Rare recordings from the vaults
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Orchestre National de Mauritanie
circa 1969 1 - Saraba (Talla Amadou Diané, Wolof) 2 - Polel siery (Souleymane Koné, Fulfuldé) 3 - Oumletna (Mohamed O. Nigdhei, Hassaniya) 4 - Soyna mousso (Talla Amadou Diané, Soninké) 5 - Analé (Talla Amadou Diané, Fulfuldé) Click here and here for full videos of the orchestra and here for compact disc releases |
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In the
1960s and 1970s many African governments
supported a national orchestra which
featured the nation's top musicians. The
groups were tasked with presenting repertoires of
indigenous music within a modern
performance setting. Borrowing from
local and regional music traditions, the
musicians transposed melodies to
western instrumentation and contextualised
lyrics and proverbs for the edification of contemporary
audiences. These groups were emblematic of
a
nation's aspirations to promote unity through national culture
while demonstrating the possibilities of new African musical
styles. The role of the orchestras was significant: they
were not only the
voice of the state, delivering the government’s initiatives and policies
through their music, but were also trend-setters in terms of
culture and fashion.
Their roles in developing and introducing new styles of popular
African music were significant. In the late 1960s the Mauritanian government sent their newly formed national orchestra to Guinea, where they received training from Guinea's elite musicians. Under President Sékou Touré, Guinea had pioneered the transformation of indigenous music through the cultural policy of authenticité, which was realised through funding for national annual arts competitions, the esstablishment of the Syliphone recording label, and the creation of hundreds of modern orchestras, dance troupes, theatrical groups and traditional musical ensembles throughout the nation. These songs come from the Orchestre National de Mauritanie’s first recording session, at the Voix de la Révolution studios in Conakry. My research indicates that a second session of material was also recorded, but appears lost. |
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S. E. Rogie
June 16 1966 1 - Miatta banya 2 - Nyaa 3 - Long live Tubman 4 - Nor look me leck datt 5 - Too many women 6 - The secrets of Banja Tejan-sie 7 - People pikin |
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Here is the star
of Sierra Leonean music, Sooliman Ernest Rogers, aka S. E. Rogie,
recorded in Conakry in 1966. His deep country music influences are
apparent on the excellent collection of his material "Palm wine
guitar music: The 60s sounds", released by Cooking Vinyl. Here,
however, they are
much plainer and starker. "Too many women" is a stand-out, with
strong blues and country idioms present. In the 1960s many musicians toured Conakry, capital of Guinea. Sékou Touré's government was the poster-child for pan-Africanism in the region, and USA jazz musicians, Ghanaian highlife bands, ensembles from Eastern bloc nations, and many others performed for local audiences. Some of these touring artists were even recorded for Syliphone, the Guinean state-owned recording label, such as the African Khalam Orchestra, who hailed from Senegal. These recordings by S E Rogie also hail from the vaults of the Guinean archives. |
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