Babacar Sambe & Le Saraba Band (Senegal)

Babacar Sambe  was born in Dakar in 1945. From the age of 14, he launched the Rio Orquestra with a few friends but become famous with Saraba Band.



Babacar Sambe est né à Dakar en 1945. Dès l'âge de 14 ans, il lance avec quelques amis, Le Rio Orquestra. et se fait connaitre avec le Saraba Band.

Thione Seck & et son ensemble (Senegal/1980)

Thione Seck is a famous Senegalese mbalax singer. Born in 1955 in Dakar, he comes from a family of griots. His great-grandfather was a singer at the court of Lat Dior, famous damel (king) Cayor, notorious resistant during french colonization. He naturally joined ceremonies and traditional festivals during his childhood such as singer or percussionist. As a percussionist, he joined the big band "Orchestra Baobab". In 1984, he created with his brother a band called "Raam Daan", delivering several albums.

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Thione Seck est un célèbre chanteur sénégalais de mbalax. 
Né en 1955 à Dakar, il est issu d'une famille de griots. Son arrière grand-père était chanteur à la cour de Lat Dior, célèbre damel (roi) du Cayor et résistant notoire à la colonisation française. 

Il participe donc naturellement dès l'enfance aux cérémonies et aux fêtes traditionnelles comme chanteur et percussionniste.

Étant percussionniste, il intègre le grand orchestre "Orchestra Baobab". 
En 1984, le grand chanteur forme avec son frère un duo appelé "Raam Daan" qui livre plusieurs albums.

OGUN: God of Iron (Dahomey) / SONGS OF WEST AFRICA (Mauritania, Senegal, Ivory-Coast) 1952

1. MUSIC FOR OGUN, GOD OF IRON (Dahomey- 1952)

This music is devoted to Ogun, god of iron, one  the most important god of Nago people from Benin or Yoruba people from Nigeria. These recordings were made in 1952 in Dahomey. Dahomean religions are those which, due to the phenomenon called " possession", the god, when certain conditions are met, temporarily incarnated in the person dedicated to him and just live few times. When answering the call of drums, Ogun manifests itself. The priests, possessed by the deity, come dance and perform a dance which is the climax of the ceremony.

2. SONGS OF WEST AFRICA (Mauritania, Senegal, Ivory-Coast- 1952)

One will find on this side of record, recordings representing various types of vocal art very different from one another. The first one, is strongly influenced by Islam. The second is influenced by christanism. Ebrie and Adioukou  recordings are testimony valuable because there are more and more difficult to collect.

Gilbert Rouget & Pierre Verger

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1. MUSIQUE POUR OGOUN, DIEU DU FER (Dahomey- 1952)

Cette musique est celle que l'on entend au cours des cérémonies consacrées chaque semaine au culte de Ogoun, une des plus importantes divinités des Nago du Bénin ou Yorouba du Nigeria. Ces enregistrements ont été réalisés au Dahomey en 1952.

Les religions Dahoméennes sont de celles où, par suite du phénomène dit "de possession", le dieu, lorsque certaines conditions sont réunies, s'incarne provisoirement en la personne qui lui est consacré et vient ainsi vivre quelques moments parmi ses fidèles. Lorsque, répondant à l'appel des tambours, Ogoun se manifeste, les officiants, possédés par la divinité, entrent en danse et exécutent une danse qui constitue le paroxysme de la cérémonie.

2. CHANTS D'AFRIQUE OCCIDENTALE (Mauritanie, Sénégal, Côte d'Ivoire - 1952)

On retrouvera sur cette face de disque des enregistrements représentatifs de divers types d'art vocal très différents les un des autres mais également caractéristiques, mes premiers d'une religion de savane extrêmement sèche, sinon désertique, fortement marquée par l'Islam, les seconds _tous polyphoniques_ d'une religion forestière où l'islam a peu pénétré mais ou le christianisme a parfois solidement pris pied, détruisant en général, de manière systématique, toute musique indigène traditionnelle. A cet égard les enregistrements  Ebrié et Adioukou (plages 6 & 7) sont autant de témoignages précieux parce que de plus en plus difficiles à recueillir, de ce qu'a été l'art du chant.

Gilbert Rouget & Pierre Verger.

