Haunted

A very short post.
I was really going to post something else.
But in bed with a nasty cold, sweating and feverish, I was haunted by this tune: "Mory", by Number One de Dakar.

The best cure for any disease: good music.

Eddy'Son 1156

911*

Continuing my personal countermeasures against the against the lunatic proposal by those so-called islamic groups in northern Mali to ban music, I am bringing in the big guns. And when it comes to rock-hard Malian culture the guns don't get much bigger than Hawa Dramé.

You may remember my earlier post, plus the fantastic video featuring this great - but unfortunately also late - singer. If you have missed those, please do yourself a favour and at least watch those two videos.

The cassette I am sharing with you is one to digest slowly. Take your time. This is music which will last you a lifetime, and will be in your blood forever. As in the cassette I posted earlier, Hawa Dramé pulls out all the stops. The control she has over the 'accompagnement' is, again, brilliant. As is the control over her own vocal contribution. She can go full-out, but she can also subtly understate, - and in doing so move the coldest of those deepfrozen misguided souls in the north of her country .

There is not a weaker song in this collection.
You may recognise "So danso"; this was covered by Super Biton (see this post). "Demeba", with its majestically striding rhythm and Hawa's superb long phrasing. The meticulous "Diamandjo" where she is competing with the ngoni, twisting and turning. And "Mayebe Diyabo", just as intentional, with Hawa demonstrating the full dynamics of her unique voice.
Side B again has two longer songs. "Namabile" is one of those epic songs, which Hawa Dramé takes to another level. The same goes for "Niongomari" (covered by others, like Bazoumana Sissoko's daughter Tenignini Damba, as "Mariso"), although this unfortunately has a few wobbles.

SYL 8391

More countermeasures to follow...

*And in case you are wondering: this is a reference to the present date, plus a reference to what would be September 11 in countries like the USA. And in a way it is a reference to the excessive (verging in the ridiculous) coverage of first the impact of tropical storm Sandy on the eastern US (while the enormous damage of the hurricane Sandy on Cuba was covered in a single sentence!!) and then the painstakingly detailed and minute-to-minute coverage of the US presidential elections in this country (the Netherlands). Already Dutch media don't bother to convert 9-11 to the customary 11-9, so my guess is that in a few decades we will officially hand over sovereignty to 'our good friends on the other side of the Atlantic'.

Some updates

A few updates on earlier posts.

You may remember those great videos by that majestic Malian diva Kandia Kouyaté (here, here and here). When I met her in Bamako last year Lucy Duran pointed out to me that it was unlikely, if not completely incorrect, that Kandia was 18 when these videos were recorded. I told her I was inclined to agree with her but was hesitant to correct this, as the 'grand dame' herself was the source of this information. She had told me this when I interviewed her in 1990 (photo - by the great Ton Verhees - on the right). Lucy has since reminded me in an email. She wrote: "Mali TV opened in 1983 and Kandia was born in 1958. I first met her in 1986 which is around the time that she did songs like Moussolou. Bouba Sacko only joined her group in 1985, before that she had a 12 string guitarist from Kita called Kissima Diabate who was living in Abidjan, and with whom she recorded Amary Daou présente Kandia Kouyate. So Actually Kandia will have been around 27 or 28 when she filmed those clips. The presenter was Zoumana Yoro Traoré and the programme was probably 'Artiste et sa musique'."




Then some updates from Guinea.
Graeme Counsel (website!!) is in Conakry at the moment continuing his work digitising and preserving the archives of the RTG. He has tumbled upon the original reel containing the first track of side B of that superb album "Boum à Conakry". According to the notes and label of the album this is a track called "El Checheré" by the Orchestre de la Paillote. It turns out that this information is incorrect. In fact the song is by l'Orchestre Honoré Coppet, and was recorded either on February 2 or March 24, 1963 at the Bonne Auberge by a certain Katty using a Nagra III reel-to-reel recorder! And this "Katty", Graeme adds, is probably Emmanuel Kathy, a director of the Voix de la Révolution studios.
Honoré Coppet was born in Martinique and traveled to Senegal and Guinea in the late 1950s. He played alto saxophone in the Syli Orchestre Nationale.






And yesterday he reported that he has found a reel containing recordings by that amazing accordeon player Petit Moussa (you may remember the mind boggling cassette sleeve). Apparently the man is called Moussa Diawara. Graeme has added a photo of this amazing find. Let's hope (or if you like you may pray) that these recordings are as spectacular as the ones on the cassette!

That's all for now. More music to follow soon.

More Bukasa

As an intermission in my countermeasures, I would like to share with you some songs by one of my - in my opinion immortal - heroes of Congolese music: Léon Bukasa (see my earlier posts here and here).

Translation of the notes on the inner sleeve (on the right):
"Léon Bukasa, originating from Kasaï, as a young boy was enticed by the sound of a phonograph in a neighbouring village. Entranced by what he had just heard, he built a guitar with only three chords and started practising.

A year later, in 1950, he buys a real guitar and joins Editions Ngoma, where he soon makes his mark as a musician and a talented composer.

Among his numerous hit compositions are the Ngoma 78 rpm records: 1552 - 1657 - 1716 and 1778. These compositions were a huge success, both in the former Belgian Congo and in bordering countries, and especially the song "Congo ya biso basi bayebi kolata", meaning "In our Congo the women know how to dress (well)", - with the composer praising the elegance and the beauty of the congolese women.

Léon Bukasa also was the first singer to introduce into congolese music the usage of the clarinet, and subsequently, on the advice of Editions Ngoma, that of the double bass.

While getting better every day, he remains one of the top stars of congolese music."

The songs I am sharing with you are actually not from the EP of which I am adding prints of the sleeve. And to the four tracks mentioned on the sleeve I am adding two more, "Bakimi na mbongo" and "Sabine ndeko", to complete the series of three subsequent 78s from the Ngoma label.

My favourite, and an overall favourite in the whole of Congolese music (and that is a lot of fantastic music!), is "Mokengele Honoré", which from my biased (I admit it freely) point of view is one of the few songs that can compete on equal terms with those merveilles du passé of the O.K. Jazz on Loningisa. The other five songs follow closely behind, - but nevertheless behind.
All six tracks were composed by Bukasa himself and were originally released in 1961. As far as I know these were the last three 78s released by Bukasa on the Ngoma label (but I am still hoping I am horribly wrong...).

Ngoma 2160-2161-2162 (mp3) and (as long as it lasts) a flac-version.

PS 1:
Ngoma 1552 = "Na mokolo mwa lelo" / "Mwana mwasi Adolphine" by Bukasa and Albino Kalombo
Ngoma 1657 = "Congo ya biso basi bayebi kolata" / "Mantar mwasi kitoko" by Bukasa
Ngoma 1716 = "E! E! E! Se liwa" / "Nakumbuka kimanda wangu" by Bukasa and A. Luango"
Ngoma 1778 = "Clara Badimwene" / "Nalembi makango" by Bukasa and Papa Noel (Papa Noel's very first hit)

PS 2:
Note the two extracts from the Ngoma Super 45 catalogue which are on the back sleeve and on the back of the inner sleeve. Mouth watering!

Dog

While it appears my worst fears with regards to the outcome of the elections here in the Netherlands are slowly becoming reality, with both a continuation of the growing intolerance (of the kind which in the 1970s we used to call "repressive tolerance"), of the so-called 'joys & benefits' of privatisation and/or the deification of The Economy, it appears that elsewhere in the world people are facing even greater and more anti-human challenges.

I read a few days ago (here) that those so-called rebels in northern Mali are considering banning music. That certainly will help their cause and create acceptance with the local population.
Not.

How dumb can one get? In a country that has music, storytelling and rhythm in both its soil and in the blood of every single individual of its population!

So I think it is time for some serious countermeasures.

I will start off with a cunningly devious weapon, seemingly innocent but potentially lethal. A sweet looking woman, a girl even. Lovely smile, modest expression. But a voice like a dagger! Kankou Demba not only has a powerful voice, but matching lyrics. She has a strong social message and doesn't believe in sweet-talk.

