Contradictory

"Of average height, very mischievous looking, having just passed the age of 30, 'nonchalant' Coulibaly Notin at first contact appears to be very shy. Still she carries with her that irreplacable treasure that is her voice. She does not use this carelessly. She has yet to reach the level of her famous predecessor from Tala, the incomparable Diomande Zan-Ouama, but already her aura and her popularity are great.
Her alternately sensual and soft voice allows her to deal with problems of the heart as well as those concerning the different aspects of social life in Malinke country. Drawing a large audience wherever she goes, Coulibaly Notin, as a result of a logic which is characteristic of all truely capable artists, is present at all the various large events throughout the region.
The young housewife from Benjoro, born in south Sagbara, attracted the attention of the experts by the songs she sang for those working the land.
Her mastery of the various rhythms, her creative ease and her innate talent for improvisation which is inherent in any genius, have made her today into the unrivalled star of Worodougou.
Modest as she is, Coulibaly Notin has not moved, despite her popularity, and it is with great joy that she will receive her guests at Seguela for the 18th anniversary of the independance of our country.

1) DOUNDUNIA
The world is both large and complex. Some have been fortunate to have been born under a lucky star. But the artist Coulibaly Notin declares her attachement to her peasant roots. "I live from what the earth produces and I am proud of this" she states.
2) GUINGNIN-NAH
Glory is something to which one has to know how to adjust. Triumphalism certainly is not a good thing. That's why we day and night admire our wise and splendid president Félix Houphouet-Boigny.
3) SUON N'GONI
Criticism is easy and art difficult. Slander, scandalmongering often feed their creators but certainly does not kill those who are the victims of it. So the best way for us to live in a world like ours should be to get down to work and to unite.
4) CONY
The philosopher talks to us about fate, determinism, contingence, etc. Coulibaly Notin talks to us about the "little thing", the insignificant thing can be fate. That particular thing is not available to everyone. Here one could have said in a word success. To a woman, having a good husband should not lead to any kind of boasting. To a father, a gifted child should also not bring to start boasting for no one is master of his own destiny. Fate often is able to make things go right.

1) KACHIAMANA
A tribute to the women's society of Sequela, called Sié-Séhi, and to its leaders. Special mention of the president Soumahoho Nomonde whose dedication, readiness and sharp sense of responsibility bring honour to the entire womanhood of Sequela.
2) KOUMBELE-KOUMBELE
A song inspired by daily life on the fields of the artist which at the same time evokes the well-known theme of wealth and poverty. Can the rich and the poor each take satisfaction from their condition and live in harmony?
3) KONGO NANIE
As if to continue the previous theme Coulibaly Notin invites us to content ourselves with our fortune and not be jealous. With people of the calibre of president Félix Houphouet-Boigny and his team guiding us we can consider ourselves to be fortunate, for we are in good hands.
4) SAMALOLO
The Star is the symbol of radiance, of clarity, of pureness and even of splendour. When your star is shining, Coulibaly Notin tells us, you have to make the most of it, for the past does not come by again."

Is it me or are there a lot of contradictions in these sleeve notes? Right from the first sentence there are mixed messages. She is roguish and 'cool' but shy at the same time. And is combining a rejection of triumphalism and praise of a dinosaur like Houphouet-Boigny a form of cynicism? And does Notin with her humble background seriously think that the poor should come to terms with their poverty? And how does this compare to the last song in which she urges us to make the most of any given opportunity?

There is no ambivalence when it comes to her talent though. Her remarkable stiletto voice reflects strong beliefs and deep roots into one of the many many so far unexploited cultural sources within west-african music.

Sonafric SAF 61.010

PS: Does anyone have volume 1?

Rectification

It appears that the information about Zani Diabaté's death has been somewhat premature. I have just been informed that he is in fact in a deep coma. The prognosis, however, is not very optimistic. Apparently the brain has been severely damaged as a result of the stroke.

I can only hope that Zani will do a "Wendo" on me. As you may know, Congolese musician Wendo Kolosoy was officially announced dead, - but was actually just out of town - and returned to sing about his own death.

I am glad there is still a ray of hope...

EDIT December 19, 2010: An anonymous source has informed me by e-mail that Zani has indeed passed away. As the source is anonymous I am somewhat cautious, and more so as no news has come from Mali confirming it...

EDIT January 5, 2011: Several - reliable - sources, including Malian, have confirmed that Zani has died yesterday, January 4, 2011, in a Paris hospital.
A great man, musician and friend has gone... More on the worldservice website.

Ngonifo Zani

Watching the video by Zani Diabaté and the Super Djata Band I posted yesterday, I was reminded of a video with another version of the same song. It is from the same televised concert as "Yacouba" which I posted in August.

