Hall of fame

Since my post about this remarkable couple in November 2008 I am none the wiser about their fortune. What happened to Safoura Denou and her husband Seny Sangaré?
Are they still living in San, in the Ségou region of Mali? Are they alive? Do they still perform?

As representatives of the authentic bambara culture of the Segou region they deserve a place in the Hall of Fame of Malian music. And to support this I would like to submit this cassette as evidence.

Recorded in 1988, it is indisputable proof of their greatness. Both Seny's ngoni playing and animation and Safoura's at times almost violent vocal contribution in this cassette will be very hard to match, just on these qualities. But in addition to these they demonstrate a profound knowledge of the tradition of their region in their songs. Their version of "Mbaoudi", for example, (not on this cassette, but on one which I'll post later) has become a standard in Malian music. It was even parodied by Habib Dembelé a.k.a. Guimba, Mali's most famous comedian, and his wife Fantani Touré.

This cassette has no weaker tracks, but slightly 'above the rest' is - in my humble opinion - the track "Masa Jirilen", brought with such passion and conviction, that one almost forgets there are just two people playing....

Syllart SYL 8363

Wana Msondo vol. 2

"Formed in 1964 the Nuta Jazz Band was one of the first to be formed under the new state-controlled regime. The acronym 'Nuta' actually stands for the band owners, National Union of Tanzania, head organization of the trade unions. The band was formed as their parent organization's entertainment wing, band members being regularly employed workers, paid monthly wages, housing, health care, etc. Nuta Jazz became the model for many bands to be formed in 1970s, the band itself went though different incarnations: Following name changes of their parent organization they became Juwata Jazz in 1978, and Ottu Jazz in the early 1990s. In recent years the band has become independent and is now lead by Muhiddin Maalim, one of the founder members. It is now just called Msondo Ngoma, after their mtindo (dance style) of many years. Among all the orchestras and musicians featured on this recording it is the sole surviving band, still active on the Dar es Salaam dance hall circuit in 2007."
Text and photo borrowed from "Zanzibara 3: Ujamaa" (highly recommended).

But the music is from a Polygram cassette...

Polygram CPOLP 621

P.S.: wikipedia!

Les Merveilles du Passé

Another tip: Aboubacar Siddikh has posted some classic songs from Franco and his All Powerful O.K. Jazz on Youtube:

Previously they were uploaded as separate videos, but in November 2011 they have been reuploaded as one video (from one concert).



The video starts with a full version of Simaro's "Oko Regretter Ngai Mama".

The second song is Franco's "Toyeba Yo", featuring Sam Mangwana.

After that there is a unique version of Mayaula Mayoni's "Bondowe".

This is followed by another composition by Simaro: "Presence Na Ngai Ebangisaka".

And the last track in this video is my favourite: Franco's superb "Nioka Abangaka Mpe Moto":

And if you can't get enough, there is also an out-of-this-world, full colour (but unfortunately short) song from 1974 (recorded during the festivities surrounding the Rumble in the Jungle):


NOTE: This post has been completely revised on October 21, 2026.

Grazy and Barretto

I was going to share this with you as a podcast, but I decided to 'promote' it to a real post.

They died within months of each other and I can't hear the one without thinking of the other: Baba 'Grazy' Sangaré and Ray Barretto.

I think I don't need to introduce the latter (but just in case: link, and I'm sure it won't be hard to find others). Ray Barretto died in February 2006, and Baba Sangaré, legendary presenter of Radio Mali, in August 2005.
Baba Sangaré featured in the documentary about Malian music in the UK series "Under African Skies", but was already well-known as a enthousiastic radio personality and promoter of latin and Cuban music in Mali.

Here he is in a radio show called "Jukebox", recorded on September 2, 1988 in Bamako:
Jukebox

I am sure you'll find it difficult not to associate Ray Barretto with Baba Sangaré after listening to this....

And if you like radio shows from Africa, I strongly advise you to visit the excellent LolaVandaag blog of my friend Gerrit, where you can find some brilliant (and at times historic) selections recorded in not only Mali, but also in Tanzania, Ethiopia, Ghana, Surinam and other countries.

Kongo Georges

Just one EP in this post, I'm afraid. But there are still four songs by Kongo Jazz on this record, and that's two more than on the EP I posted earlier.

Two of these songs were composed by Simaro Lutumba, of O.K. Jazz fame, who in an interview in 1991 (see below) named one of these, "Lisolo Ya Ndako", as a song of which he has fond memories. Unfortunately he did not say why...

On side two there are two songs composed by a certain Bejos, both featuring a harmonica (which may suggest that there is a link between Bejos and the harmonica..). The first of these is an instrumental track.

Although I have no confirmation of this, it appears to me that one of the two singers in these songs is Lola Djangi 'Chécain', who started his musical career in 1957, in a band called Micra Jazz, alongside Simaro and Raymond Brainck while still at school. They went on to form Kongo Jazz (named after Kongo Georges, the owner of the bar where they performed, and where the O.K. Jazz had performed before them) in 1957, and were signed on to the Esengo label in 1960. At the Esengo label he met Nino Malapet and Rock-a-Mambo, and Dewayon and his Conga Jazz, which bands he joined before switching over to the O.K. Jazz in 1967.

Kongo Jazz recorded quite a few tracks at the Esengo label. Chronologically the two Simaro tracks were originally released after the two tracks in my earlier post. Of the two Bejos compositions I have no idea when they were released.

I am digging up material for a post dedicated to the lead singer of the Kongo Jazz, Gérard Madiata, who Simaro described as a great singer who sang in all the languages: flemish, dutch, english...

The interviews with Simaro and Chécain can be found here.

Columbia ESDF 1444 (new link November 2, 2010)