How West African Ancestral Music Became Pop

Check out my new piece on OZY about El Hadj Sidikida Diabate, his sons, and the start of Guinean National Orchestras in West Africa. 

On January 15, 1959, Sidikiba put together the first Guinean national orchestra, the Syli National Orchestra. The played at international festivals, including this one in 1969. 

Check out more music and stories of the Guinean orchestras here on the blog. 

     President Sekou Toure was committed to Pan-Africanism and sustaining Guinean culture, so in addition to the national orchestras that he subsidized, he also started a national recording label called Syliphone. A huge number of the Syliphone records are available online for listening. Dr. Graeme Counsel saved many of these records through his trips to Guinea, and his website features music, videos, and more reading on Guinea and the national orchestras. 

A 1962 recording of the Syli National Orchestra, which split into Balla et Ses Balladins and Keletigui et Ses Tambourinis. 

      For broader context of the Sekou Toure and his vision for Guinea, this 22-minute film from East Germany features the cultural programming that was supposed to bring Guinea together.

In both of these clips of the successors to the Syli National Orchestra, you can hear the strong Latin and Afro-Cuban influences in the music. Guinean bands seemed to just miss the world music craze in the 1980s, but they laid the foundations for strong orchestras that celebrated the past and looked toward the future. 

Although later than the time period I focused on in the OZY piece, this is one of my favorite videos of Bembeya Jazz. They get so funky, both with their music and dancing. 

     One of the most well-known groups from Guinea is Bembeya National Jazz, featured in the documentary above in color. Afropop Worldwide did an excellent piece on Bembeya with music and interviews. Music Time in Africa also has a blog entry on Bembeya, with a focus on the treasure Leo Sarkisian, the first Westerner to record the Guinean musicians. Sekou "Bembeya" Diabate was the lead guitarist, and had his first guitar lesson from Sidikiba's son, Papa Diabate, who had learned western music at the conservatory in Dakar, Senegal.

     Horoya Band was another well-known and well-traveled national orchestra from Guinea. These bands combined more western instrumentation with the traditional beats and themes of traditional music. You can listen to recordings from 1957 (before independence) here.