Although the song is the same, the performance in this version, which was recorded live in the studio of the RTM (Malian television) in the early 1980s, is far more 'informal' and at times even chaotic. At the start the voices of Daouda 'Flani' Sangaré and Idrissa Magassa are hardly audible, only Alou Fané's characteristic vocal can be heard. I get the impression that Alou had no problem hearing Idrissa and Flani, as he tends to lean a bit on the harmony. When Flani does come through - after about 1'40 - Alou is slightly out of sync. Later on (3'07) an audibly irritated Flani even tries to call Alou to attention.

Meanwhile Zani remains completely undisturbed and from 1'54 even starts jumping up and down. Even when Flani walks over to him (3'35) and addresses him (to complain about Alou??), Zani seems to take no notice and even goes on to do a series of acrobatic stunts, while he continues playing his guitar!
I just love Zani's energy in this song.



PS: "Ngonifo Zani" = "Zani the guitarist"

Zani

Zani Diabaté and Daouda 'Flani' Sangaré in Groningen NL, Sept. 2006 (photo: wrldsrv)

It is with great sadness that I inform you of the loss of another great musician. Today Malian musician Zani Diabaté has passed away in a hospital in Paris, France, after suffering a stroke.
He was entering the studio to continue recording when he collapse and was rushed to hospital.

Zani was a great guitarist, a dedicated leader and co-founder of the legendary Super Djata Band, and from the beginning of this century a director of the Ballet National du Mali. But more than that he was a great family man, a dear and warm friend and a very nice and open guy.
I have many, very fond memories of Zani, and hope to share some of these with you in this blog in the future.

On this sad occasion, with the deep shock of the news of his death, I find it very hard to dig too deep in his extensive oeuvre, but I can assure you that there will be many more gems featuring Zani Diabaté in this blog.
For the moment I would like to share with you this video from Zani's heyday as leader of the Super Djata Band, recorded during a concert in Angoulême, France in 1984. The song is an ode to Zani, and is a demonstration of Zani's tremendous skills as a guitarist. The video also features the two great singers (and dancers) Daouda 'Flani' Sangaré and Alou Fané, who unfortunately are also no longer with us...



My condolences go to Zani's family, and especially to his son, who is following in the impressive footsteps of his father.

May Zani rest in peace.

EDIT: December 11, 2010: Apparently this post has been premature. See "Rectification".

Kofi Sammy

As I have written before, I am a bit of an ignoramus when it comes to Ghanian highlife. It doesn't mean, however, that I don't have some preferences within the broad scope (both in time and in variety) of this music.

And Sammy Kofi (often referred to as Kofi Sammy) and his Okukuseku International are certainly among my favourites. Or perhaps I should write "were". Because I am not too sure about Mr. Kofi's more recent exploits. I refer you to a video on YouTube in which he confesses to be with "Jesssusss"....

I prefer his work from the 1970s and 1980s, and particularly the lp I am sharing with you in this post (although the one I posted earlier is also high on my list).

A quick study reveals that Sammy Kofi started Okukuseku in 1969, as "Okukuseku's No. 2 Guitar Band" initially (?). He had a background in the concert parties, which developed into guitar band highlife. He went through some famous orchestras before founding Okukuseku, notably E.K Nyame No.1 Band and Dr. K. Gyasi's Noble Kings. Okukuseku soon established itself as one of the leading guitar band highlife acts in Ghana. Despite the band's success, the "economy"* forced them to move to Nigeria at the end of the 1970s. Fortunately they continued recording, this time for Rogers All Stars.

I would like to draw your attention, by the way, to this site where a Canadian musician claims his father had a record of Okukuseku's No.2 Band from 1967. This seems to confirm my impression that there are still a lot of subjects to be researched more closely when it comes to highlife music...

Zooming in on the album I am particularly impressed by the overall quality of the music. The vocals are harmonious, the guitars are sparkling, the rhythm is jumpy and yet flowing. It is not hard to draw comparisons to East-Nigerian stars like Stephen Osita Osadebe, yet Okukuseku retains its own strong originality. I gather they sang (continued singing) in Twi, but must have made some allowances for their Nigerian audience as well.
I suspect the track "Maria" is one of those. As it happens, this is my favourite among favourites. This song has it all: great composition, great guitars, great vocals, lyrics with a touch of the dramatic, and Mr. Kofi talking, addressing Maria, imploring her to come back to him.

RASLPS 007 or RASLPS 007

* a word which nowadays can be used in any sentence, replacing "hard luck", "divine intervention", "the hand of God" and such.

Butterflies

So much inspiration, and so little time... I hope to have more time in the next month to post all the things I have in mind, - or just planned.

