Let’s ease into February with some instrumental music…

Diely Moussa Kouyaté is a Guinean guitarist most famous for his work with Salif Keita. He’s also recorded with Mama Sissoko, Kante Manfila, Souad Massi and other big name African artists.

He’s one of those musicians who quietly holds it down in the background, strumming beautiful melodies in the shadows on stage. You can hear some nice examples of his playing on Keita’s latest album, M’Bemba.

It was a great pleasure to discover that he has a 2002 solo release entitled Sebe Alaye. I came across it quite by accident at a Paris médiathèque. If you want to hear more you can grab a copy at the Fnac.

Diely Moussa Kouyate – Bamananke

Today we take a short break from my North African series and listen to a guest post from Benn loxo listener and fellow Parisian, Henri.

“Coronthie is a large working class district in Guinea’s capital, Conakry. A mightily crowded place it sure seems to be: population density there is the same as that of central Paris, for instance, although buildings tend to be built in mud and are only one story high, instead of a typical six or seven in Paris. The name of the place comes from the Portuguese word for “quarantine”, since it originally harboured Conakry’s lazaret.

From there comes a bunch of young guys (one of them is barely 13) playing traditional instruments but not the traditional way. Guinean music tends to be high-tempo and slightly harsh. These guys exude a delightful laid-back feeling; their stuff is mellow, elegant yet complex acoustic African folk.

They have been incredibly successful at home over the last two years and their last CD sold more than 70,000 copies – not bad for a small, rural country of less than 10 million people. Unfortunately, their records seem to be totally unavailable on the world market – but rejoice! they have a Myspace (in French) and will be touring Europe during the Spring of 2007.”

Thanks for the great music, Henri. Does anyone else have any suggestions for African groups on MySpace?

Les Espoirs de Coronthie – Dunuya iguiri
Les Espoirs de Coronthie – Grand GN
Les Espoirs de Coronthie – Khata remix

Quick post today from the golden age of West African salsa. Guinean salsero, Amara Touré, was part of a group of pre-independence salsa pioneers in Guinea and Senegal. Touré along with others like Laba Sosseh and the Star Band de Dakar kickstarted a West African salsa musical movement that enjoyed widespread success until the 1980s.

There are still a few good salsa bars in Dakar and elsewhere around West Africa. I squeezed in a dirty whisky salsa night in Dakar a few weeks back, though there wasn’t as much dancing as times past. Regardless, that particular house band has improved a lot since I last saw them. In other words, they weren’t just performing Guantanamera on repeat all night.

I wonder what would happen in Paris if, after a particularly good saxophone solo, I went up to the musician and shoved a 5000 CFA note in his suit?

Amara Touré – Cuando Llegare
Star Band de Dakar – Caramelo

Many of you wrote comments and e-mails praising the music from August 21st post on Momo Wandel Soumah. Thanks to several offers, I got my hands on a copy of his 1990 release, Matchowé.

The whole album is fantastic. Wandel’s West African-infused jazz sextet handles the fusion of musical styles perfectly, and his strange but lovely voice ties it all together. Among others, their cover of John Coltrane’s Afro Blue and the first recording of the song I featured last time, Toko, are gems.

I have a million things to do today so I can’t say much more, but if you’re curious about Wandel or his music check-out this article over at Afropop.

Momo Wandel Soumah – Bokme
Momo Wandel Soumah – Afro Blue
Momo Wandel Soumah – Toko

I admit to knowing nothing about Guinean musician, Moma Wandel Soumah, until about 48 hours ago. I picked-up his album, Afro Swing, at random since I liked the look of the cover. Who knew it would end up being an amazing album by one of Africa’s greatest sax players, with super-original tunes and vocals that sound like Tom Waits on Rain Dogs? I love when that happens.

Unfortunately I’ll never get a chance to hear Soumah live; he passed away in 2003 at the age of 77. Unlike many great African musicians, however, Soumah did achieve international recognition and put down a few good recordings before he died. In the early 1990s the French radio station, RTI, mobilised to get some of his music recorded in Paris. The result was the album Matchowé on Buda, one that I’ll surely be buying this week if I can find a copy.

He released Afro Swing in 2001, his only album to achieve widespread success outside of Africa and Europe. It led to his nomination in 2002 for the BBC World Music Listeners Award.

Momo Wandel Soumah – Félenko Yéfé
Momo Wandel Soumah – Toko