Startpage Artists, search Articles and interviews Links
RECORDS: 10 ANS DE SUCCES BEMBEYA
Language: | Mandinka |
| Genre: | Modern manding |
| Instrument: | Elgitar Drums Bass Male vocals Brass |
Articles: Article in fROOTS
On the Internet More about Bembeya Jazz Music samples Complete discography
Bembeya Jazz National is Guinea's most famous band and a giant in West African music.The band was active right up until 1991 and the modern bandleader
Bambino Diabate began here.
Like Rail Band, Bembeya Jazz National received economic government support.It was started in 1961 as Bembeya Jazz and won first prize in two national band competitions in 1962 and 1964, and in 1966 awarded the distinction of "National Orchestra". There was at this time a strong bond between Guinea's President Sekou Toure and Fidel Castro, and in 1965 Bembeya Jazz embarked on a famous tour to Cuba. The acclaimed Cuban singer Abelardo Barroso was moved to tears by Bembeya Jazz's vocalist, Aboubacar Camara. Camara was killed in a car accident in 1973, on route to a concert in Dakar, an event that provoked national mourning in Guinea. Camara's death, combined with political and economic problems in the country, meant that Bembeya Jazz never managed to regain their status of the 1960s, even though they were active and released several disks in the 1970s and 1980s.
Bembeya Jazz National plays strongly Cuban-influenced music.This Cuban-influence in West African music came about because the slaves sent to Cuba came, in all likelihood, from the Manding area of Guinea and Mali. The rhythmic patterns of the music lie close to each other and Cuban music is hugely popular in West Africa to this day. As Salif Keita once said: "I used to sing in Spanish - or at least something I thought was Spanish, for I didn't speak it. I love Cuban music and, more than that, I see it as a duty of all Mali’s people to love Cuban music, for it was through it that we were introduced to modern instruments."
To hear Bembeya Jazz National is an inspiring journey through an exciting musical landscape. Many rate Bembeya Jazz National as one of Africa's best ever bands.
At the beginning of the new millenium the band is up and going again, with most of the old members revitalised.
Relevant artists: Sekouba Bambino Orchestra Baobab
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z COMPILATIONS ARTISTS A-Z
Last Modified:
22 nov 2009
Top of page
10 ANS DE SUCCES 
Syllart/Melodie/1998
This is something very special: A live recording from Bembeya Jazz National's
10 year jubilee concert in the "People's Palace" of Guinea's capitol, Conakry in 1971.
The band stood at the pinnacle of its career, so this is a historical record in the best sense of the word. The recording is impressive: an audience of 2500, including the Politbureau(!) in Guinea's Democracy Party, are enthusiastically in place. The band performs with full accoutrements - the rhythm section consisting of several types of drums, a complete horn section, and not least the number one guitarist, Sekou Diabate. This is an incredible disk - top rate Cuban music, but performed by Africans who, of course, give it their own Afro-sound. This is on the one hand well-arranged, Latino big band music, but on the other hand the improvisation and Mandinka traditions are not repressed but regularly shine through. Sekou Diabate has by no means steered alone; he must have heard Jimi Hendrix, Peter Green, and Wes Montgomery. He plays the most incredible riffs on electric guitar to enormous jubilation at The People's Palace. A real classic!
BUY RECORD Top of page
The band don't put the foot wrong throughout the eight tracks.(-) Bembeya are back.
Nigel Williamson in Songlines
KJØP PLATE Editor: Bjørn-Erik Hanssen
post(a)leopardmannen.no Startpage Artists, search Articles and interviews Links
Design: Idar Lind English: Katherine Stewart-Kreisman Swahili: Francis Chagula (francis.chagula@malvik.kommune.no) Swahili: Habiba Rajabu (habiba@online.no) Flags: 3Dflags.com
Go deeper.