Afrique Vol. 2 – Guinée / Sénégal / Dahomey – Vogue EXTP 1029

GUINEA – SENEGAL – BENIN
Afrique Vol. 2 – Guinée / Sénégal / Dahomey – Vogue EXTP 1029, recorded by Gilbert Rouget in 1952 (7 in 45 RPM)

This seminal 7-inch album, recorded during the 1952 IFAN (Institut Français d’Afrique Noire) mission by the eminent French ethnomusicologist Gilbert Rouget (1916-2017) – known for his authoritative work on the relations between music and possession – showcases great authentic West African music of old recorded in Guinea, Senegal and Benin, including terrific gourd-resonated balafon xylophones (A1).

 

Ce remarquable 45 tours, enregistré en 1952 à l’occasion d’une mission de l’IFAN (Institut Français d’Afrique Noire) par l’éminent ethnomusicologue Gilbert Rouget (1916-2017) – connu pour son travail sur les relations entre musique et possession – présente d’authentiques musiques ouest-africaines du monde traditionnel d’antan enregistrées en Guinée, au Sénégal et au Bénin, avec notamment un jeu mémorable de balafons (xylophones avec gourdes résonantes) (A1).

GUINEA – GUINÉE

A1 – Malinke (or Mandinka) – Celebration music.
Three griot balafon players, including leader Sidi Mamadi Diabate (pictured on front cover), and three female singers, jingle bells.

A2 – Malinke people – Parade music;

Two bolon harps and singers.

 

A3 – Malinke people – circumcision music;

Drums and boy’s choir.

 

B1 – Kono (or Konan) people – Worksong;

Singer, jingle bells, and the workers’ voices.

 

SENEGAL – SÉNÉGAL

B2 – Wolof people – Religious chant;

Three blind male singers from the Tidjane Sufi brotherhood (tariqa) led by Yatma Ndiaye from Saint-Louis, Senegal.

 

BENIN – BÉNIN

B3 – Fon people – Historic chant;

Women’s choir and flutes. Here women narrate the story of the mpété three-holed reed flute which may only be played by the royal Dossou Yovo family.

Download:

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MP3

Our other post from the Vogue 7-inch series:

Afrique Vol.4 – Mauritanie Guinea Benin Ivory Coast – Vogue EXTP 1032 here

Vintage postcard of venerable Vodun (Vodou, Voodoo) priests-dancers, 

Abomey, Benin:

Vintage postcard of young priest with sacred pythons, presumably Ouidah, Benin:

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