" data-original-title="" title="">Salif Keita, the 65-year-old "Golden Voice of Africa" is a special occasion indeed. Keita, a 40-year-plus veteran of the music scene, is one of Africa's top musical stars, one who travels all over the world. He sings in Malink��, a dialect of the Manding group of languages—prevalent but not predominant in many West African nations including Mali, Guinea, Senegal and the Ivory Coast but a language incomprehensible to most of his audience. Keita must hold his own through the command of his highly accomplished voice, a task he ably accomplishes.

Special circumstances combined to facilitate Keita's path to fame. Born into a royal family, Keita found himself barred by social custom from becoming a musician. As an albino, Keita (a direct descendant of founder of Sundiata Keita, founder of the Mali Empire), was cast out as a member of his extended family. So he found his way in music, first joining the government sponsored Super Rail Band de Bamako in 1967 before becoming a member of Les Ambassadeurs in 1973. He and the band fled a repressive Malian dictatorship a few years later and landed in the Ivory Coast. There the band's name was changed to Les Ambassadeurs Internationaux. The group was presented with a National Order award from S��kou Tour��, then the president of Guinea. Keita moved to Paris in 1984 where he began his successful solo career.

Billed as an "acoustic tour," the evening did not quite live up to the label, being more a mixture of traditional African instruments faced off against American electric. At the set's beginning,