassadeurs as a band of vision, creating a newmusicfrom old roots".
