Mory Kanté - A Paris (1984)

When Mory Kanté moved to France in 1984, it took him little time to establish himself in the "world music" milieu with this album. Descended from a Guinean griot family, Kanté began his pop music ascent in the prestigious Rail Band of Bamako. He became the lead singer when Salif Keita left to form Les Ambassadeurs, and took up and mastered the kora.

Paris allowed Kanté to express his electric self, and his mandé roots are quite well hidden on half the songs. In truth, this is not one of my favorite records, though I do like the vibrant version of the classic "Yéké Yéké." See what you think. . .

Enjoy!

L'Afrique Danse No. 4 (1966)

It pleases me to cap my L'Afrique Danse offerings with this superb record featuring "the voice of lightness," Tabu Ley Rochereau. This album collects hits from Orchestre African Fiesta National, Rochereau's branch of African Fiesta after he split up with Docteur Nico in 1965. Sometimes calling themselves Le Peuple, the band included a young Sam Mangwana on vocals.

The album begins with Rochereau's a cappella voice, and in each tasty rumba it is clear both why he is considered among the elite few singers in Congolese music history, and why he emerged and remained a star, decade following decade. I cannot recommend this album highly enough; it is a true classic, exceptionally preserved.

Enjoy!

For a comprehensive collection of Rochereau's profound musical contribution, search for Stern's two relatively recent "Voice of Lightness" double CDs.

Note: While some may find pops and cracks a nostalgic bonus in records, I prefer as little separation as possible between the music and myself. Happily, the sound on this record was about as good as it gets, without me having to do anything to restore it. Perhaps someday I'll post my procedure for achieving the best sound I can in digitalization, in case anyone is interested.

L'Afrique Danse No. 3 (1966)

Finally following up on my earlier post of No. 2, here is the splendid L'Afrique Danse No. 3 that features wonderful, formative Congolese rumba. Side A has delicious songs by Kalle and Kwami, and easily heard in their singing is the impact they had on the up-and-coming Rochereau.

Side B has a quartet of strong songs from Orchestre Negro Success, and a rare, lovely couplet from Robin (Albert Missia) and Orchestre Los Angel, including the sublime cha-cha-cha "Kawa." This offering comes from nearly pristine vinyl, so please immerse yourself.

Enjoy!

Super Diamono de Dakar - People (1987)

Recorded a short time after Ndaxami, this album from Super Diamono has a much more produced sound with more global ambitions. It opens with a reggae-imbued tribute to the people of Soweto, a fashion in African pop music during the waning years of apartheid, where Lamine Faye's guitar is impressive, as it is throughout the record. Ismael Lo has left the band at this point, leaving the lead vocals to the ascendant Omar Pene.

Unfortunately, on many of the songs on this album, the "world music" production submerges the strengths of the band, giving the first side a decidedly somber tone. That said, the sound quality of this production is gorgeous, with every instrument and voice exceptionally clear. Mbalax pokes through more successfully on the second side, but not enough to rescue it from world music banality. Except for the last cut, recorded live at a concert: Omar Pene and Lamine Faye rock.

Enjoy!

Super Jamono de Dakar - Ndaxami (1984)

Super Diamono is one of the great bands of Senegal, and this record comes from the fecund period when Omar Pene and Ismael Lo shared leads. I've always considered Diamono to be analogous to early Zaiko Langa Langa in the Congo, a band bursting with young energy, a little rough on the edges yet setting new standards.

I love this album; it is so full of soul. There is no information about the recording or musicians, on the record sleeve, but it sounds like a live studio recording. It is so refreshing to hear raw, brilliant music that was not processed for global consumers. Check the great underlying piano, Lo's harmonious harmonica, the percussion: Sweet!

Enjoy!

Baaba Maal et Dande Lenol - Wango (1987)

Moments after entering the Berkeley record store, on my way home from work, the clerk, who was familiar with my weekly Friday visits, said: "Check this out!" He put this record on his deck and filled the shop with Massamba Diop's tremendous tama. This was my introduction to Baaba Maal et Dande Lenol, so many years ago, and it opened a whole new avenue in my obsession.

