Formidable!

Sali Sidibé is one of the great singers of the kamalen n'goni music. She has been active as a professional artist for nearly thirty years. She was a member of the Ensemble Instrumental National in the earlier 1980s, when she recorded this cassette. I have read somewhere* that she made her first cassette in 1989, but this cassette is proof of the inaccuracy of this.

Like many of the Wassoulou kamalen n'goni style Sali uses songs from the hunters' repertoire, but -while staying with the original theme - reworks them for others purposes, i.e. mainly to convey social 'instructions'. She warns of the risk of bush fires, advises not to judge people by their appearance, urges not to go for the short-term gain of the individual but for the long-term benefit of the community. Sali's instructions have at times been misinterpreted as criticism of certain politicians, but according to those who have worked with her it is very unlikely that the criticism was intentional.

Musically Sali Sidibé has stayed closed to her roots, incorporating traditional instruments in her ensemble. When I bought this cassette, I was told that Alou Fané was accompanying her on kamalen n'goni, but Alou himself later denied this. Others assured me Zani Diabaté was the guitarist on this cassette, but although the guitar style is similar to Zani's I don't think this is true either (I'll have to ask Zani about this one day...).

CMcalls STA 835

On later cassettes (and I'll post some of those later) Sali has used a wide scope of traditional and modern instruments, but the focus has always been on instruments that are also used in the traditional music of the Wassoulou region. In this video from the late 1980s (I estimate it is from 1987 or 1988) the sokou (bambara fiddle) plays a prominent role and is supported by bolon, bala and kamalen n'goni. Note (again) the wonderul dancing, this time by a male and a female dancer (and the rather comical attempt to copy this dance by an older man who looks a bit like Sidiki Diabaté).
Coincidentally, this track is also on the cassette. It is a version of a song by donso n'goni legend Toumani Koné in praise of one of the earliest (known or remembered) donso n'goni artist Ngonifo Bourama.


*Can someone remind me where I read this?

PS: The track order on the cassette sleeve is incorrect.

Saya magni

On Sunday May 10* Coumba Sidibé has passed away in her home in the Bronx, New York.
Coumba Sidibé was certainly one of the pioneers of kamalen n'goni music in Mali, but never got the international recognition for this. A reason for this may have be that she left Mali in the 1990s, and via Abidjan and Paris settled in the US.
Rumour has it that she won a lot of money in a lottery in France, which allowed her to make this move. I would like to stress that this rumour has its origin in Mali, - a country where rumour and jealousy go hand in hand...

Musically Coumba's heyday must be sought in the the 1970s and 1980s; first when she was a star with the Ensemble Instrumental National ("Diya Ye Bana", her greatest hit from that period can be heard here), and subsequently after her magnificent performance on Malian television (at the time called RTM) in the mid-1980s, of which I have posted two tracks earlier ("Tolo" and "Noumouna Koulouba"), and of which I am posting the first track here. In this track Coumba is addressing the president, - at that time 'Balla' Moussa Traoré.



The second video is from Coumba's stay in France in the 1990s. It shows a very different Coumba Saba, compared to the rather timid, but vocally brilliant artist of the RTM performance. There is an element of 'swagger' in her appearance and she takes her time to receive the praise. Vocally she has lost some of the intensity she had in the RTM video. The track "Yali Djamou" was originally released on the cassette I posted earlier.
I am told that one of the two dancers/chorus girls is a daughter of Coumba (but I don't know which one).

I had planned to post the track "Saya Magni" (litt. "Death is no good") which is also on this video, but this song is spoiled by too many people crowding the stage....



With the death of Coumba Sidibé Mali loses another of the pioneering stars of the kamalen n'goni music.

* Afropop reports it was on May 9.

Pioneers of Malian music (4)

As I have mentioned in an earlier post Alou Fané and Daouda 'Flani' Sangaré were the first to record kamalen n'goni music. The recordings were made in the studios of Radio Mali in 1968. But they were released a few years later, on an lp on the Disco Club Bagoué label in Abidjan.

