Air Afrique

rumba,boogaloo and rock & roll was the sound 

of the young (rich & proud)  independent West Africa

that was flying exclusively with Air Afrique of course

Orchestre Baobab + Kante Manfila

Africa (Mon Afrique)-Air Afrique

Africa

  combined next 2 songs and an opportunity to present these [fabulous] photographs

Moussa N'gom  + Lakale Posse & Doudou 

in

Africa 

*

Sona Djeli Kouyaté

the Star of  Hamana in her
Hommage a Sona Mamady Conde k7 from 1993

Fama Denke / Kana Kassi

I makun de, faama denkè i kana kasi de, jara denkè

A-a-a-a-la-amè le A-a-a-ala-a-mè le

I kana kasi de, faamakè denkè i makun de, jara denkè

A ye n fale fè, foroba sanu a ye n fale fè

A ye n fa le fè, jònmoso kuru wo bè ye n fale fè

A ya n fa le fè, jònkè kuru wo ye n fale fè

han! faama yá mirila munde ma? jòn dibile tèèra

Ala biri bunya, banku la bunya-o tè

Alale i bunya faamakè denkè i kana kasi de, jara denkè i makun de jara denkè

han! jara y'a mirila munde ma? moonò tè han!

Wula ka jan Faransi wula n da masiri tè

N ye n fale ma faamakè den kè i kana kasi jandi

A ye ilele fè pilium kala wo bè n fale fè

A ye n fale fè faamakè deinkè i kana kasi de jara denkè

Ala biri bunya Ala biri bunya Ala biri bunya

han! faama y'a mirila munde ma? moonò tè han! duba jabira

A ye n fale fè jònmoso kuru a ye n fale fè

I kana kasi de, faama den tè kasila i makun jandi

the lullaby version sang by Kondé Kouyaté  on track 1
the original version (Eng and Fr translations )of Fama Denke  can be  found here

don't cry son of the Chief / son of the Lion.

5 versions of Fama Denke plus 2 more of the Kana Kassi variation:

1-Madame Kondé Kouyaté-Fama denke-berceuse
2-Nantenedie Kamissoko-Fama denke
3-El Hadj Djeli Sory Kouyate - Fama Denké
4-Mamoutou Mangala Camara- Famadinke.
5-Mamady Mansare-Famadenque 
6-Ibrahima Nyas-Jata Di'Key Kana Kasi
7-Kante Manfila & Balla Kalla-Kana Kassi

Fama Denke / Kana Kassi 

Kaniba Oule Kouyaté

Je salue les griots d'excellence

Diabate

Le Mystère Jazz de Tombouctou

for readers

and listeners

KO 77.04.17

Nyota - Black Star & Lucky Star Musical Club

In the 60's Black Star Musical Club took taarab along a different path by taking the rhythms from the dansi groups of the era,and also added the electric guitar, bass,

and ultimately the keyboard, and replaced the older taarab instruments like the oud,

the string double bass, and the harmonium.Black Star Musical Club developed a rivalry with a group

that broke off from it called Lucky Star Musical Club, also known as Nyota Njema, which means Lucky Star in Swahili. Throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s, these two bands warred with each other by singing songs

about each other, but always through the employ of metaphor.They would have very rarely sung

direct insults toward each other. Taarab, the poetic form, is well-known for its use of innuendo and metaphor

and multiple layers of meaning to talk about social life, and comment on social life.

In the seventies and eighties, Black Star and Lucky Star,became famous not only in Tanga.

It went far beyond that, because they were also recorded by studios not too far away in Mombasa,

just across the border in Kenya. Their recordings were played on Radio Tanzania, and also in Kenya,

on KBC, and the popularity of Black Star and Lucky Star spread throughout what is now Tanzania.

by Kelly Askew

Nyota