"Don't stick your nose in my business, young bambara who doesn't work the land
don't interfere with my affairs for he who has no respect for his people is like a roaming dog
Don't stick your nose in my business, young blacksmith who doesn't fire up the forge
don't interfere with my affairs for he who does not respect his country is like a roaming dog
Don't stick your nose in my business, young Sarakolé who doesn't work as a trader
don't interfere with my affairs for he who has no respect for his people is like a roaming dog
Don't stick your nose in my business, young Peul who doesn't herd cattle on the land
don't interfere with my affairs for he who does not respect his country is like a roaming dog
Don't stick your nose in my business, young griot who doesn't play the guitar
don't interfere with my affairs for he who has no respect for his people is like a roaming dog"*, 

sings Kankou in "I Dabo N'ga Kouma Na" ("You don't have the right to speak"). And with this she refers to a crucial concept in Malian culture and society: fasiya. I suppose this can best described as a mix of legacy, role in society and lineage. Perhaps not a concept which is very 'now' in western society, but one that has a tendency to be a essential element in the understanding of Malian culture. And of Malian griotisme, for that matter.

Kankou Demba's own lineage is apparent from her singing style. She follows in the footsteps of Fanta Damba and Koni Coumaré, with a definite Ségou bambara base.

I have had this great cassette for well over twenty years and it has not tired me. The conviction, the straight-from-the-heart honesty of Kankou's singing should, no must do something to start the process of corroding the iron resolve of those misguided 'fundamentalist rebels'.

SS-34 or SS-34

*translated from the translation (into french) by Cheikh M. Chérif Keïta in "Massa Makan Diabaté, Un Griot mandingue à la rencontre de l écriture".

23 Years

It is 23 years ago today that I, like many other mélomanes, was shocked to receive the news of Franco's death in Namur, Belgium. And in writing I am tempted to add "only". For in many ways it seems like no time at all has passed since the tragic day of October 12, 1989.

I am referring (once again) to the lack of progress in 'uncovering' Franco's legacy, in making available the treasures that so far have not been re-issued since their first (analog) release. Still the majority of the HMV/Loningisa catalogue remains hidden from the global audience, only a fraction of the Epanza Makita recordings have been reproduced, and less than half the wonderful tracks released on the Surboum OK and CEFA labels. And I could go on...

On this EP from 1964 alone there are - at least* - three songs that have so far escaped digitisation. Three songs which on their own would amply merit a release on CD. And not just for the fact that no less than two of the three are in the musical style which seems to fit Franco like a glove: the bolero.

The A-side contains two songs composed (and of course sung) by Vicky Longomba, while those on the B-side are composed by Franco lui-même. Needless to say that the two boleros are hot favourites on this record, with Franco at his dramatic best on guitar in Vicky's composition and addressing the Congolese/lingalaphone masses in the intriguing "Biloko Bihati Ntalona". This song is especially intriguing as it follows "On A Osé Le Dire", which can be translated (rather badly, I admit) as "They have dared to say it". Apparently the person who is being addressed in the song has been accused of using sorcery ("fétiches") against the singer, or rather the person represented by the singer. And the singer is gradually starting to believe that these rumours are true.

To add to the intrigue, I have the impression that "biloko" may refer to malignant dwarf-like creatures, which the Mongo people believe roam the dense forests and are considered to be the spirits of ancestors of the people living there, - according to this article in the wikipedia.

Perhaps someone who does understand lingala can help us out...?

Pathé EG 763

*I am not sure if "On A Osé Le Dire" has appeared on CD. I can't find it right now, but it is possible I have overlooked it...

Amnesia

If you are living outside of the Netherlands you may be (blissfully) unaware of this, but we are experiencing stress. This Wednesday there will parliamentary elections, and things are heating up the last few days.
At least, in the media....