You may remember the post of those great EP's recorded by Les Bantous for the Stenco label. These EP's were actually pressed and marketed by Pathé. Gary Stewart's "Rumba on the River" reports that the label was founded in Brazzaville in 1963 by a French clothing salesman called Stein. Apparently he did so well in the clothes business that he expanded into music, first opening a bar - called "Super Jazz" - and then a home recording studio. Stein not only was the recording engineer for his own Stenco label, but also took care of the artwork* for the sleeves, as well as marketing the records 'locally' in Congo Brazzaville. He managed to persuade Pathé to do the pressing, and the distribution and marketing on the international market.
Unfortunately his success did not go unnoticed. A few years later he was miraculously forced out of business with the help of and/or by the Brazzavillois authorities.

The two EP's in this post were recorded and released on the Stenco label. Both records feature the Negro Band (of which I posted some later work earlier), an orchestra which was founded in Léopoldville in 1958 according to some by sax & clarinet player Max Massengo, according to others (Stewart, page 163) with the aid of Franklin Boukaka and Michel Boyibanda, while others (Mbokamosika) add even more 'founders'.

The eight songs on these two EP's are of a disarming freshness which typifies the Negro Band at this stage of their existence. They have their 'own thing', while on the other hand I am constantly reminded of Franco and his O.K. Jazz, - and not just by the solo guitar of Jean Mokuna a.k.a. 'Baguin', but also by the vocals (by Démon Kasanaut?) which bear some resemblance to Vicky Longomba's.

As with their work on the Esengo label I particularly like their 'spanish' songs. I am using quotes as these songs are in a kind of mock language, which sounds very good, but is mainly rubbish. I love it! On Negro Band No.5 there are two of those: a pachanga called "Bailar Con Negro" and an "afro cha cha" called "Ahora Las Mariposas" ("Now the butterflies"). I would love to have a year to investigate the meaning of this last song....

Stenco NB 4092
Stenco NB 4099

* You may remember that brilliant sleeve of Negro Band No.3 (see the Muzikifan site)!

Mist of time

At this time of the year we are often confronted with the implications of living in the Nether- or lowlands. When autumn humidity combines with low temperatures and absence of wind, the ideal circumstances are created for that disturbing meteorological condition called "fog".
Last week, cycling back from work, I drove straight into an extremely dense patch of this miraculous substance. Immediately my vision was reduced to less than 10 metres; all I could see was the eerie reflection of my bike's headlight in the white mist. Cars - only a few metres away - appeared to have been transposed into another, parallel dimension. I could only hear a muffled 'swish' as they passed.

Call it synchronicity, or devine intervention even (only for those with a dramatic disposition...), but that very same evening I was 'reorganising' some records and one of these fell to the ground. I had been searching for that lp for quite a while and apparently I had misplaced it during an earlier 'reorganisation'.

The lp is one of the albums by the Rail Band released in the 1970s on the Kouma label. Some, if not all, of the tracks of the other Kouma lp's have been re-released in digital form on a Sonodisc cd (CDS 7051) and more recently on the three volumes (six cd's) of the Sterns Belle Epoque series*, but this one has, as far as I know, escaped the attention of the digitisers.

And although on the one hand that may be considered a regretful oversight, on the other hand I am not so sorry. Because this is one of those rare lp's that should be left alone. Untouched, with its muffled sound, a relic from a distant and foggy past.

Salif Keita may consider his work with the Rail Band at the Buffet de la Gare in the centre of Bamako as inferior to his later work with Les Ambassadeurs, I am inclined to disagree. And this album is crucial evidence for my case.

The two sides of the lp are in fact one long track, with a series of topics addressed using classic themes like "Djandjon", "Koulandjan" and "Belebele".
The opening is almost as classic, with Tidiani Koné's trumpet leading a brilliant horn section. The pace is steady, bordering on slow, with Salif making his entrance after 2'20. Although at the beginning of his career, his voice already has the stabbing quality which brought him fame on a world-wide scale, almost piercing through the dense fog. Almost......

Kouma KLP 1042

* I have to add that I am not too crazy about the mixing up of the original records in these three volumes. What's wrong with sticking to something of a (chrono-)logical order?

Hardcore apala

Continuing the series of posts featuring the legacy of the late king of apala music, Alhadji Haruna Ishola, I have dug up a rare example of apala in its rawest form. This lp was recorded in the early 1970s, and not released on his own Star label, but by Phonodisk. Nevertheless* the sound is exceptional.

The first side starts with a rhythm resembling and with the regularity of the ticking of a clock. This not only sets off the 'smoothness' of the interplay between chorus and lead vocalist (the master himself), but also acts as a balance for the almost impetuous talking drum. There is some extensive messaging going on with that talking drum!
After 10'53 the song stops and, seamlessly, a second track commences. This is - in my opinion - the most remarkable track of a very singular album. In the minute before the talking drum resumes its subliminal chat session there is a sense of expectancy, of emptiness, which never ceases to surprise me, - even after having heard the lp uncountable times.

