Ibrahima Boka Camara

[bubudi]

raised in the artistic district of matam in conakry, boka was trained by the great djembe master, lamine 'lopez' soumah (former artistic director of percussions de guinee) and showed great promise from a very young age. in his youth he starred in les percussions juniors beside fara tolno, mohamed bangourake, sekouba conde, souleymane camara, babara bangoura and ismael bangoura.

most extraordinary about boka was his incredible speed, fluidity and musicality which is unparalleled by anyone. he was one of very few people possessing impeccably clean technique while playing at great speed. yet he didn't overplay. his skills were sought out by students of the djembe the world over, including france and italy, where he gave some memorable workshops. boka chose, however, to remain in guinea and pass on his knowledge to the new generation, founding the group boka juniors, with his students.

sadly, boka camara passed away from illness at the young age of 33. at the time of his death, boka was probably the greatest guinean djembefola of the younger generation during his time. yet he remained very humble and always gave huge respect to his elders and teachers. he spoke with utter respect of lopez soumah, sekouba camara and mamady keita.

it is tragic that boka died so young but he left his imprint on the manding percussion music and leaves a legacy behind with his many students. boka managed to record 4 cds, being 'allah nana' with his group boka juniors, 'djembe kan' with mohamed bangourake, 'keyim ba' with sibo bangoura and 'respect' with abdourahmane bangoura and other great young artists of matam. may his soul rest in peace.


boka solos at a post workshop performance in milan, april 2007


playing alongside his friend babara bangoura at the same performance



cd 'allah nana' with his group boka jrs (tracklist: kassa deni, yokui, dennadon, konden, gidamba, yankadi, konkoba, soli gbereduka, fonyeba, kirindeya, foret sacret)


cd 'respect' with abdourahman bangoura and friends


cd 'djembe kan' with mohamed bangoura, aka bangourake


cd 'keyim ba' with sibo bangoura


cd 'sabou youma' with moussa camara, aka tanga (tracklist: moussa nana djiranba 2, kassa foly guiba, kawadon, foret, khanouteya, yoki, doundounba takossaba-filana, djalonkadon, doun doun kan, sabar n'nakan, denadon, africa, bara.

[bubudi]

boka in an intense djembekan at the close of his milan workshop


boka and babara bangoura in a krin duo


boka leading his group, boka jrs, at a spectac at the house of les etoiles du fareta, 2004


boka jrs at a spectac in conakry, showing what they can do without their teacher

[Dugafola]

Boka in Matam. Tabaski 1/20/05.

[bops]

What a huge loss.

He was amazing. His talent and musicality was really, really rare. He was a monster, and all the young jembefolaw in Conakry copied his style and his licks. But I've never heard anyone else that could play like him.

[bubudi]

indeed boka was liked and respected by many djembefolas not only in his generation but those before and after him... the konate family, bangoura family... too many to mention...

here's 18 mins worth of old footage showing boka in his youth with the percussions juniors de guinee, along with mohamed and ismael bangoura (please be patient for videos to load).


soli lent


tiriba


konowulen

[bubudi]

boka camara tearing up the stage with harouna dembele and thomas guei at a memorable concert in fati hall, paris.



boka camara at a special appearance last year at the somone festival de danses et percussions africaines in senegal.

[t******9]

Thanks so much for this posting, I hadn't seen the 2nd video. Boka's passing was such a shockingly sad event. He relished playing so much; that deep fluent intensity and his rhythmic musicality was unmatched in younger djembe masters I've seen.

Do you know where to find the "Allah Nana" cd he did with his Boka Jrs. group, and the "Respect" one with A. Bangoura?

Thanks Much.

[bubudi]

both were independent recordings without good distribution.
you can get respect from balankan@hotmail.co.jp
for allah nana contact ismailbangoura@bassicoloafrodanza.com or info@djembe.it

[bubudi]

found this on the tube

rest in peace boka

[djembedreamin']

There are a few, very few, videos of this great artist available on Youtube. Does anyone know of any others around or available?

[guedom]

Hi djembedreamin' take a look here

[bops]

I have some, I'll try to post them in the near future.

[bubudi]

looking forward to it, bops!

[Dugafola]

cd 'allah nana' with his group boka jrs (tracklist: kassa deni, yokui, dennadon, konden, gidamba, yankadi, konkoba, soli gbereduka, fonyeba, kirindeya, foret sacret)

listened to this on the way in and realized he rips through Kontermeru on this album as well. i think it's tagged on the back side of Kassa.

[davidognomo]

here's 18 mins worth of old footage showing boka in his youth with the percussions juniors de guinee, along with mohamed and ismael bangoura (please be patient for videos to load).


soli lent

This clip is now on ytube: