Bembeya

Amazon.com
In 1961, a group of musicians from Guinea formed the 12-piece band, Bembeya Jazz Nacional, after the river that runs through their hometown, Beyla. It celebrated the spirit of their 3-year-old, newly independent nation, combined traditional and popular African musical genres with Afro-Cuban grooves, and paved the way for Senegal's Orchestre Baobob and Mali's Super Rail Band. They were state supported, and they ran their club. But in 1973, their fortunes turned sour when their musical director, Aboubacar Demba Camara, was killed. By the '80s, they group shut down operations. This CD is the group's first recording since 1988, and it shows that they still have that motherland swing. The band's 4-guitar lineup is lead by the mercurial guitarist Sekou "Diamond Fingers" Diabate. Salifou Kaba's ancestral vocals, Dore Clement's full-bodied tenor saxophone, Mohamed Kaba's brash trumpet, and Conde Mory Mangala's folkloric and funky drums still form the core of the ensemble. The 8 tracks on this CD reprise the group's greatest hits, from the '60s to the '80s, including their conga-fied calling card, "Bembeya." The songs, sung in their country's Manding, Fulani, Konkianke, and Kono languages, talk about their culture and history. "Sanfaram" is a soulful, syncopated ditty about an old woman sorcerer. The "Soul Makossa"-like "Sabou"--which roughly translates as "the cause of something"--reflects ancient griot roots, while "Gbapie" is a hypnotic seduction song, laced with Diabate's famous Hawaiian guitar strains. Bembeya Jazz's tight hornlines, intricate percussion, and contrapuntal guitar fills will inspire new moods and grooves from the African continent in the 21st century, just as they did in the 20th. --Eugene Holley, Jr.

Bembeya,Bembeya Jazz National,World Village,African,African Folk,Afro-Cuban Jazz,Afro-Pop,Guinea,Int'l & World Music,Pop,World Music

Average customer rating: Guitar mastery--nay, wizardry--of the highest order It's a great, already-classic recording

Guitar Fo Sékou Bembeya Diabaté Manufacturer: World Village ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | International | Styles | Music International | Imports | Stores | Music Similar Items: Samba Gaye Sigui Solon Kono New Ancient Strings Boulevard de l'Independance ASIN: B00029RRVE Release Date: 2004-07-13

Tracks:

1. Biduman
2. Bala Koura
3. Dabia Baba
4. Ikanam Minala
5. Guitar F
6. Wati
7. Dianamo
8. Ahmed Sekou
9. Diamond Fingers
10. Mangue
11. Mohamed Diabat

Amazon.com

Lovers of West African guitar styles probably already know Sekou Diabate from his dazzling guitar solos that have defined the sound of Guinea's Bembeya Jazz for over four decades now. Somewhat implausibly, though, he has rarely recorded as a leader, which makes his new Guitar Fo even more welcome. Diabate, who garnered the appropriate nickname "Diamond Fingers" in the 1970s, is widely regarded as perhaps the top electric guitar soloist to emerge from West Africa along with Djelimady Tounkara from Mali's Super Rail Band, and "Guitar Fo" does justice to that reputation. Backed by the rock-solid rhythm section from Bembeya Jazz, Diabate's guitar is front and center on the 11 cuts here, which range from gorgeously lyrical ballads like "Bala Koura" and "Wati" to scorchers like the title track and "Diamond Fingers." Diabate and Bembeya Jazz came of age in the 1960s, when Cuban music was sweeping West Africa and influencing everyone from Senegal's Orchestra Baobab to Ghanaian highlife bands like E.T. Mensah. That influence still shines through today on Guitar Fo when Sekou plays montuno-like guitar figures on the title song and on the near cha-cha rhythms of "Ahmed Sekou," and other influences peek through too--like the Salif Keita-like griot singing style of Safiata Conde on two tracks and the Hawaiian slide guitar on "Dianamo." Though it all, the album is a testament to Sekou's range and lyricism, his beautifully ringing guitar tone the sound of a true master in his own home. --Ezra Gale

Customer Reviews:

Guitar mastery--nay, wizardry--of the highest order.......2004-12-23

After listening to this glorious music many times over, I wonder why this man is not an international superstar. The master of a singular guitar style--widely imitated, never duplicated, let alone surpassed--Sekou Diabate still remains a figure of some obscurity. Yes, he has a reputation among cognoscenti of Guinean popular music, most accessibly purveyed through the group Bembaya Jazz, around since 1961 (!). Yet one wonders why a player of his accomplishment nevertheless languishes is relative obscurity.

