Monday, June 4, 2007

Musique Sans Paroles

Thanks for all the warm comments and having waited! And big thanks to Joe for help with moving around files and setting up a new server! I hope these tracks soothe your jazzy tastes, Joe!

On a trip to Senegal in 2000, I ended up visiting a transplanted Belgian who'd set up a record store in Dakar and meeting a couple of old collectors: from one, I ended up buying about 30-40 Syliphone albums. This is one of my favorite Syliphone albums of that batch: "Music Without Words." SLP 54 from 1976 showcases the skills of a variety of Guinea-Conakry's master musicians. There's Kokoba (Trio Papa Kouyate), Nananina (Sombory-Jazz), and Massane Cisse (Quintette Guineenne), and Bourou (no artist named).

If you love the Syliphone style and want to hear more, that shouldn't be too difficult. In the past years, some albums in the Syliphone Discotheque series have been reissued. If you haven't heard Bembeya Jazz (on vinyl or live, as they're touring again), do look for their reissues. Recently, Graeme Counsel did a very fine job of releasing Authenticite, a great compilation of Syliphone tracks from 1965-1980.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice one Pieter. Graeme's website and Syliphone discography has full details of this release. The track Bourou is it seems also by Trio Papa Kouyate
http://www.radioafrica.com.au/Discographies/Syliphone.html

timbo said...

Excellent selection from an album I have never heard before.

Since Graeme Counsel's name came up, you might like to know he is working on Keletigui et ses Tambourinis and Balla et ses Balladins compilations for release later this year.

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