The focus in this album is equally divided between Alou (sitting down playing the n'goni on the photo) and Flani (on the right looking down). Alou is the lead singer in four of the eight tracks. These are clearly 'his' tracks, with titles like "Komo" (referring to a -secretive rather than secret- initiation cult in which members of the blacksmith families have a special place) and "Noumousso" ("house of the blacksmith" - a track which he later used with the Super Djata Band). In some of these tracks Flani plays the kamalen n'goni.

This lp should make an end to a popular misconception, that the kamalen n'goni music is a 'watered-down' version of the dozon n'goni (hunters) music of the Wassoulou region. In all aspects this is a completely original music style, with links to local music styles of the Sikasso region. In future posts I intend to dig deeper into those local styles.

FT 001

Classic Coumba

This is the second post dedicated to Coumba Sidibé, who is one of the founders of the style which is too often called the Wassoulou style. The main reason for the reference to Wassoulou are, according to the late Alou Fané, the tracks 'borrowed' from dozo n'goni legends like (the -unfortunately also- late) Toumani Koné (I'll post plenty of his music later on). Like 'Noumouna Koulou(m)ba', the track in the video below.

The Sikasso region is, however, a source of a huge amount of musical styles, and Coumba Sidibé used several these in her kamalen n'goni music, which is a relatively new music form. Or, if you like, a tradition which has been started recently.

Here is the cassette I referred to in my first post. The cassette features two great musicians who currently reside in the Netherlands: Dramane Diarra and Zoumana Diarra. The cassette was released by Ibrahima Sylla, and his 'dedication' to the music can be detected on the sleeve: the titles are in the wrong order...

Coumba Saba

Like many of the great female singers in Mali Coumba Sidibé, nicknamed Coumba Saba, rose to fame when she joined the Ensemble Instrumental National du Mali in the early 1970s. She was, and still is, big in Mali. Coming from the Wassoulou region of Mali she grew up amidst many musical styles, which she blended together when she moved to the capital Bamako. As such she was one of the founders of the style which is sometimes known as the Wassoulou style.
Because the kamelan n'goni* plays a dominant role in this music it is often referred to in Mali as kamelan n'goni music.

Coumba Sidibé had a big hit in the 1980s with her cassette released by Ibrahima Sylla (a cassette which features - by the way - Zoumana and Dramane Diarra who I mentioned in my earlier post about Daouda Sangaré). In the 1990s she moved to the States where, if I am not mistaken, she is still living today. After her move she has, unfortunately, never risen to the level which she attained living in Mali, and certainly not to the superb level of singing which she demonstrates in this clip from Malian tv. I recorded this onto videotape in the late 1980s, but the clip itself is older.

* this instrument can be seen and heard in this clip

Pioneers of Malian music (1)

This first post is dedicated to Daouda 'Flani' Sangaré, a friend and musical hero who died in Bamako on January 12, 2008 at the age of 63.

To some he is only known as the lead singer of the Super Djata Band from Bamako, Mali. Few know him as one of the pioneers of the kamelan n'goni music of Mali, which has become known around the world through singers like Oumou Sangare and Nahawa Doumbia. Later on I will post some biographic details of this remarkable singer and dancer.

Here is a clip of one of his last performances. I recorded it in Amsterdam, at the Tropenmuseum (on May 24, 2007), during a concert of Benkadi International with guitarist Zani Diabaté and Flani as special guests.

Flani was diagnosed as suffering from meningitis a few days later. He spent 3 months in a hospital in Groningen before returning to Bamako on August, 8. He sang at the marriage of the daughter of Dramane Diarra (ex-Rail Band & ex-Biton, playing drums in the video) in Bamako, at the end of December. Zani Diabaté informs me that in the first week of January the illness resurfaced, but Flani refused to consult a doctor....