This self-taught master of acoustic/electric guitar, who has forged a sound uniquely his own, a kind of amalgam of kora and balafon styles adapted to guitar and filtered through West African popular music approaches, surely belongs atop any delineation of guitar herodom. One detects everything from country blues to Bayou to reggae to sui generis Africanisms in his uniquely crafted approach to his instrument.

Pure joy.

It's a great, already-classic recording .......2004-09-02

Most regular listeners of African popular or world music are already familiar with Sekou Diabate as 'Diamond Fingers" Diabate, the leader of Guinea's most popular band Bembaya Jazz National.
 Sekou Diabate's GUITAR FO is a bit different from Bembaya Jazz recordings, as it's not with a full band playing loud electric dance music - in fact, on some tunes the guitar sounds completely acoustic and on others, like a fat-bodied, semi-acoustic electric guitar.

Average customer rating: Syliphone Years, Bembeya Jazz Natl The Original World Music

The Syliphone Years Bembeya Jazz National Manufacturer: Stern's Africa ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Africa | International | Styles | Music Guinea | Africa | International | Styles | Music General | International | Styles | Music General | Latin Music | Styles | Music General | Jazz | Styles | Music Latin Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music Similar Items: Legends of East Africa: The Original Recordings The Kings of Benin Urban Groove 1972-80 Golden Afrique, Vol. 1 Golden Afrique, Vol. 2 Congotronics ASIN: B0006SGFW8 Release Date: 2004-12-21

Tracks:

1. Republique Guinee
2. Sabor de guajira
3. Armee Guineenne
4. Dembaty galant
5. Air Guinee
6. Guinee hety horemoun
7. Montuno de la sierra
8. Waraba
9. Dagna
10. Doni doni
11. Camara mousso
12. Super tentemba
13. Mami wati
14. Alalake

Tracks:

1. Beyla
2. Fatoumata
3. Moussogbe
4. Sou
5. N'gamokoro
6. Ballake
7. Mussofing
8. Dya dya
9. Sina mousso
10. N'temenna
11. Telephone
12. Petit Sekou

Amazon.com

When the West African nation of Guinea achieved independence in 1958, the new government hastened to encourage local art forms. Within a few years, each region had its own orchestra and Bembeya Jazz (named for a river flowing through their South-Western home province) was considered the best of all. Fronted by Aboubacar Demba Camara¹s visceral yet sensitively phrased vocals, the sinuous, glistening guitar of Sékou "Diamond Fingers" Diabaté and a full-blooded brass section, the band became a national institution and the first Guinean ensemble to perform outside Africa. These 26 tracks were originally released as 45 RPM singles and on LPs from the Syliphon label and if the sound quality varies, the music has held up remarkably well. Bembeya's nonpareil synthesis of slow-simmering Latin rhythms with otherworldly Islamic traditions constitutes a priceless legacy that simply must be heard. Fans of 1960s Congolese music and Senegal's Orchestre Baobab will adore them. --Christina Roden

Customer Reviews:

Syliphone Years, Bembeya Jazz Natl.......2005-03-15

This is the perfect record to get your collection of Bembeya Jazz, and by extension, modern Mande swing music, started. These players listened to contemporary Cuban rumbas as well as Motown and funk, and drew from both, adding the rumba rhythms and funky orchestrations to a stew of subregional traditional music that featured long vocal lines, call-and-response techniques, and eloquent lyrics that drew from a long tradition of using music for moral instruction. But to describe Bembeya Jazz National in those dry terms hardly gets to the meat of the situation. This music swings like Count Basie in his prime, and takes all the tricks out of James Brown's bag and applies them to the rumba. It's a beautiful sound.

When you put the needle down on "N'gamokorô," for instance, you hear a beautiful horn-section introduction, then an eerie and intoxicating cowbell/bass drum rhythm takes over, underneath a spoken-word chant in Mandeng, then a leaping, bounding, rumba, where the main theme is stated. Demba Camara, the amazing vocalist, starts singing the verses, with the horns answering each line, and the guitarist dropping in obligatos everywhere. You can just imagine a crowd of sweaty, dapper Guineans bopping away at one of those open-air nightclubs in Conakry, the Paris of West Africa. As the guitar sets the rhythm with a hypnotic lick repeating over and over again, the trumpet, then tenor sax take tasty solos. That bleeds into the whole horn section playing in unison, then Demba Camara starts singing again in this amazing, hortatory call-and-response with the backup singers and the horn section, like Fela Anikulapo-Kuti in Mandeng language. It keeps brewing, until a sudden disco-type break, then the djembe drum leaps in for a mind-blowing solo, with the vocalist shouting alongside and the trap drums keeping time with the brushes. At the climactic moment, the horns hop back in and restate the theme, with the guitar lick in the background. Of course, that's not enough! Demba Camara comes back in and starts singing again, while the guitar and drums settle down into a kind of sedate rumba. He takes a break while the guitar unleashes a soulful, keening single-note solo, while the rhythm guitar comps behind. It ends on a sudden shout, then silence, as the dancers wipe their brows and go get a lemonade.