I'm not sure what your image is of this country, but until a decade ago the mere mention of my country of origin would in large parts of the world raise a smile, - or at least a grin. Apparently Holland was associated with a range of 'civil liberties' which were seen by many as desirable, if not - in some occasions - craved for. Besides these liberties we Dutch were praised for our tolerance, and particularly of other cultures.
I am sorry to have to report this, but we Dutch have thrown all this out of the window. Instead we have adopted the narrowmindedness (if not 'closedmindness') and xenophobia of which until recently we were prone to accuse other countries.

Politically this has gone hand in hand with parties with "freedom" somewhere in their name. And with these it is like mobile phones: a "smart" phone does not refer to what it gives, but what it takes away. Subsequent governments have over the last decade done little for many and a lot for few. Key word in this reverse Robin Hood campaign has been "The Economy". Numbers, statistics, predictions and self-proclaimed experts have conjured up an entity bigger and more powerful than any pagan idol in history.
And the 'few'? One only has to look at what has happened to those who left politics, - often under the pretense of withdrawing from the hectic rush of 'public life'. Cushy jobs with large accountancy firms, in international banking. Member of this board, or advisor to that. And not just one of these, but preferably a few ... nothing too arduous though.

I am sure this phenomenon is not limited to this country. In the age of networking the 'old boys' have found their niche. And what used to be blatantly "our thing" has now been cunningly relabelled to "economic necessity" and similar compelling catchwords.

With the help of the media the electorate is soporificated, sedated into accepting the choice between 'old boys A' and 'old boys B'. Brainwashed, the voters will again vote for the parties that will rescue The Economy, - and in doing so will continue relieving them of their liberties. It will take a few years for the voters to emerge from this state of amnesia, but when they do there will be new elections. And the cycle will begin again.....

As a tribute to the tolerant past of this country, I would like to share this album by the late (he died in 2008 - see this article and this wiki) Nigerian highlife star Orlando Owoh. The "Part II" would suggest a part one, but I have personally never seen it (but this discography assures me that it does exist).

Although I have to admit that Owoh's voice may lead to a state of soporification, in my experience this has only had a beneficial result. I would even go as far as to recommend this album as an acute remedy against any form of amnesia!

SOS 126

Bouba

This is a short post about yet another Malian legend who has passed away. Although a virtuoso ngoni and guitar player, Bouba Sacko was perhaps not so well known as others, like Djelimady Tounkara. His career, however, is at least as impressive. In Mali he was well known as an accompagnateur of Malian divas. He played with them all. Rising stars knew they could boost their career by calling in the help of Bouba. For being accompanied by Bouba Sacko almost was a guarantee for success. You can read more about his musical career in this article by Banning Eyre on the Afropop blog.

Bouba Sacko was less fortunate in his private life. I remember rumours went in the late 1990s that he had turned mad. Luckily he resurfaced and picked up his career. Just a few years ago, on October 11, 2008, his wife Djessira Koné, herself a jeli muso of great repute (certainly largely as a consequence of her marriage with Bouba), died. The loss - once more (according to some) - threw Bouba into a deep depression.
Even in death Bouba Sacko appears to be unlucky. According to reports he was quickly buried by the hospital after his demise. He didn't get the burial, with all the ceremonies which are a part of Malian culture, which he should have deserved given his status as vedette de la musique Malienne.

We have his music to remember him by. As an example I would like to share with you this video from the early 1990s. After seeing this I am sure you will recognise him again and again in all those wonderful Malian videos which can now be found on YouTube, - and particularly on Ngoni's great channel.

May he rest in peace.

P.S.: After uploading the video I saw that Ngoni too has uploaded a more recent version to his channel. I have the impression that the sound of my copy is slightly better, while perhaps the image of Ngoni's copy is better than mine. But I leave you to be the judge of this....

Cubafrican

The two singles I would like to share with you appear to be rather ordinary. But on closer study they are nothing of the sort.

The first of these was given to me in the late 1980s by a brother of my ex-wife. I suppose he felt sorry for me after I had lost a huge pile of records travelling from Bamako via Moscow with Aeroflot (a trauma that haunts me until this very day...). He gave me some singles, including a dramatically sanded down copy of "Whisky Magnin" by Amadou Balaké and this single by Orquesta Broadway.
To be honest the quality of these singles was such that I didn't really listen to them, and they were soon lost in my archive.

