Saturday, July 6, 2013

Lucie Eyenga


Grande voix de la rumba congolaise des années 1950/1960, Lucie Eyenga a été découverte par Zacharie Elenga et s’est produite avec de nombreux artistes majeurs de la scène congolaise comme Joseph Kabasélé , Tino Baroza, Dechaud, Nino Malapet, Dr Nico, Papa Noël et Abeti Masikini.
Née en 1934 à Coquelathville (actuel Bandaka), Lucie Eyenga nait dans une famille « Mongo » et baigne dans les rythmes « Zebola » et « Odemba ».
En 1954, elle est découverte à Léopoldville (Kinshasa) par Zacharie Elenga, pionnier de la guitare hawaïenne. Chanteuse expressive, capable d’improvisations, elle est bientôt remarquée par Joseph Kabasélé, leader de l’African Jazz et en 1954, se distingue sur la scène nationale en interprétant le titre « Bolingo ya la Joie » dédiée à l’association féminine kinoise, « La Joie », accompagnée par les guitaristes légendaires Tino Baroza et Dechaud.
En 1957/1958, elle se produit également avec l’orchestre Rock-A-Mambo, s’imposant rapidement avec des titres comme « Brigitte », « Mabe na yo moko », « Dit moninga », « Nasepeli mingi » et « Zozo moke ». En 1962, après la disparition de Rock A Mambo, elle rejoint à Brazzaville en 1962 l’orchestre Negro Band et enregistre avec le groupe deux chansons devenus des classiques,  « Adoula » et « Georgette » .
En 1973, elle rejoint le groupe Bakolo Miziki de Papa Noël et enregistre plusieurs succès sous le label Opika. Après plusieurs années d’inactivité, elle reparaît en 1983 dans l’African Fiesta Sukisa de Dr Nico puis rejoint Abeti Masikini l’année suivante et enregistre avec elle deux albums produits par l’IAD (Industrie Africaine du disque) et qui reprennent ses grands succès au sein de l’African Jazz et Kabasele et du Rock-a-Mambo de Nino Malapet.
Lucie Eyenga s’éteint le 12 Décembre 1987 à Kinshasa, à l’âge de 53 ans. Elle demeure dans la mémoire des Congolais une des plus grandes voix féminines de la rumba.

from
http://www.starducongo.com


Wednesday, July 3, 2013

the Kela tree



...and from the mother to the children

Not all the Diabate from Kela become famous artists, but among every generation there are some who are successful. The patrilineage to which Siramori belongs seems to have a special talent for music. Her grandfather Kelabalaba is considered to be the first Diabate ever to be the official spokesman in the septennial recitation of the Sunjata epic. His four sons have inherited this talent . Siramori's father, Bintufaama, was a renowned player of the ngoni, the traditional Mande lute. The people in Kela still mention him as a great artist, and his ngoni is said to have continued to play even after he had stopped playing it. Siramori's agemates El Haji Bala and El Haji Yamudu both had impressive careers as musicians.  They both had their own music group with which they toured Mande.  Among Siramori's classificatory grandchildren, Kasemadi (aka Kasse Mady) is by far the most famous. Kassemadi sang in the 1980s with bands like National Badema A and B. Today he lives in Paris and his records are sold all over the world. His younger brother Lanfia is not only a fine ngoni player, but has also an outstanding voice and features in the Bajourou trio. In the 1980s Lanfia was the singer of Mali's legendary Rail Band.
Some of Siramori's children have "inherited" their parents' talent. Siramori was married to Nankoman Kouyate, a balafon player who played in the group in which Siramori was a singer and dancer. Her two daughters Sanudje and Bintan are considered to be the inheritors of Siramori's secrets. Sanudje is a professional singer, who alternates stays in Bamako and Paris. She has made one cassette in Paris, with Ibrahim Sylla, the producer for many Malian artists. Sanudje's sister Bintan has married a Diabate from Kela and she has acquired a central role in music performances in Kela. Two of Siramori's sons are also active as professional musicians. Her youngest son, Lansine Kouyate, is a talented balafon player who played on Salif Keita's latest album, Folon. Her second son, Sidiki, is a guitar player who travels through the Mande region with his electric band. His home base is his mother's compound in Kangaba.

Jan Jansen

and as it is a family affair 

Siramori Diabaté:
Tira magan 

Lansiné Diabaté & Bintan Kouyaté with El Hadji Yamudu Diabate, Lanfia Diabate &  Kasemadi Kamisoko:

Sanungwe Kouyaté & Kassé Mady:

------

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Siramori Diabaté





from the daughter to the mother .....

