CHAD – TCHAD Anthologie de la Musique du Tchad – Les Sara – Ocora OCR 36

CHAD – TCHAD
Anthologie de la Musique du Tchad – Les Sara – Ocora OCR 36 – recorded by Charles Duvelle & Michel Vuylsteke,  photographs by Charles Duvelle, 1966 (from 3 LP Box Set)

 

Here’s a second record from the gorgeous three-LP anthology of Chadian traditional music released on the legendary first Ocora series. This album showcases the fascinating polyrhythmic musics of Sara ethnic/cultural groups from Southern Chad, including the Madjingaye (A1-A3), Nar (A4), Gor (B1-B2), Kaba (B3), Doba (B4) and Kabba-Deme (B5) peoples. We will post the third and last LP from the box set shortly.

 

Voici un deuxième disque de la magnifique anthologie de trois disques de la légendaire première série Ocora sur la musique traditionnelle du Tchad. Cet album présente les fascinantes musiques polyrythmiques des groupes ethniques/culturels Sara du sud du Tchad, notamment les Madjingaye (A1-A3), les Nar (A4), les Gor (B1-B2), les Kaba (B3), les Doba (B4) et les Kabba-Deme ( B5). Nous posterons également le dernier disque du coffret très prochainement.

Madjingaye people

A1 – Nal Kaya performed after the harvest;

Twelve nal bamboo whistles of various sizes, a gangua drum (see photograph scan 9) and a kod girkoutou drum;

Recorded in Bédaya, May 1966.

 

A2 – Ndo Banan initiation for girls;

Several dozens female dancers sing and shake the metal rattles they wear (see photographs scans 10 & 11);

Recorded in Bédaya, May 1966.

 

A3 – To music to accompany dances by men in pairs;

Singing and whistling in call-reponse and hand-clapping by the male singers and dancers (see photograph scan 13);

Recorded in Bédaya, May 1966.

 

Nar people

A4 – Funeral song;

Sung by a group of women with lead singer and chorus;

Recorded in Bekamba, April 1966.

 

Gor people

B1 – Beul dance for initiates;

A 14-blade xylophone and drum accompany the initiates (see photographs scans 14 & 15);

Recorded in Bodo, April 1966.

 

B2 – Praises to honor traditional chiefs;

André Toujibé sings and plays the vertically held eight-cord kendé harp;
Recorded in Bodo, April 1966.

 

Kaba people

B3 – Festival music and dance;

Eight lal bamboo whistles, a 14-blade kounou xylophone, a vertical gangue drum, a kondalé drum, an mbara calabash rattle and an animal horn (see photograph scan 16);

Recorded in Békan, April 1966.

 

Doba people

B4 – Pa Roman funeral song;

A male singer, two 15-blade koundou xylophones, a gangue vertical drum and a kodé drum (see photograph scan 18); 

Recorded in Goré-Nord, April 1966.

 

Kabba-Deme people

B5 – Mbilé song to encourage the wrestlers;

A musician sings and plays a 13-blade kendé xylophone (see photograph scan 19); 

Recorded in Bohobé, May 1966.

 

 

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Ethnomusicologist Charles Duvelle (1937-2017) was a formidable champion of traditional music who greatly contributed to the preservation of a disappearing world in our age of globalization, when the rich diversity of our past is quickly being erased and forgotten.

 

Raised in Indochina, Duvelle was an accomplished classical pianist with a great ear who reveled in new forms of music, like Jazz. He made his indelible mark as general editor of the French label Ocora, whose many remarkable recordings had a qualitative impact that’s impossible to overstate. Showcasing the complexity, diversity, and sometimes high level of abstraction of traditional music, such luminaries as David Byrne, Brian Eno and countless Jazz musicians have readily acknowledged the influence of these seminal LPs on their music and for opening new musical vistas.

 

Our other Chadian music posts:

Anthologie de la musique du Chad – Le Mayo-Kebbi Occidental – Ocora OCR 37 here
Chad (Kanem) – Unesco Collection – BM 30 L 2309 here

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