As often happens, they resurfaced after moving to our present home. But only recently have I been able to digitise the single by Broadway, and only then did I realise the 'rarity' of it. And I don't mean that the songs on the single are very rare or very special. They should be available either through some online service or through the album "Como Me Gusta". What makes this special is the combination of the B-side "Pa'Africa" with the place where this single was sold. For the single was bought - as can be seen on the back of the sleeve - in Ségou, Mali.

Several Malian musicians of the older generation have told me that Orquesta Broadway visited Mali in the early 1970s. I can find no record of this, only of their visits to Côte D'Ivoire (1973) and Senegal (1974) (more about their history here). But one way or another they had a huge impact on the Malian music scene. As far as I can ascertain these two songs were recorded before their visits to Africa, in 1972. This makes the insertions of the phrases in bambara even more remarkable. In perfect bambara after 1'44: "Let's go to Africa", and "let's go to sleep"(??). And this goes on till 2'24.

As mentioned before, the quality of the vinyl is poor, and if you prefer listening to a cleaner version you can find "Pa'Africa" here or you can buy the A-side "Como Me Gusta" and the album with the same title in several online stores.

SP 10046

The second single of this post was also bought in Africa; to be precise in Gagnoa, Côte D'Ivoire. Again it is by an orchestra that toured West-Africa, although almost a decade earlier. Cuban maestro Enrique Jorrín (wikipedia and a much more detailed biografia in spanish, which shows the intricate web of connections between a great number of Cuban legends) apparently was inspired by the music he heard to such an extent that he actually decided to interpret a song, "Sute Monebo", which he labelled "Folklore guineo".
I have personally never seen a version of this song on CD, - but given the enormous quantity of re-releases of Cuban classics it is possible that it does exist...

This song has had me digging deep in my archives to find an original. An original, which I am sure I have heard at some point in the past, but have been so far unable to retrieve. I have found versions by artists from neighbouring countries, like Ivorian Aïcha Koné (with her the title is "Soutemonebo") and by Malian Toumani Diabaté (Ketama), but these are from a much later date. Perhaps if you know of a version you can let us know. I'm almost certain that when I do find the missing original (or at least the older version I am sure I've heard), I'll go "oh, of course!".

The A-side of this single is very nice too. A simply superb version of that all-time classic and probably most interpreted song ever by Moisés Simons, "El Manicero". Together with the delightful B-side, a single well worth sharing.....

EPA-0011

Kill them

I can imagine that a lot of followers and fans of the music of Franco and his O.K. Jazz get confused about the chronology of this impressive oeuvre. Unfortunately the CD's that have been released in the decades since Franco's untimely death in 1989 have done little to take away this confusion.

I admit, it is not easy to retrieve this chronology. And this is especially difficult in the recordings of the second half of the 1960s. In this period Franco was releasing records through different labels. The main labels were Epanza Makita (which according to Gary Stewart means "the rain that disperses gatherings", which should be a reference to the effect the recordings would have on the competition) and Boma Bango (which simply means "kill them"). To complicate matters other orchestras, like Négro Succès (see for example this single) and Cercul Jazz, were also allowed to publish their songs via these labels.
And to add to the confusion, O.K. Jazz songs were also published through the Likembe, the Tcheza and the Ngoma label.

In a (perhaps futile) attempt to create a beginning of order, I would like to share with you the first four singles released on the Boma Bango label.

I hasten to add that almost all of these eight songs have been released on lp or CD (and in some cases more than once). And the quality of these releases is certainly better than that of these scratchy old singles from 1966*.

It is clear that the O.K. Jazz was in control of what tracks were to be released on what single. The first single on Boma Bango features two songs composed by Franco himself. Both songs (which have been perfectly reproduced on Sonodisc CD 36521) are in every aspect typical Franco songs. Side A, "Bondoki Na Boniama", a bolero dealing with witchcraft (bondoki) and bestiality or cruelty (boniama). And side B a rumba about a (to me, unknown) topical event in Congolese politics. Franco is emphatically present, vocally, jokingly, brilliantly laid back (side A) or aggressive and biting (side B) on guitar....