The B-side continues in the same vein, with the same minimalistic arrangment (compared to Haruna Ishola's recordings released on the Star label), but this time with a more jumpy rhythm. My wife - who in this time of the year can not resist going outside to sweep up the leaves (I watch her from behind the window) - commented that the percussion was just like her sweeping. I was tempted to reply that this sweeping is more effective, but was wise enough to keep my mouth shut...

Phonodisk PHA 24

*The studio he and I.K. Dairo started for their Star label was the first 24-track studio in Africa.

Wara

Let me begin by apologising: this is probably the worst cassette of the Horoya Band I have. The sound is somewhere between medium wave and shortwave radio, including some of the wave effects.

But the music...

The bootlegger responsible for this cassette, which was bought in Guinea in 1988, has made a few minor errors (nothing compared to what some of the 'reputable' European producers have conjured up) in writing down the titles, because the first track is clearly "Sasilon", which can be found on Discothèque 74 (SLP 48). But the title of the second track is not "Keme Bourema", but "Wara" (lion). And this is one of these rare tracks that will last you a lifetime. Even after over twenty years this brilliant interpretation of this malinké classic by this exceptional orchestra from Kankan still manages to grab me straight by the throat, right from that majestic beginning to the tragically sudden fade-out, after nearly twelve minutes of pure bliss. I particularly would like to draw your attention to the exemplary rhythm guitar playing.
And it doesn't stop there.

The B-side opens with another classic: "Baninde" (child of the Bani river). Another proof that the border between Guinea and Mali is not a cultural border, because this is a song from the repertoire of the griots of Kela, and more specifically a song generally associated with the legendary Siramori Diabaté. Judging by the fact Horoya also covered her "Kanimba", this can't be a coincidence.
You have to fill in the sound of the fantastic horn section from memory*, but this is certainly one of my favourite versions of "Baninde", and certainly more 'majestic' than the mid-tempo(but also great!) version by Les Messagers.

The second track, "Famadenke", is another malinké classic. The link to Sékou Touré is even more apparent in this song, as it is an ode to Samory Touré's son. This site (or English) not only gives an explanation of the song, but also a translation.

The last track again features on one of the Syliphone collections, in this case Discothèque 75 (SLP 49). Going by the overall sound I think all of the tracks of this cassettes are roughly from the same period (the mid-1970s). And this brings me to the main mystery behind this cassette: what happened to the three tracks (i.e. "Wara", "Baninde" and "Famadenke")? Why were these brilliant songs never released on the Syliphone label?

GD 7051 cassette

* for those with a sudden attack of memory loss, and those who have erroneously purchased the Syllart re-editions, here are "Sasilon" and "Artistes" from SLP 48 and SLP 49.

Anthologie, Tome 2

Lucie Eyenga, 1973

This post is more or less a 'sequel' to Nauma's post on his Freedomblues blog. I had hoped to post it a few days earlier, but lost quite a bit of time looking for a few extras.

Reading the aforementioned post I was reminded of an interview we had with Papa Noel in 1992, and especially the proud tone of his voice when he mentioned this anthology. He brought this up spontaneously after we had talked about his position within the T.P. O.K. Jazz 'in the shadow' of le Grand Maître... This small part of the interview can be found here.

I think it is a misconception, however, to talk about the stars from the time of - and including - Wendo as Papa Noel's "old friends". He was after all only 18 when he had his first (minor) hit with "Clara Badimwene", alongside the great Léon Bukasa. There must have been a difference, if not in age, at least in standing and fame.

Personally I have very mixed feelings about this collection. In the wider perspective of all the music of the world it is certainly an album which is close to the top. But within the narrower scope of Congolese music the top can not been seen from the level where these tracks are situated. And in a one-on-one comparison with the 1950's originals all of these tracks - in my opinion - fall short of the mark as mere watered-down copies of the fullblooded originals.

But please feel free to make up your own mind. Here is the second 'Tome' of the Anthology (the first can be found on the Freedomblues blog):

Anthology Tome 2

To illustrate my point about the falling short of the mark, I am adding five tracks by Lucie Eyenga, who in the wake of Mobutu's zairisation was renamed Eyenga Moseka.
All five of these tracks were re-recorded for the Anthologie. The enthousiasm and energy of these 1950's tracks is - again in my opinion - completely lost in the re-recorded versions of 1974. The most spectacular example of this is the brilliantly jumpy and joyful "Kamsoda", - which in the Anthology version never gets off the ground....

5 tracks by Lucie Eyenga

But I must add: I am a sucker for any song from 1950's Congo.