A lot of the best tracks on this record, such as "Armee Guineenne," "N'Borin," and "Moussogbe" are also featured on Bembeya Jazz's "Hommage A Demba Camara" and the compilation "Syliphone 40eme Anniversaire," so if you have either one of those amazing records, you may have some duplication. This one is worth the additional purchase, however, because it comes with a discography and nice explanation of where the group came from and where it fit into the overall politico-cultural situation at the time.

For those of you just starting your collections, however, this 2-cd set includes enough booty-moving, earth-rattling music to get you hooked.

The Original World Music.......2005-03-13

Guinea's Bembeya Jazz is, by any calculation, one of the greatest African bands of all time. As far as I am concerned, in fact, they are one of the greatest popular music bands ANYWHERE in the twentieth century. They also are among the most influential, at least in Africa, since their popularity spread far beyond their Guinean borders. This collection documents their greatest period during the 1960s and 1970s when they enjoyed the lavish if capricious patronage of the Guinean state. Like the wonderful Congolese bands of the same period, they had it all -- amazing, really amazing, guitar playing; mesmerizing singers; a scorching (if not always in tune) brass section. Their sound is hypnotic, funky, swinging - Africa meets Cuba meets U.S. rock; world music before there was world music. While this set is of great historic interest, it also is a complete pleasure to hear. The music still sounds fresh and creative and the tinny recording quality evokes tropical nights, sea breezes, and perhaps one too many beers at an open-air bar. . .

Average customer rating:

African Classics: Bembeya Jazz Bembeya Jazz National Manufacturer: Sheer Sound ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Africa | International | Styles | Music Guinea | Africa | International | Styles | Music General | International | Styles | Music General | Latin Music | Styles | Music Latin Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music Similar Items: African Classics African Classics African Pearls, Vol. 1: Rumba on the River African Classics: Orchestra Baobab ASIN: B000JJ4POO Release Date: 2006-12-05

Tracks:

1. Telegramme
2. Lanaya
3. Yekeke
4. Petit Sekou
5. Koumba Tenin
6. Sabu
7. Gnagna
8. Yarabi
9. Montagne

Average customer rating: Good old-fashioned African guitar pop heaven

Bembeya Bembeya Jazz National Manufacturer: World Village ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Africa | International | Styles | Music Guinea | Africa | International | Styles | Music General | International | Styles | Music General | Latin Music | Styles | Music General | Jazz | Styles | Music Latin Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music International | Imports | Stores | Music Similar Items: Specialist in All Styles Congo Life ASIN: B00009EIR1 Release Date: 2003-06-10

Tracks:

1. Bembeya
2. Sanfaran
3. Sabou
4. Gbapie
5. Lefa
6. A Koukou We
7. Yelema Yelemaso
8. Soli Au Wassoulou

Amazon.com

In 1961, a group of musicians from Guinea formed the 12-piece band, Bembeya Jazz Nacional, after the river that runs through their hometown, Beyla. It celebrated the spirit of their 3-year-old, newly independent nation, combined traditional and popular African musical genres with Afro-Cuban grooves, and paved the way for Senegal's Orchestre Baobob and Mali's Super Rail Band. They were state supported, and they ran their club. But in 1973, their fortunes turned sour when their musical director, Aboubacar Demba Camara, was killed. By the '80s, they group shut down operations. This CD is the group's first recording since 1988, and it shows that they still have that motherland swing. The band's 4-guitar lineup is lead by the mercurial guitarist Sekou "Diamond Fingers" Diabate. Salifou Kaba's ancestral vocals, Dore Clement's full-bodied tenor saxophone, Mohamed Kaba's brash trumpet, and Conde Mory Mangala's folkloric and funky drums still form the core of the ensemble. The 8 tracks on this CD reprise the group's greatest hits, from the '60s to the '80s, including their conga-fied calling card, "Bembeya." The songs, sung in their country's Manding, Fulani, Konkianke, and Kono languages, talk about their culture and history. "Sanfaram" is a soulful, syncopated ditty about an old woman sorcerer. The "Soul Makossa"-like "Sabou"--which roughly translates as "the cause of something"--reflects ancient griot roots, while "Gbapie" is a hypnotic seduction song, laced with Diabate's famous Hawaiian guitar strains. Bembeya Jazz's tight hornlines, intricate percussion, and contrapuntal guitar fills will inspire new moods and grooves from the African continent in the 21st century, just as they did in the 20th. --Eugene Holley, Jr.