Boma Bango BB 1 (African 90.020) or BB 1

BB 2 is as typical of Vicky Longomba as BB 1 of Franco. This single featured on "L'Afrique Danse", the first lp on the African label**, with songs released in 1966. It was later somewhat confusingly added, almost as an afterthought, to Sonodisc CD 36588.
"Tonton" is a Vicky and an O.K. Jazz classic, and features, besides Vicky on lead, Michel Boyibanda on backing vocal. The B-side, "Quand le film est triste", is clearly a cover of a sentimental (lyrics!) French ballad. My guess is that Vicky had heard Sylvie Vartan's 1963 (or 1962?) version of this song. This in turn is credited by some to Georges Aber (France), John D. Loudermilk (US) and Lucien Morisse (France), or to Sylvie Vartan herself with lyrics by a Canadian singer called Michelle Richard, while others claim it is a copy of a 1961 song called "Sad movies make me cry" by Sue Thompson. In any case, it seems very unlikely that - as the label claims - Vicky is the composer...
But both Vicky and Franco make the most of it (and I certainly prefer it to Ms. Vartan's version).

Note, by the way, the trumpet in "Quand le film..". Does anyone have a clue as to the identity of this musician?

Boma Bango BB 2 (African 90.008) or BB 2

The third of these singles features two songs composed by Michel Boyibanda. Both of these were digitised for Sonodisc CD 36533, although the A-side "Ata Na Yebi" was renamed to "Valenta Yoka" and the B-side "OK Asuanaka Te Mpo Na Muasi" lost the "muasi" (= woman). The second, a cha cha cha, can certainly be characterised as a typical Boyibanda tune, if only because he had - at the time at least - a certain reputation for singing Cuban songs. But I am personally more inclined to favour the first, a very delicate rumba, with a fine balance of voices and a superb support by Franco, which lift the song to another level. Notable too is the lovely understated sax, probably by Verckys, but very much in the style of that master of saxes, Isaac Musekiwa.

Boma Bango BB 3 or BB 3

The fourth and final of these four singles contains two songs attributed to Verckys. Side A, "Oh Madame De La Maison", has a history for getting misplaced. It was included on the lp Authenticité Vol.3 (African 360.072), a collection of songs released in 1963 and 1964 on the CEFA label, and subsequently in digital form on Sonodisc CD 36586, a rather incomprehensible collection of songs from different labels and years. Besides this, the track is also interesting musically, and more particularly vocally. As far as I can distinguish Mujos is singing with Michel Boyibanda, but both are singing the lead part (so no lead and backing roles). This lack of harmony leads to a very tight song, which helps to accentuate Franco's neat guitar playing. Verckys hovers in the background for a long time, but when he finally does move to the foreground he does not challenge Franco (as he does for example in "Course Au Pouvoir" and other later tracks on the Boma Bango label).
When I mentioned that both sides of this single are attributed to Verckys, I was referring to the B-side, "El Cuini". As far as I known this is a composition by Cuban legend Richard Egües and was made famous by his Orquesta Aragón (still going strong!). As with the other song which the O.K. Jazz borrowed from Aragón, "Chaleco", I am amazed at the idea of copying a song which relies heavily on the presence of a violin section and the flute of Egües. It must have taken quite a bit of inventiveness to 'translate' this to guitars and saxes, and just for this the O.K. Jazz deserve a credit. I particularly like the use of multiple saxes in this version, and I suppose this was Verckys' contribution.
A slight different form of inventiveness seems to have been applied to the lyrics, - but that just adds to the attraction of these songs....

Boma Bango BB 4 (African 90.023) or BB 4

The combined four singles can also be downloaded here.
And more Boma Bango tracks are on this lp I posted earlier.

* Although there are good reasons for preserving these vinyl treasures. Compare, for example, the tragically compressed "Tonton" of CD 36588 to the open sounding version of the single....
** On this lp you can also find BB 5, "Finga Mama Munu"/ "Revolver" both by Mujos.