A big band from Berlin makes its way to Mali to experience the legendary musicians from Mali of the seventies and their music live. What emerged from this is the project LE Mali70. The OMNIVERSAL EARKESTRA is a big band from Berlin, consisting of twelve wind players plus bass and drums. Every Monday - for eight years now - the band celebrates their own compositions and standards of style-defining big bands from Duke Ellington to Sun Ra and Fela Kuti on an underground stage in Berlin. The individual musicians are anchored in various renowned formations of the German jazz and classical music scene and thus bring along very different musical influences and ideas, arrangements and compositions, which are brought to the stage with powerful sound pressure and great virtuosity in this big band project. When sounds of the big band epoch from Mali in the seventies entered the repertoire, it was soon clear for the band to make a pilgrimage to this West African country and the source of Afrobeat, to the old Malian masters. With a grant from the TURN cultural fund, OMNIVERSAL EARKESTRA went on tour across Mali, where they met legendary musicians like Cheick Tidiane Seck, Sory Bamba, Abdoulaye Diabat? and Salif Keita. During the journey to the home towns of bands that are almost forgotten in the western world today, such as the Myst?re Jazz de Tombouctou, the Kanaga de Mopti, the Super Bitons de Segou and the Railband from Bamako, idiosyncratic modern big band arrangements of the old pieces were created, which were recorded together in Salif Keita's venerable Moffou Studio during the final week. The band's road trip, the special artistic musical experiences during the sessions and in the studio were accompanied by a film team to make them tangible for the audience of the live show. Le Mali70 Earkestra is a full evening show consisting of a live concert and a documentary about the Berlin big band OMNIVERSAL EARKESTRA and legendary musicians from Mali, e.g. SALIF KEITA, SORY BAMBA and CHEICK TIDIANE SECK.
