Guinea: Malinke Rhythms & Songs [Import]

Famoudou Konate | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 9, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Buda Musique
• ASIN: B00000I123
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #416,978 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #31 in Music > World Music > Africa > Guinea

Track Listings

1. Damba

2. Dibon II

3. Konkoba II

4. Kadan

5. Sirankuruni

6. Könönari

7. Dönsökoni

8. Borokoni

9. Donaba

10. Siwé

11. Lambré

12. Sönföli

13. Takonani

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Famadou is the man!, May 15, 2001

By 

Christopher Fung (honolulu) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Guinea: Malinke Rhythms & Songs (Audio CD)

You'll get no argument from me with every last word of the last review. This CD is da bomb! Probably a tad more accessible to non-jembephiles than even Mamady's CDs, Famadou shows why he was the lead drummer with Les Ballets Africains, the most prestigious of Guinea's great dance troupes. This recording is made with artists from Famadou's home region of Hamanah in Upper Guinea. These are the deep roots people of the Manding heartland. And it shows in the music.

This is a beautiful, clean, set of rhythms with funk and swing like a motor-scooter. Beautifully arranged and supported by the greatest set of singers I have heard on any Manding music recording. Check out Sirankurani (track 5) for example. Tracks 9 and 11 are great also but are not available here as downloads. All the tracks on this CD illustrate beautifully the way that singers, drummers and other light percussion (hand claps, iron scrapers etc.) interact in Manding music. The arrangements also have a very intimate "village" kind of feel to them, whereas Mamady's early CDs are much more "concert"-like.

Get this CD. I know a number of master drummers who listen to this CD all the time. If it's good enough for them, who am I to argue?

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A seasoned grand master of the djembe, November 23, 2000

By 

Jeffrey R. Webb (Huntington Station, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Guinea: Malinke Rhythms & Songs (Audio CD)

Famoudou Konate's current cd "Percussions et Chants" is an excellent addition to the audio collection of any lover of traditional Guinean music and the djembe. The recordings are clear which showcase the mastery of his technique. Konate has perhaps some of the cleanest djembe technique as well as an understanding and ability to communicate the meanings and feelings of this traditional music. He forgoes a lot of "showy" tour de force technique (which he is more than capable of) in favor of allowing the music to speak for itself through his masterful technique. Djembe lovers will find enough cuts that are solely djembe and dun dun to make this appealing, yet the cd is balanced with song and other melodic instruments to give the new listener a flavor of a cross-section of traditional Guinean music. I confess that I would like to hear more of him playing some wilder solos as he has some of the clearest tones I've ever heard come from a djembe.But this is a true ensemble performance and a number of other gifted performers are also featured. It is not surprizing that another current grand master, Mamady Keita holds Mr. Konate in such high esteem. If you thought you wouldn't like West African drumming, you must hear this recording, you'll like it.