Bernard RUJINDIRI master of the Inanga

RUJINDIRI was born around 1900 from a TWA mother in Munanira (Masango-Gitarama) and at
the time of this recording in 1974 residing on the hill Mbati (Mugina-Gitarama). He stayed regularly at the court of Mwami MUSINGA and RUDAHIGWA and made music for the pleasure of the king and his entourage or when dignitaries paid a visit. He was rewarded on the day of his departure with a cow and a little money.
 Most of his repertory dates from the period of RWABUGIRI and was composed to celebrate his war victories. RUJINDIRI mentioned such names as RUDAKEMWA, KARIRA, RUKA- RAMANZI and GICUNATIRO as important "historical" inanga composers, all of whom were at the time staying at the court of Mwami RWABUGIRI.
RUJINDIRI himself learnt his repertory from his father MAHWEHWE (born during the reign of RWOGERA, and died around 1920), who in turn was a student of GICUNATIRO. Other renown zither players since deceased are KISIRIBOBO, SEGIKWIYE, RUZAMBA, RUTANGIRA and SEBATUNZI.

  The old Inanga repertory that evoked that history of the kingdom virtually disappeared during the period which followed the toppling of the monarchy and the installation of the Republic. And this accentuated once again the historical and cultural value of RUJINDIRI'S repertory.
Since then, the textual content of the inanga repertory has changed radically and today consists of themes which extol the qualities of the political authorities (national and local) and celebrate incidents from the daily life on the hills.
Whereas in earlier times inanga music was the privilege of TUTSI, today inanga players can be found among both the TUTSI and the HUTU.
The oldest and most characteristic songs accompanied on the Inanga date from the time of the monarchy. According to the oral tradition, this inanga music existed already at the time of YUHI III MAZIMPAKA (1700-1730). Earlier, inanga music was performed by the ruling TUTSI class; it sang historical events, the heroic deeds of warriors, and the wisdom, courage and generosity of the king. In this way, the textual content
accompaniment. From this he builds up his own repertory, based on melodies and texts of his own
composition as well as of songs learnt from the master or other famous inanga players, to which he gives a personal touch.

Traditionally, inanga music is performed by a singer-instrumentalist who accompanies himself on the zither. The performance technique of RUJINDIRI differs from the traditional style, since he performs an important part of his repertory himself, accompanied by two vocal accompanists, SEMAHE and NYIRASHIRAMBE. In general, the music of RUJINDIRI is characterised by a tempo giusto alternating with a tempo rubato when the textual content requires it. This gives a very melodic character to this narrative music in which the accompanying function of the inanga shows up extremely well. His songs are made out of successive strophes, which are usually distinguished from each other by an instrumental interlude.

Furthermore, he enriches his music by adding a melodic hum at the beginning of the song, by gracing a few notes, by beating an additional rhythm on the resonance-box and by a recitative style in some passages. This latter characteristic is found in tracks 3 and 10, where he recites the text in the traditional style of the ibyivugo,a literary genre originating from the TUTSI culture, whereby the singer recites the heroic of the king, the chiefs, the warriors and sometimes also himself. Some  see this as an indication that inanga music could probably have originated from  ibyivugo. Initially recited and accompanied by the inanga, these texts must were given a melody at a later time. A similar phenomenon seems to have occurred with  the pastoral poetry amahamba and the dynastic poetry igisigo, that recited as well as sung versions exist even today.

 Inanga

*

Philip Tabane-The Indigenous Afro-Jazz Sounds

These are the indigenous Afro-Jazz Sounds of The Genius,Philip Tabane-the original Malombo Jazzman.
It started in 1964,at Orlando Stadium,when Philip went on stage,leading his group-The Malombo Jazzmen.
On that Saturday afternoon,South Africa was staging it's third Jazz Festival.Philip and his group
walked away with all the honours.
Malombo Jazz-music was introduced for the first time that year.This group,started up as a trio
and consisted of Flute,Guitar and Drums.
Philip has now parted company with the other two members,and today he plays
alongside a youmg drummer by the name of Gabriel "Sonnyboy" Thobejane.
This young man is tremendously versatile and plays the Thumb Piano known as "Dipela" in Northen Sotho,and Drums.
On this LP Philip plays Guitar, Penny Whistle and Drums.Listen to the way Philip plays
the Penny Whistle and Drums on "Dithaberg".
His inherent feel and the knowledge of the instuments can quite obviously be heard.
Mastery to say the least!He sings about his sister's child on "Ke Utilwile",meaning "I've had Enough".
Sit back ,relax and absorb the vocal and instrumental artistry of Philip Tabane.

Ray Nkwe-president of the Jazz Appreciation Society of South Africa.
1969


Ke Utilwile

Ali Touré dit Farka

***** 


 

to me blue is just a color. 
My music came long before the blues was born
 

Moon...

,,,,,Smile

^

Bajourou

Djelimady Tounkara and  Bouba Sacko met for once in Bamako in November 1992 
Lafia Diabate  former Rail Band singer and brother of Kassé Mady Diabaté
came from  Kela  to add  the voice
their meeting  was recorded directly in DAT by Ben Mandelson
the result,prime Mande guitar music was Bajourou ,the big Sound

 Bajourou

Sona Diabaté

Née en 1959 à Tiro, en Guinée, l’auteure-compositrice, guitariste, balafoniste et chanteuse, Sona Diabaté, propose un afro-folk tiré de la musique mandingue, intégrant du folk, du blues, et tantôt de la pop ou de l’afro-cubain. Elle est aussi membre fondateur de l’Orchestre Féminin de la Gendarmerie Nationale de Guinée devenu Les Amazones de Guinée, première formation féminine d’Afrique de l’Ouest, fondée en 1961 par la volonté du président Ahmed Sékou Touré (1922-1984) et sous l’impulsion de Keïta Fodéba.
Fille de l’immense chanteur, balafoniste et ex Directeur de l’Ensemble Instrumental de Guinée, El’Hadj Djéli Fodé Diabaté, qui lui transmet l’héritage griottique familial et lui apprend le chant et le balafon, Sona Diabaté est la sœur de Sayon Diabaté et de Sékou Diabaté dit “Diamond Fingers”, légendaire guitariste du Bembeya Jazz qui lui donne goût à la guitare.
Nago Seck

 SLP77

grand papa diabaté

"In the late 1950s, as most African nations were gaining their political independence, Papa Diabate (born in Faranah, Guinea, 1936) was developing a new single-note style of African guitar playing based on using a plectrum rather than the thumb and index finger technique used throughout Africa.
Having learned his scales and other European musical techniques at the conservatory of music in Dakar,
Papa set about merging those techniques with Guinean music to create an original guitar style that could cut through and help power the brass-based dance orchestras that were on the rise.
He may indeed have been the first of his generation in Guinea to play the electric guitar. Certainly he was the most prominent.
The list of electric guitarists who cite him as their inspiration and teacher includes the best that Guinea had to offer in the 1960s and 70s: Manfila Kante, who ended up in Mali co-leading Les Ambassadeurs with vocalist Salif Keita, Sekou “Bembeya” Diabate of Bembeya Jazz , and Papa’s younger brother Sekou “Docteur” Diabate, who was the soloist with Bala et ses Balladins.
Although Papa Diabate trained the initial generation of Guinean electric guitarists, he himself rarely recorded commercially in his early years."

 Grand Papa Diabaté here, is accompanied by Moriken Kouyate ,Bakary Kanté,Kante Manfila,Djessou Mory Kanté, and the sublime Sona Diabaté on vocals.

 guitar,extra dry


bonus track:
Papa & Sekou Diabaté - Les virtuoses Diabaté