Customer Reviews:

Good old-fashioned African guitar pop heaven.......2003-06-13

One of the most significant African guitar bands of the postcolonial era, Bembeya Jazz has re-formed with nearly fifteen years since their last album. On this new recording, the veteran Guinean supergroup prove themselves as capable and sweet-sounding an Afropop band as any out there today. This new set, featuring several older players along with some new recruits, isn't as eerie or electrifying as their signature work from the 'Sixties and early '70s, but it's still pretty darn good. Recommended, particularly for fans of the cascading, melodic guitars of bands such as Orchestra Baobab, et al.

Average customer rating:

Classic Titles ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | International | Styles | Music General | Jazz | Styles | Music Jazz | Imports | Stores | Music ASIN: B000F7BOG2 Release Date: 2006-08-22

Average customer rating:

Diamond Fingers Sekou Bembeya Diabate ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | International | Styles | Music World Dance | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music International | Imports | Stores | Music ASIN: B000FIHJ10 Release Date: 2006-12-19

Average customer rating: Brilliant solo album from former Bembeya Jazz guitarist

Samba Gaye Sekou Diabete Bembeya & Djanka Diabate Manufacturer: Dakar Sound ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Africa | International | Styles | Music Guinea | Africa | International | Styles | Music General | International | Styles | Music General | International | Indie Music | Stores | Music Africa | International | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Guitar Fo Boulevard de l'Independance Take One In the Heart of the Moon ASIN: B00000JK0G Release Date: 1997-11-18

Tracks:

1. Samba Gaye
2. Imadou N'na
3. Diougouya
4. N' Gnife
5. African Albatros
6. Labankognduma
7. Kolankoma
8. Concorde Gaye
9. Tounka
10. N' Soumbou

Customer Reviews:

Brilliant solo album from former Bembeya Jazz guitarist.......2001-02-12

'Samba Gaye' is a brilliant effort from Sekou (Diamond Fingers) Diabate, the former lead guitarist for Bembeya Jazz International, one of the foremost dance bands from Guinee which came out of the independence movements of the 60's. On this recording he is joined by his wife Djanka, one of Salif Kieta's and Mory Kante's backup singers. There are several excellent instrumental tracks including my favorite 'Labankognouma'which contains an explosive guitar rif that I play over and over. There is an unexpected slide guitar track and one that you would believe was Hawaiin rather than West African. This album also contains more traditional fare from Djanka including 'Concord Gaye' a praise song to a Malian benefactor. What I enjoyed most about this album was that it was under-produced unlike many CD's that come out of West Africa today. There is a laugh track that comes in between songs and what sounds like a recording coming over an old Tanzanian radio. These features only add to the authenticity and spirit of this recording.

Average customer rating:

World Music ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | International | Styles | Music World Dance | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music International | Imports | Stores | Music ASIN: B000T27YCG Release Date: 2007-07-24

Average customer rating: La Gran National Bembeya Jazz

Defi & Continuite Bembeya Jazz National Manufacturer: Syllart ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Africa | International | Styles | Music Guinea | Africa | International | Styles | Music General | International | Styles | Music General | Latin Music | Styles | Music Latin Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music Africa | International | Indie Music | Stores | Music ASIN: B00004SAWC Release Date: 2000-04-04

Tracks:

1. N' Kanunuwe
2. N'Lanyo
3. Toure
4. Mussofing
5. Dya Dya
6. Akukuwe
7. N'Temenna
8. N'Zema
9. Tentemba Demba
10. Kosina Ma
11. Rokhoya

Customer Reviews:

La Gran National Bembeya Jazz.......2000-06-12

Otro gran disco de la Bembeya Jazz National. Un disco que nos transporta a esa suave y dulce música que se hacía en Guinea en los setenta, llena de influencias cubanas, con instrumentos de viento y una voz excepcional.

Average customer rating:

Diamond Fingers Sekou Bembeya Diabate Manufacturer: Dakar Sound (Net) ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Guinea | Africa | International | Styles | Music General | International | Styles | Music General | International | Indie Music | Stores | Music Africa | International | Indie Music | Stores | Music ASIN: B000005YKF Release Date: 1996-03-05

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