Zongo Adama

...is the name of this group of young warriors from Burkina


Naab Koega

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

*****

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:

Tiramagan fasa

Sanungwe Kouyaté & Kassé Mady:

------

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

A Yelema

Bintan Kouyaté

A Yelema

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  

Cap-Vert 1969-1999

&

Dona Tututa on her 90th birthday celebration in Mindelo :

Adama Couloubally

Adama Couloubally

in
Ngon Ma Di Be
the destructive baboon 

thanks to mela & ng & Baba
:) :)