King N'Gom (Senegal)

King Meissa N'Gom is a Senegalese salsero. His father was a very famous politician. His brothers and sisters have done great studies like him who went to the "Ecole Normale Supérieur" (Superior High School). But his love for music made him become the black sheep of his family. He began his career during the end of sixties and recorded several Afro-Cuban titles sung in Spanish. In 1975, he went to Benin where he had to play at the Appolo club, a legendary live music club in West Africa. He had to stay three days in Cotonou, he will stay three years and become a real star, playing with Danialou Sagbohan's band, the Djiki band, and recording few tracks. Then he left Benin for Mexico where he remained ten years, singing salsa in a hôtel. 

King Meissa N'Gom est un salsero Sénégalais issu d'une très grande famille de politiciens. Tous ses frères et soeurs ont fait de grandes études tout comme lui qui fait l'école Normale Supérieure en France. Mais son amour de la musique le fait devenir le mouton noir de la famille. Il débute sa carrière durant la fin des années 70s et enregistre plusieurs 45T de musique Afro-Cubaine chantés en Espagnol. En 1975, il part au Bénin, pour trois jours, où il doit jouer dans le club Appolo, un club mythique en Afrique de l'Ouest. Il restera trois ans, avec l'orchestre de Danialou Sagbohan, le Djiki Band, et enregistera plusieurs titres. Puis il quitte le Bénin pour le Mexique ou il restera 10 ans comme salsero dans un orchestre du Club Med.

Because of his father who did not want him to become a musician, King N'Gom went to Ivory Coast where he recorded his first tracks in 1970 on Djima Records label. On the first record, he sings the inevitable "Guantanamera" and the title "Fatema", a guaguanco that I really like.

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On the second Djima record, he sings a son ("Param Pam Pam") and guaracha ("M'Bakham Diop") with still a hard understanding spanish. But his voice and particulary the flute make us forget the language.

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This third EP posted by Worldservice blog was recorded in 1976 in Cotonou with the orchestra Les Perles Noires ("the black pearls"). I really like this one and put the link from Worldservice.

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Thirty years after the Appollo club, King N'gom is invited in Cotonou, by the owner of the club, to play with Danialou Sagbohan for the wedding of his only daughter. Backed by the Black Santiago, this live recording was unforgetable. Sagbohan is playing kettledrum and King N'Gom 's voice is better than ever. They play "El Manicero" and "El Salsero de Brazzaville", afro-latin songs that King had not sang for 15 years. Enjoy this great bonus...

King N'Gom & Danialou Sagbohan (live 2005)

Le Diamono (Senegal, 1975)

This EP from Le Diamono seems to be the first recording of the band which became later the Super Diamono. I dedicate this post to Aduna's blog which is the most senegalese among all the blogs.

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Ce disque du Diamono semble être le premier enregistrement du groupe, qui deviendra plus tard le Super Diamono. J'adore ce groupe et je dédie ce courrier au blog Aduna qui est le plus sénégalais de tous les blogs.

Star Number One (Senegal, 1976)

Orchestra "Star Number One" was founded in 1975 by Papa Serigne Seck. Papa Seck is known to be the godfather of M'Balax. This album has been released in 1976 and the title "Jangaake" is pure diamond.

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En 1975, Papa Serigne Seck décide de quitter le célèbre orchestre Star Band de Dakar, fondé en 1964, pour rejoindre l'orchestre Star Number One. Il fût le premier à introduire des instruments traditionnels sénégalais comme les sabars et tama (talking drum) dans la musique afro-cubaine. Auteur, compositeur, saxophoniste et chanteur, Papa Seck, amoureux de latin-jazz et connu pour avoir inventé le style M'balax. Cet album est sorti en 1976 et le morceau "Jangaake" est une pure merveille.

Youssou N'Dour et Le Super Etoile de Dakar (Senegal/1983)

In 1979, he formed his own ensemble, the Etoile de Dakar. His early work with the group, in the Latin style, was popular all over Africa during that time.

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In the 1980s, he developed a unique sound with his ultimate group, Super Étoile de Dakar featuring Jimi M'Baye on guitar, bassist Habib faye, and Tama (talking drum) player Assane Thiam.