Soundioulou Sissoko & Mahawa Kouyaté / Lalo Kéba Dramé & Samba Diabare Samb – Folklore du Sénégal – Musique et Chants Traditionnels – N'Dardisc 33.10 (LP)
This essential LP presents the two most famous Senegalese kora players of the second half of the 20th century, Soundioulou Sissoko (aka Soundjoulou Cissokho, 1921-1994) and Lalo Kéba Dramé (1926-1974) in riveting duets, respectively with singer Mahawa Kouyaté (aka Maa Hawa Kouyaté, b. 1949) on Side A and halam (or xalam) five-string lute virtuoso and singer Samba Diabare Samb (1924-2019) on Side B.
Monsieur Gueye-Bellot, a Guinean-Senegalese record store owner with a weekend stall at the Saint Ouen flea market in Paris, introduced me to this disc, which he published on his great label N'Dardisc. Gueye-Bellot was instrumental in my education on many great African musics—as well as Cuban Charanga—in the early 1990s. All of the African music aficionados I’ve met know this friendly and passionate music lover with a warm personality, who always took the time to share his immense knowledge of music, musicians and the environment that nurtured the music. He produced a string of excellent traditional and modern LPs and cassettes under various labels, including Lalo Kéba Dramé, Soundioulou Cissokho et Maa Hawa Kouyaté, Laba Sosseh, Star Number One, Les Ballets Africains, etc., as well as this Mandingo gem. M. Gueye-Bellot is also at the very heart of the Cuban-African connection.
All these great artists, once household names in Senegal, recorded only a handful of records during the golden era. Last June I asked R, a well-connected friend in Dakar, to seek out additional recordings from these major artists, particularly Lalo Kéba Dramé. Sadly, he came back empty handed, except for a USB key with poor-quality files obtained from one of Dramé’s nieces. These artists are quickly falling into oblivion, mirroring the disappearance of the beautiful Senegalese traditional heritage, as their recordings can no longer be found in Dakar. A distressing state of affairs.
Cet album incontournable présente Soundioulou Sissoko (ou Soundjoulou Cissokho, 1921-1994) et Lalo Kéba Dramé (1926-1974), les deux plus célèbres joueurs de cora sénégalais de la seconde moitié du 20e siècle, dans des duos captivants respectivement avec la grande chanteuse Mahawa Kouyaté (ou Maa Hawa Kouyaté, née en 1949) sur la face A et le virtuose du luth halam (ou xalam) à cinq cordes et chanteur Samba Diabare Samb (1924-2019) sur la face B.
Monsieur Gueye-Bellot, à la tête d'un magasin de disques à Paris avec un stand aux puces de Saint Ouen le week-end, m'a fait découvrir ce disque publié sur son label N'Dardisc. Au début des années 1990, ce Guinéen-Sénégalais joua un rôle déterminant dans ma découverte de grandes musiques africaines et de charanga cubaine. Tous les passionnés de musique africaine connaissent ce sympathique monsieur à la personnalité attachante, qui prenait toujours le temps de partager sa passion et sa grande connaissance de la musique, son histoire, son environnement, ainsi que des anecdotes sur des musiciens. Il a également produit une série d'excellents albums traditionnels et modernes, tels Soundioulou Cissokho et Maa Hawa Kouyaté, Laba Sosseh, Star Number One, Les Ballets Africains, ainsi que ce joyau Mandingue. Monsieur Bellot est au coeur même de la Cuban-African connection.
Tous ces grands artistes, qui étaient à l’époque connus de tous aux quatres coins du Sénégal, n'ont qu'une poignée d’enregistrements de l’age d’or à leur actif. En juin dernier, j'ai demandé à R, un ami bien introduit à Dakar, de me trouver d’autres enregistrements de ces artistes majeurs, particulièrement Lalo Kéba Dramé. R est malheureusement revenu les mains vides à l'exception d'une clé USB avec des fichiers de très mauvaise qualité obtenue auprès d'une des nièces de Lalo Kéba Dramé. Ces artistes, dont on ne trouve à présent plus les enregistrements à Dakar, tombent ainsi dans l'oubli, reflétant la disparition rapide du magnifique patrimoine traditionnel sénégalais. Un bien triste état des choses.
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Grand merci. J'ignorais l'existence de ce magistral album. Précieux !
ReplyDeleteYes, this is a very nice album.
ReplyDeleteYou might notice though, that this album does not reflect that much the senegal mode of playing the kora, as the cover and label might intend:
Lalo Kéba Dramé was born in Gambia and as a Serahule, (Dramé) he took kora lessons in Gambissara and Basse Santa Su, in the very east parth of the Gambia (URR). This kora/music style is closer to Mali music and quite different from Senegal kora style.
Soundioulou Sissoko, who was Casamançe-born, was educated more in the Senegal music-style, while Mahawa Kouyaté, one of his wifes, and she’ s singing here is originally from Guinée (Conakry), therefore much closer to the eastern style of Mali and Guinée.
That said, I think it is appropriate to say, that this album is quite pretty much inspirated by the manding empire and therefore much more parth of the entire Malisenegambian world than specific Senegal, even all the songs on side B relate to senegal/gambian heros (Maki/Taara for Fuuta Tooro (nothern Sn), Bamba Bodian for easter Gambia.
Sakhodougou is nativ a old malian song, while Alalake is from Tambasanssang, very east Gambia again, with a heavy influence from Mali.
If you look for Lalo Kéba the LP „Hommage à Lalo Kéba Dramé“ might be interesting, or „Lalo Keba Dramé et sa Cora“, from 1976.
As for Soundioulou Cissokho & Maa Hawa Kouyaté:
The two vinyls of: “ L' afrique hier et demain“ will show them as best, while showing again, the Malisenegambian world.
Yes, It is said to notice, that most of the time, on the original places, you will - apart by luck an old tape - get the converted audiomaterial from youtube-movies, in obvious quality.
A.
Thank you very much for your pertinent expert comments. Regardless of their regional origins and styles they played, these musicians/singers were highly revered in Senegal, sang in Wolof language, were often invited to perform at private and public events etc. They’re thus primarily identified as Senegalese. An equally formidable kora player from that era like Sékou Batourou Kouyaté from Mali, for example, was a household name in Mali while not being well known in Senegal. After the independence of African states, the concept of country/nation also increasingly took precedence over regions and ethnic groups.
Deletethank u this looks great
ReplyDeleteroberth