Bembeya Jazz-Bembeya (2002) [GUINEA CONAKRY]

While Guinea's first president, Sekou Traore—elected in 1958 after its citizens voted overwhelming to oust French ruler Charles De Gaulle—was accountable for untold imprisonment and worse for a large number of his country's population, he was also responsible for forcibly directing Guinean musicians away from French colonial marches and back toward their roots. The result was countless orchestras, still often rooted in Cuba but spiced with grooves snatched from the country's local balafon and kora sounds.

And by the late '60s and early '70s, thanks to the great Syliphone record label, ensembles such as the Super Boiro Band, Horoya Band and Kaloum Star spit out deep West African electric music that had absolutely nothing to do with the Afro-funk churning from its Anglophone neighbors' dance floors.

Hottest of all was Bembeya Jazz, featuring the incomparable guitar of Sekou "Diamond Fingers" Diabate. No doubt, any electric guitar nut steeped in the Western stars of '70s rock would reconsider his heroes' stature after a single earful of Diabate's melodic superiority. In fact, during their heyday in the early '70s, before the tragic death of vocalist Aboubacar Demba Camara, this was Guinea's, and perhaps Africa's, hottest band.

In general, the music Syliphone recorded had a depth and a clearly "Guinean" sound that connected the bands. Rhythm sections pinned down percolating grooves, while trumpets held on to that minor key fanfare long ago borrowed from old Cuban records. The result was a music that is somehow more mind-boggling in its aftermath than it was in its prime.

Bembeya survived Camara's death as well as the mid-'80s collapse of Syliphone.And while the '90s saw little action, by 2002, original members had begun playing again—their comeback CD of that year, simply
titled Bembeya, proved that the legacy was continuing unscathed. A recent double CD release on Stern's of their classic material assures more people will now hear them than ever before. — Bruce Miller, Courtesy Global Rhythm Magazine: www.globalrhythm.net




01. Bembeya
02. Sanfaran
03. Sabou
04. Gbapie
05. Lefa
06. A Koukou We
07. Yelema Yelemaso
08. Soli Au Wassoulou

Salifou Kaba, Youssouf Bah, Doumbouya Alseny (Vocals)
Sekou Bembeya Diabate, Kouyate Mamady, Kova Bavogui (Guitar)
Dory Clement (Alto saxophone)
Koita Aboubcar (Tenor saxophone)
Mohamed Kaba (Trumpet)
Conde Mamady (Bass guitar)
Conde Mory Mangala (Drums)
Papa Kouyate (Percussion)

Bembeya Jazz-Bembeya
subido por El Papa Luna