Bangourake - Traditional Rhythms from Guinea Vol 3 (DVD)

[bubudi]

this brand new instructional dvd is due out any day now. some nice performances of the rhythms included on the dvd.

musicians:
mohamed bangoura 'bangourake' (djembe)
sibo bangoura (djembe)
momae bangoura (djembe)
sekou camara
pepe konde
ibrahima sylla

tracklist:
foula Fare
koulanyah
sote monebo
yoki
sousou Soli
lassidan
kankanfoli


here are a couple of excerpts:





available soon at djembekan.net and drumskulldrums.com

[Rhythm House Drums]

I'll be getting it for sure.. I enjoyed his first two.

[Dugafola]

the "traditional rhythms" title is misleading.

[Paul]

the "traditional rhythms" title is misleading.

So your not a fan then

[Dugafola]

he plays well and is probably a nice guy too...

i just don't get why he's trying to re-package "traditional" rhythms with different songs and calling them something entirely different.

he's done it on his DVDs and his CDs.

[michi]

I got my copy of the DVD yesterday. The rhythms are presented in the same style as in Mohamed's previous two DVDs: you get each part on djembe and dunduns demonstrated by Mohamed, plus a one-by-one section where each of the instruments enters in turn (kenkeni, sangban, dundunba, djembe 1, djembe 2), plus a performance of the rhythm.

One thing I appreciated is that Mohamed makes more of an effort to provide cultural background on each rhythm, so you get to find out where the rhythm is from, who plays it, and for what occasion. Mohamed also sprinkles in a bit of background information about Guinea and its different regions and ethnic groups.

The performance section is very similar to the one on Volume 2. You get nice solos that are suitable for learning. Not so complex that you don't have a chance to pick it up, and with the handing clearly visible. The performance section also adds a break for each rhythm, so you are not stuck with the usual boring call.

Bonus material includes an introduction by Mohamed, a track on solo technique, and a track "Bangouraké Live". Unfortunately, the introduction and the track "A Few Solo Techniques" are identical to the ones on Volume 2. I was disappointed by that. Why do this? It should have been possible to record an introduction and a different set of solo techniques for this DVD, even if the footage could not be taken in Africa. If you have Volume 2 already, the only new bonus material you get is the "Bangouraké Live" track.

The "Bangouraké Live" track differs from the Volume 2 track of the same name. It's a 4:34 recording of Tiriba. Nice, but not outstanding.

Volume 3 includes "Yoki", which was also included on Volume 1 as "Guinee Faré". In the introduction to Yoki, Mohamed explains that it is in the same family as Guinee Faré, but a little different, and then explains that Yoki is a mask dance. Comparing the two versions, they differ in that the sangban and kenkeni are swapped (in Yoki, the sangban plays the kenkeni part of Guinee Faré and vice versa). The dundunba is also different, and one of the two djembe accompaniments changes. Overall, I'm surprised though to see the inclusion of Yoki in Volume 3, seeing that it is very similar to Guinee Faré on Volume 1.

Overall though, I think this is a good teaching DVD. It continues in the same style as Volume 2 and Volume 3: seven rhythms with clear presentation and interesting (and learnable) solos.

Cheers,

Michi.

[Dugafola]

Volume 3 includes "Yoki", which was also included on Volume 1 as "Guinee Faré". In the introduction to Yoki, Mohamed explains that it is in the same family as Guinee Faré, but a little different, and then explains that Yoki is a mask dance. Comparing the two versions, they differ in that the sangban and kenkeni are swapped (in Yoki, the sangban plays the kenkeni part of Guinee Faré and vice versa). The dundunba is also different, and one of the two djembe accompaniments changes. Overall, I'm surprised though to see the inclusion of Yoki in Volume 3, seeing that it is very similar to Guinee Faré on Volume 1.

i was wondering about this. thanks for clarifying.

sounds wack to me. if they are similar, why not just present another rhythm? i bet he even plays some of the same solo licks as in Vol 1.

not to mention i've never ever heard that Yoki is a mask dance...and i've learned yoki from plenty of sousou drummers: mohammed mamadou camara, mohammed diaby, mito camara and fode seydou bangoura.

i'll ask them.