Wango, simply put, is a masterpiece. Every song is exquisitely crafted and performed. Dande Lenol was incredibly tight on this perfectly recorded and mixed album, a definitive Sylla production. The rhythms are complex and urgent, and Maal's singing is sublime.

Two of the songs, "Laam Tooro" and "Loodo," are electrified versions of the well-loved acoustic versions on the earlier recorded, yet later globally released, Djam Leelii. Wango is a great way to start your week, as it has mine.

Enjoy!

Thione Seck - Le Pouvoir d'un Coeur Pur (1988)

Recorded in Paris with his band Raam Daan, this strong album from Thione Seck reprises songs from cassettes that had made him a household name in Senegal, following his divergence from Orchestre Baobab.

On this record Seck's majestic voice towers above complex, driving rhythms, while the horns and guitars weave an almost jazz-like improvisational thread through the mbalax, especially on "Yaye Boy." I prefer the B side of this record with it's two tremendous, urgent mbalax songs and the final, reggae-fied ballad. It is impossible to sit still, listening to it.

Enjoy!

Baaba Maal - Taara (1990)

Baaba Maal has moved well beyond the role of innovative musician on the world stage. Recently he was named Oxfam's Global Ambassador to bring global attention to the food crisis in Africa. He has a unique voice to lend to a cause, one that was consistently awesome through decades of many recordings. While I became increasingly dismayed by the homogenized, transglobal sound of his later records, not able to listen to Television at all, his early recordings still resonate with complex rhythms and an authentic vision.

Taara sits on the edge of Baaba's move towards global stardom, retaining the tough Dande Lenol sound of the wonderful preceding recording, Wango, while pointing towards the ever more electronic future. A typically strong Ibrahima Sylla production, Taara layers European horns and keyboards on the core guitar/percussion/voice that made Dande Lenol such a potent band. Massamba Diop's tama is killer, like always, but it is Baaba Maal's voice that sails above all and keeps it together.

Enjoy!

Quatre Etoiles - Dance (1985)

Early this year I posted 6 Tubes from this supergroup, before calamity befell many blog colleagues. I had this great record queued, but at the time it was available on Global Groove and I deferred. Dance is one of the most tasty Quatre Etoiles records, in my opinion, and one of its earliest.

So to fill in one of the gaps in the GG cloud library, here is a Zimbabwe pressing of this classic, complete with its marginal sleeve art. You can read more about the band in my previous post.

Enjoy!

Ndombe Opetum - 20 Ans de Carriere (1989)

I have been on the road lately, in more ways than one, so have been unable to post regularly. Yet I did learn with sadness of the recent demise of Ndombe Opetum, via the inimitable World Service blog. I highly recommend you go there for a complete biography, pictures and a video.

While I cannot offer any deeper information about "Pepé", I can offer in tribute some music from the masterful composer/singer, who was such a presence in both Afrisa and T.P.O.K. Jazz over many years.  Today's record, on the Anytha-Ngapy label, presents two long medleys of Opetum's memorable songs.

Sadly I lost track of the album, so the (pristine) recording here is from the first-play copy I made years ago on a metal cassette. Unfortunately I have no information on the other personnel involved in this tasty session. Perhaps others could enlighten us in the comments?

Enjoy!

Gamma Express - Vol. 6 - Têt Colé

Along with the cumbia that developed along the Caribbean rim of Colombia, Haiti's konpa is one of the most infectious dance musics to evolve in the African diaspora. Gamma Express was one of the leading bands in Haiti during the 1980s, led by Pierrot Kersaint. It is incredible that such joyous music would emerge from a country plagued with oppression and grinding poverty; but looking around the world, perhaps it is not unusual.

The title track, Têt Colé, has it all. It begins with half a minute of schmaltzy introduction before the vocal ensemble erupts and percussion and guitars set up an irresistible rhythm. Then horns enter, along with occasionally improvising synthesizer, ramping up the energy, and in steps lead singer Benito D'Haiti. Half-way through the eight-and-a-half minute song, the synth sets up a break; the rhythms resume, and a women's chorus drops in like a swinging Andrews sisters. Sweet!

All but one of the five songs on this album follow that winning formula, although lamentably the women sing on only two songs. The last song, though perhaps sweet for those in the know (or the family), reminds me of karaoke in a dive bar, and I apologize for not being fastidious in removing the pops and cracks. I just could not bear to listen to it more than once, and in fact removed it from my iTunes library. The rest of the songs are keepers; in fact I have been listening to them a lot recently.

