Story of Keme Burema
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Story of Keme Burema
by bubudi » Wed Apr 07, 2010 3:16 am
january 2009 as the dust settles in kela, mali, a group of jeliw (griots) get together to perform some of the classics of the mande jeli repertoire.
during the 15th century there was a kingdom of wasulu which occupied much of upper guinea. its military general was almamy samori toure, and his younger brother, ibrahima toure, was the head of state. thanks to them both they successfully resisted the french, declaring that they preferred freedom in poverty over slavery, but were eventually overcome in a siege in sikasso, where ibrahima was killed and samory was surrounded and eventually surrendered. despite being promised release in his home he was imprisoned with his wives in st louis, senegal, before being exiled to gabon, where he later died of pneumonia at age 67. there exists a postcard with a picture of the incarcerated family in st louis. ibrahima toure's nickname keme burema is a derivative of the name ibrahima, and the word keme, meaning 100, referring to the hundreds he killed during the many great battles he fought in his lifetime.
the main singer in the video above is kasse mady diabate, with help from awa diabate. there's also amara diabate relating bits in speech. you'll notice one jeli keeps saying 'namu', which means 'indeed!' that's amadouba diabate. the 2 guitarists are lafia and mamadi diabate. sidiki diabate on the tama and buba diabate on the n'goni.
there are 2 very important recordings of this epic. the first is that by sory kandia kouyate (1973), with kora accompaniment by sidiki diabate (toumani's dad). kandia's voice is so moving in this piece. here it is in 2 parts:
the second is the album length version by bembeya jazz (1970) titled regard sur le passe.
keme bourema was originally played on bala and the bala player for bembeya jazz at the time was none other than el hadj djeli sory kouyate. here's him playing this very piece on the bala in his courtyard in conakry (2006), with yakouba kouyate adding bala accompaniment and the odd embelishment.
during the 15th century there was a kingdom of wasulu which occupied much of upper guinea. its military general was almamy samori toure, and his younger brother, ibrahima toure, was the head of state. thanks to them both they successfully resisted the french, declaring that they preferred freedom in poverty over slavery, but were eventually overcome in a siege in sikasso, where ibrahima was killed and samory was surrounded and eventually surrendered. despite being promised release in his home he was imprisoned with his wives in st louis, senegal, before being exiled to gabon, where he later died of pneumonia at age 67. there exists a postcard with a picture of the incarcerated family in st louis. ibrahima toure's nickname keme burema is a derivative of the name ibrahima, and the word keme, meaning 100, referring to the hundreds he killed during the many great battles he fought in his lifetime.
- postcard of samory toure and his wives in st louis prison awaiting deportation to gabon.
- st_louis_samory_prison.jpg (23.93 KiB) Viewed 244 times
the main singer in the video above is kasse mady diabate, with help from awa diabate. there's also amara diabate relating bits in speech. you'll notice one jeli keeps saying 'namu', which means 'indeed!' that's amadouba diabate. the 2 guitarists are lafia and mamadi diabate. sidiki diabate on the tama and buba diabate on the n'goni.
there are 2 very important recordings of this epic. the first is that by sory kandia kouyate (1973), with kora accompaniment by sidiki diabate (toumani's dad). kandia's voice is so moving in this piece. here it is in 2 parts:
the second is the album length version by bembeya jazz (1970) titled regard sur le passe.
keme bourema was originally played on bala and the bala player for bembeya jazz at the time was none other than el hadj djeli sory kouyate. here's him playing this very piece on the bala in his courtyard in conakry (2006), with yakouba kouyate adding bala accompaniment and the odd embelishment.
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