Siramori was first of all a descendant of the famous Diabaté griots of Kela, a village at the banks of the  Djoliba river (aka Niger), 100 kilometers southwest of Bamako. She was born  around 1925, the daughter of Bintufaama Diabate .

Being a Diabaté from Kela more or less shaped her life. The Diabaté  have long been considered
the keepers of the "true" version of the Sunjata epic and Kela is a so-called "school of oral tradition ". Siramori Diabaté   was  rolled in this tradition, and therefore she stayed in Kangaba but on the other hand  she actively participated in urban life in Bamako.

She appealed to a new generation that derived its identity primarily from being citizens of the nation state of Mali, and less from its ethnic background. Siramori is generally acknowledged as a person who bridged the old and the new and her songs are appreciated by all kinds of people, whatever their age or ethnic background .This is a remarkable achievement, and Y. F. Koné does not exaggerate when hè writes:

Rare are the jaliw who know how to speak to all Malians in their diversity
Siramory Diabaté has managed this....

 Jan Jansen from  this pdf



2 versions of the Tiramagan Fasa with Siramori Diabaté

1988 rec by Jan Jansen  with Sidiki Kouyaté on acoustic guitar

1974 rec by John W. Johnson



Friday, June 28, 2013

Dona Tututa Évora


Epifânia de Freitas Silva Ramos Évora, better known as Tututa, was born in Mindelo, on the island of São Vicente, on January 6, 1919, the daughter of António da Silva Ramos and Eugénia Maria e Freitas Silva Ramos. Following in the footsteps of her father,the pioneer coladeira composer Anton Tchitche, Tututa became an excellent pianist, who enchanted the city of Mindelo in the 1940s and 50s.
Also an excellent composer, Tututa Èvora, who now resides on the island of Sal, has also given Cape Verde two singers: her daughters Sónia and Magda Évora.



with Taninho,a really beautiful record  



&
Dona Tututa on her 90th birthday celebration in Mindelo :

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe-Obiajulu 78



"A country without music is a dead nation"
Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe

His  fans called him the"Doctor of hypertension",a reference to the healing power of his music,that joyous,celebratory highlife,the juncture where high-society bands and African rhythms and idioms meet.
Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe reinvented highlife by adding the sounds of merengue and rumba and succeeded in completely transforming it into the call-and-response pattern of African music.
Born in March 1936 in Atani,near the Igbo trading city of Onitsha to Dennis Obi Osadebe and Iyom Nwanjiego in 1934,Osadebe had his early education
at the St. John Catholic School and the Our Lady’s High School both in Onisha, Anambra State.
On completion of secondary school, Osadebe had a stint as a clerk with the SCOA before plunging into full time music in 1958.
He first joined Stephen Amechi’s Empire Rhythm Skies as a vocalist and maracas player.
Osadebe later left Amechi for such notable bands like the E.C. Arinze’s,Agu Norris’,
Eric Onugha’s Eddy Okonta’s, Chuks Nwamama’s, Zeal Onyia’s and Charles Iwegbue’s groups.
Surprisingly, in 1960, Osadebe quit music and headed for the classroom. For 2 years, between 1960 and 62, he studied Trade Unionism in the Soviet Union.
But after obtaining his diploma, in 1962, Osadebe returned to the country to establish Stephen Osadebe and His Nigerian Sound Makers.
He describes the points of his music as:
"Two personalities were greatly respected and sought-after during those highlife days -the vocalist and the guitar player. The guitarist provided palm wine chords which held the orchestra togetherand also indulged in interminably long guitar solos that kept dancers on the floor for long periods of time.
The vocalist projected the entire band and remained the main focus. Osadebe was one of the leading singers
on the scene - along with Joe Mensah, Tunde Osofisan, Godwin Omabuwa.
Acclaimed for his sonorous voice and rootsy Igbo Iyrics Osadebe recorded about 100 records including singles,extended and lp's in his repertoire
A prolific composer,Osadebe has won many honors and awards including the PMAN award . He also had the title Ogbuefi Ezealulukwu in his village.A real chief!

discography of Stephen Osita Osadebe

Stephen Osita Osadebe passed away at the age of 73 on the 11th of May, 2007.
Emmanuel Obiajulu,Osadebe’s eldest son
followed his father’s footsteps,but unfortunately passed away at the beginning of 09.

more on Obiajulu Osadebe



the evergreen

Obiajulu
My heart has found rest....


(...i can't claim the same  but my heart surely  melts in joy watching the video
-thanks to codewit from youtube)