[michi]

sounds wack to me. if they are similar, why not just present another rhythm? i bet he even plays some of the same solo licks as in Vol 1.

The solos are actually quite different, both in the one-by-one section and the performance section. Similar style of course, but different. I agree though that including a different rhythm would have been more interesting.

not to mention i've never ever heard that Yoki is a mask dance...and i've learned yoki from plenty of sousou drummers: mohammed mamadou camara, mohammed diaby, mito camara and fode seydou bangoura.

I hadn't heard about the mask dance previously either, but I just found the following on the WAP pages:

Yogui (Yongui) is a Sousou woman´s dance-rhythm from Lower Guinea. I have two slightly different sources on the cultural background of this rhythm (can anyone clear this?). According to one source Yogui is a mask-dance for older woman. the mask is round and with raffia to the ground. Another source claims it´s a dance for young women on a pre-wedding evening. It´s a dance where the women "put everything they´ve got" into the (dance)battle. That´s why sometimes you can here it´s called "Ginè Faré" (Woman´s dance), like another Sousou-women´s dance Maane is also called a "Ginè Faré".
The traditional bass drums for this rythm (like more Sousou rhythms) are the Bouti (Boti) drums. These are bowl-shaped drums with cowskin heads, and are dampened with water before playing. The drum is played with a long stick in one hand, and the other hand plays a bell with rings on two or three fingers, in a rolling style. The lowest of the Bouti drums plays the lead parts corresponding to the dance steps. There is traditionally no lead djembe.

The mask dance is mentioned here too. Also, it's interesting that this passage also mentions the link to Mane, same as on Epizo's DVD.

Cheers,

Michi.

[Dugafola]

sounds like there could be a mask.

[bubudi]

the yoki mask traditionally came out when the female initiates made their debut back into society. i've seen a picture somewhere of this mask. it's a mask of a woman with breasts showing, but apparently it's worn by males. i was told it evolved from being played on baga drums to bote drums to djembe and dunun. yoki is mentioned in frederick lamp's the art of the baga. according to lamp, another susu name for yoki is simogine, meaning 'sacred woman'. the mask also exists among the baga where it goes by the name of ra-bomp ra-feth (meaning 'baby head').

[bubudi]

just found this picture of a mask (middle figure below) that looks similar to the one i've seen before.

yoki mask

yokui.jpg (21.67 KiB) Viewed 495 times

[michi]

Thanks for that info Bubudi!

Michi.

[e2c]

Hoping there can be some confirmation of this (re. mask, etc.)...

I tend to not trust the WAP pages much, but that's just me.

(Please forgive my skepticism, but I feel unconvinced re. the carving above being meant to represent a mask - it looks like a stylized female figure to me...)

[michi]

Hmmm... It's difficult to be sure. I just found some more info at tonTinKAN:

Yogui (Gine Fare)
Traditional Ethnic Group: Baga
West Guinea
Yogui is a mask of a young lady with firm breasts. It was originally acompanied by Baga-drums (sangbanji) and wassakhoumba (gourd rattle).

You can here it's called "Gine Fare" (Woman's dance), as another Susu-women's dance Maane is also called "Gine Fare."

It seems though that people are liberally copying from each other. For example, I found the same information that is on the WAP pages on a number of other sites (verbatim, in most cases).There may originally have been only a single source of this information that then was copied over and over again.

I don't think there is any way to verify whether this information is correct just by doing web searches. I'll try and ask Mohamed and Mamady next time I see them.

Cheers,

Michi.

[michi]

Hmmm… I just checked the intro to Yoki on Fara Tolno's instructional DVD "Fara Bakan - Instructional Djembe". He says (grammatical errors preserved):

Guinea Fare. Guinea Fare come from the Susu people in Guinea, West Africa. The old name of Guinea Fare used to be called Yoki. Yoki is dance of the mask. "Guinea" mean "women". "Fare" mean "Dance". We do Guinea Fare at wedding ceremonies. When we ready to do those wedding ceremonies in the night, in the morning the bride get married. They do Guinea Fare to bring all the women together.

What strikes me here is that both Fara and Mohamed are Susu, and that Guinea Fare is a Susu rhythm, so I would be inclined to think that they know what they are talking about...

Cheers,

Michi.