Salif Keita plays at the Cervantino festival

Music is a medicine that can help cure many things, expressed Salif Keita, one of the prominent artists in the African musical movement, before his acoustic concert at the Alhóndiga de Granaditas, combining modern rhythms with the traditional music of his native Mali.

A descendant of Sundiata Keita, founder of the Malian Empire in the eleventh century and known as the golden voice of Africa, Keita is convinced that his responsibility as a musician is to bring happiness, transmit beautiful things and help people feel better in their life.

With that idea in mind, he has chosen a very special repertoire for his presentation at the Cervantino International Festival today, and in the Teatro de la Ciudad of Mexico City on Monday.

"The Latin-American audience is a great lover of the melody, it likes to party and the rhythm, that is why we choose pieces in that context," he said in a dialogue with media.

The musician, who is an albino and has been rejected by his family, pointed out that he rejects the Islamic fundamentalism in his country and its extremist ideas.