Enjoy!

Jali Musa Jawara - Yasimika (1990)

Proclaimed and generally acknowledged as one of the classic recordings from Africa, this exquisitely recorded gem has the power to haunt for decades. Guinean kora master Jali Musa Jawara (Diawara) headlines this record, though his kora is set amidst equally skilled balafon from Jalimrijan Kuyateh and two other Kuyatehs, Lamine and Kissiman, on guitar. Jawara's singing is passionate and beautiful, and perfectly balanced with the female chorus.

Drawn from two of the most legendary griot families, this ensemble provided a revelatory introduction to Manding love and praise songs, when it was first released in 1983. This 1990 reissue on Hannibal spread it throughout the world. Apparently it was remastered a few years ago for a second CD release, but nothing in this original release needs any tampering whatsoever.

Enjoy!

Zani Diabate & The Super Djata Band (1986)

As a military coup rocks Mali today, throwing the country into chaos, this ferocious music from The Super Djata band could be one choice for a soundtrack. Perhaps a melancholic ballad from Rokia Traoré would be a better choice, but that is a separate discussion.

Zani Diabate burst onto the international market with this record, and his fierce guitar became the focus of critic notice. He is compared on the album sleeve to Jimi Hendrix, T-Bone Walker, B.B. King and Freddie King, but his innovative accomplishment was providing a completely new interpretation of Malian guitar.

This album throbs with energy, though it is not all generated by Zani's guitar. Super Djata was co-founded by the great Daouda "Flani" Sangare, and his urgent singing is easily as remarkable as the guitar. You can read more about this extraordinary musician on Worldservice's very first post. Percussion is always up front on this session, with trap drums jousting with traditional Malinke drumming. The album rocks, from beginning to end, sounding just as fresh and modern now as it did a quarter century ago.

Enjoy!

Le Grand Maitre Franco - Attention Na SIDA (1987)

What better album to begin a second year and the second hundred posts than this masterpiece from the grand Franco Luambo? The long title track is a polemic and a protest, an outcry and a public health message, a heartfelt entreaty to the world to beware the scourge of AIDS. One cannot listen to Franco singing, with more emotion than ever before, without being moved. His outrage thunders forth with the authoritative voice of a god, while ache and despair are just below the surface. Two years after producing this tremendous recording, Franco would die of the dread disease.

Recorded in Brussels while on business without his band, Franco recruited members of Victoria Eleison to back him. The music absolutely sparkles. While the first magnificent moral diatribe carries a message, the two songs on the flip side are built to move the body. The Checain song "Mpo Na Nini Kaka Ngai?" swings with a retro feel, while the more concise "Na Poni Kaka Yo Mayi" carries the youthful energy of the Langa Langa generation. Feast and . . .

Enjoy!

Akendengue - Owende (1979)

For this, my one-hundredth post and the beginning of this blog's second year of life, I offer a special album that is one of my favorites, Pierre Akendengue's fourth album, Owende. As I wrote in my first, testing-the-water post here, I have a long history with Akendengue's music. I consider him to be a musical genius with an unique vision.

The brilliance begins with rhythms, which are always complex and impelling, yet the rhythm section integrally includes the human instrument alongside various drums, either voice or clapping hands, or both. In many of his songs the usually female chorus adds rhythmic cadence, in call-and-reponse exchanges with Akendengue, but often the voices are used specifically to augment or even give foundation for the whole rhythmic structure.

Voices, including his own, are central to Akendengue's beautiful music, and this album opens with harmonious, gentle singing. His vocalizations are inspired by his observations of birdsong in Gabon's rainforest, but a couple of the songs on this album feature Akendengue as poet, much more common in his early albums.

Akendengue is a social critic, and this may be his most explicitly political album. Owende translates as Oppression, and the song "Anome Anomie" celebrates a plethora of freedom fighters including Patrice Lumumba, Amilcar Cabral, Che Guevara and Malcolm X, among others. All of the lyrics are included in the centerfold of this deluxe album, replicated for your benefit in the download folder. With great pleasure I invite you to. . .

Enjoy!