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RECORDS: LANCEY FEMMES D'AFRIQUE WAMBARA ESSENTIEL TELE BANA
1964 -
GUINEA
Language: | Maninka |
| Genre: | Modern manding |
| Instrument: | Female vocals |
Oumou Dioubate comes from Kankan, Guinea. Her mother was a well known Griotte and singer, and Oumou began singing at the age of 7. When the mother suddenly died Oumou, then 13, took her place in the traditional "Kankan Ensemble". The teenager then married a relative who was a teacher and musician, and the couple moved to Conakry, Guinea's capitol. There they formed the band, Les Messagers de Morfing, and Oumou began to develop a more modern singing style. Many believe she went too far with her modernity, but Oumou Dioubate had decided to go her own way and, in the mid 1980s, relocated to Paris. It was there that she had her breakthrough as a backing singer for Ismael Lo, on his "N'Diawar" album. The producer Ibrahim Sylla heard her and decided to make a solo album with her ("Lancey" – Sterns Africa). The album was a great success in Guinea in the 1990s when, after a long pause, it was finally released. The reason for the delay was Oumou Dioubate's provocative lyrics. She sings, among other things, that she will perform a traditional dance - naked - in order to become pregnant. When she returned from Paris it was impossible for her to live together with her husband. She earned sufficient money from "Lancey" to enable her to buy a new house for herself and her child.
Oumou Dioubate is a much discussed and disputed artist in Guinea and has had to withstand many rumours and personal attacks for her modern and open style.
Relevant artists: Sekouba Bambino Kandia Kouyate
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Last Modified:
22 nov 2009
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Oumou Dioubate presents a very sympathetic album with modern, jazzed-up Mandinka tradition music here. "Wambara" is, by the way, much more than traditional Manding; Oumou pulls into her music many elements, among them reggae and salsa. The production is as exclusive as it sounds, and so it should with "Africando Productions" behind it. Oumou shows some rebellious and feministic perspectives in her lyrics - she says, among other things, that a woman should leave a man who behaves in an "antisocial" fashion. Musically speaking, this moves lightly and effortlessly, with exciting arrangements of both traditional Manding and modern instruments in the backing, and these go together in an unusual organic way. Maybe this is sometimes a little too smooth and pop-like in places, but it's difficult not to be caught up by what this sensual lady brings to market.
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TELE BANA JAT MUSIC/2000
Click record company for music samples.
KJØP PLATE Editor: Bjørn-Erik Hanssen
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