Noise

I don't know about you but I am in need of an energy boost. Here in the Netherlands the nation is on the verge of slipping into the doldrums, and I suspect it is pretty much the same where you live.

I have found over the years that in these situations it is best to draw inspiration from those musical classics of the Syliphone label. Personally I already get a good kick up the backside from reading the inspirational sleeve notes of Justin Morel Junior. Great reading! "Le souvenir c'est le ciment de l'amitié, le sel de l'amour qui ne veut oublier le passé. C'est le symbole de la fidelité" (loosely translated: "the remembrance is the cement of friendship, the salt of love that does not want to forget the past. It is the symbol of loyalty"). Wow!
Don't ask me what it means, but I already feel a lot better!

The music that goes with these scintillating sentences is even better!! This lp , titled "Mankan" (= noise) is the third on the Syliphone label by the 22 Band from Kankan, and in my opinion the best. This is quite an achievement, because the other two are brilliant. Right from the first notes of the first track there is a vitality, an energy.....

The A-side is dominated by the guitars and the frantic rhythm section. I don't know about the Unité and the Vigilance, cited in the second track "Lawosse" as being the national motto (or at least the motto of the J.R.D.A. youth movement), but on Action the 22 Band seem to be doing very well. "Tout explose de vie" ("Mankan"), "éclatement rythmique" ("Sin Kon Mina"): very true!

But the 22 Band have saved the best for the very last. The B-side is the 22 Band in its best form. With the horns which already impressed on SLP 67, with an organ surging and undulating through "Sekou N'Fa"... The bit where the organ comes back into focus after just over 3 minutes is one of those unforgettable highlights of Guinean music (and there are many!!).
The last track, "Série", is like a majestic final statement of this momentous album. I think Justin has captured it perfectly: "C'est la poésie chantée de l'amoureux heureux qui se perd consciemment dans ses vérités sentimentales. Une balade au gré de guitares cajoleuses et d'un chanteur romantique. Les souffleurs annoncent les grands moments de l'oeuvre". I am not sure what to think of the bit about the fondling guitars, but the romantic image of loosing oneself consciously in ones sentimental truths: yes, I can see that....

Syliphone SLP 68

Horoya live

This post is partly intended to point you into the direction of some very interesting videos, which have been uploaded to YouTube by Graeme Counsel (of the very instructive RadioAfrica website). Specifically I am referring to this superb video by the Horoya Band, recorded by Graeme in October 2008. The video offers proof that the Horoya Band is still very much alive and going very strong! I can't tell you how elated I felt when I saw this video. It means there is still hope I will be able to see this legendary orchestra. Judging by their performance in this video, I am expecting to be seriously steamrollered by them.



In the second part of this post I would like to carry on where I left off in an earlier post, i.e. with the Horoya Band in their mid-1980s glory. This cassette was brought back from Guinea in 1986, and features some tracks which I would label as classics from the post-Syliphone era. The track "Hakilimaya" has been released on some lp's too (which were mostly credited to Conde Demba 'chanteur du Horoya Band'). The quality of the recording is not very good, but the music - live and steaming - is brilliant.

Horoya live

PS: There are more great videos on the RadioAfrica video page!!

22 Band de Kankan

At the end of the 1990s this band still existed, and that's no mean feat. They started as the "22 Novembre Band" in the 1970s, and as such they were the Orchestre Federal (Federal Orchestra) of the prefecture de Kankan. I am sure the name refers to the attack led by Portugese soldiers on November 22, 1970. In Guinea, even today, it is simply known as "l'agression".

The 22 Band was exceptional as a federal orchestra in that they managed to get three albums released on the Syliphone label. Strangely these albums have not been re-released as such, only some tracks have appeared on collections. If you like, I will post the lp's later.

But for now here is a cassette from what sounds like a live recording of the 22 Band. The cassette states that it's from 1988*. The recording has a superb atmosphere; it's not hard to imagine yourself attending the soirée....

* the photos were taken by Rob Lokin in Kankan in 1999.