Bembeya [IMPORT]

Bembeya Jazz National (Artist)

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 10, 2003)
• Original Release Date: 2002
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: World Village USA
• ASIN: B00009EIR1
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #189,857 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  Music > World Music > Africa > Guinea

Editorial Reviews

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

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good old-fashioned African guitar pop heaven, June 12, 2003

By	Joe Sixpack -- Slipcue.com (...in Middle America) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

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.