Syliphone Conakry
- Thread starter Woebot
- Start date
redcrescent
Well-known member
I have two or three Bembeya Jazz live LPs, one of which is from the Pan-African Festival in Algiers 1969 (where Archie Shepp's Live at the Pan-African Festival was recorded), I don't have them with me but I remember the sound quality being quite atrocious, which is understandable. I also have an instalment of their Discotheque series, 75 or 76 (?), some nice tracks on that one but I think it is mostly Bembeya Jazz as well. So I really can't say much about the label, though it'd be interesting to explore it. I wonder if there are there any reissues?
Guinean music is not really over-exposed, is it, I mean everyone can name a half dozen Malian singers but I'd be hard pressed to name a single Guinean vocalist apart from Mory Kanté. Sad, really.
Guinean music is not really over-exposed, is it, I mean everyone can name a half dozen Malian singers but I'd be hard pressed to name a single Guinean vocalist apart from Mory Kanté. Sad, really.
Woebot
Well-known member
that's really interesting! that was where BYG did those recordings which are also atrocious. i have a few bits and pieces. bembeya jazz "regard sur le passe" and "la continuite" and a balla et les balladins record which are all excellent.
this looks excellent:
http://www.sternsmusic.com/disk_info.php?id=STCD3025-26
from the press spiel:
When the French colonial administration pulled out of Guinea in 1958, they took everything: all their medicines, blueprints to the electricity grid, furniture, telephones, even the cutlery. It seemed that the passionate cry of soon-to-be president, Sekou Touré - made while addressing a public rally and standing right next to De Gaulle – of “We prefer freedom in poverty to riches in chains” had become more true than perhaps even he had hoped.
Undaunted and with optimism and vigour, the new government set about rebuilding the country. They established a campaign that encouraged artists to create new works, but based on traditional African roots. The policy was called authenticité, music was its focus and Syliphone its record label. Thus Syliphone found itself in the right place at the right time - a special moment in African history when a new nation asserted itself and placed music at the forefront of its identity.
This 2CD set “Authenticité – the Syliphone Years” features gems from their catalogue, most of which are on CD for the first time, and gives you an insight into the incredible energy of the times. All the great bands are here, with key songs from such legendaries as Bembeya Jazz National, Keletigui et ses Tambourinis, and Balla et ses Balladins. Also here are rare recordings from their contemporaries such as Syli Authentic, and Kebendo Jazz; groups that battled for honours against more than 30 others in Guinea's renowned arts festivals, where a 1st Prize could launch a band to stardom.
there's a heavy political dimension to that music...
Diggedy Derek
Stray Dog
I've got them. They're really great.
redcrescent
Well-known member
Wow, that sure looks good, I had no idea Stern's were reissuing all this.
I found an up to date Syliphone discography here, including the stuff on CD, so maybe it saves someone the trouble of making up a separate shopping list.
I remember studying Sekou Touré's Guinea in high school and seem to recall that the country achieved independence through a unilateral refusal of its colonial status, which led to the French pulling out virtually overnight leaving nothing but scorched earth, as it were. I guess Syliphone must be to Guinea what EGREM was/is to Cuba, a state-sponsored label to aid the country's cultural transition to a new Socialist era.
I found an up to date Syliphone discography here, including the stuff on CD, so maybe it saves someone the trouble of making up a separate shopping list.
I remember studying Sekou Touré's Guinea in high school and seem to recall that the country achieved independence through a unilateral refusal of its colonial status, which led to the French pulling out virtually overnight leaving nothing but scorched earth, as it were. I guess Syliphone must be to Guinea what EGREM was/is to Cuba, a state-sponsored label to aid the country's cultural transition to a new Socialist era.