Naya by Soungalo Coulibaly

[bubudi]

soungalo doesn't need an intro to all you djembe heads. but for anyone interested, here's a video biography of him. this is a cassette recorded in 1988. the production is superb. the content is soungalo at his best. pure malian repertoire. great dansa with the bire intro and plenty of dunun solos, superb wasolonka, plus plenty of other beautiful arrangements and solos. you get the old school swing in his malian rhythms with all the richness and nuances, yet the attack of a champion djembe soloist from the ballets. soungalo is right up there with the biggest masters. a part of him still lives in all of us.

out of my entire mande music collection, this is the album that gets played most often, along with dengo, one of soungalo's cd releases.

tracklist: sabali (bara), mafatiebele (sugu), ouassoulou (wasolonka), massa djourou (dansa), waraba (mendiani), morola kali ena di (didadi), ladilikan (garangedon), koniya magni (sunu), ouolofodon.

[Dugafola]

this is my favorite soungalo and one of my top 5 albums!

mariam diakite is on board too leading the vox!

[e2c]

Sounds amazing - but is it in print, or available anywhere for download, or...?

[bubudi]

you'd have to be lucky to find the cassette somewhere... i'll see about making some extracts available here.

[e2c]

Well, that's a drag. (Especially given how important you believe it to be.)

No offense meant, but this kind of thing makes me feel like I'm not allowed into the clubhouse, or some such. (Could be the same, or similar, for others as well... But only they can verify. I'm just guessing here.)

[Dugafola]

Well, that's a drag. (Especially given how important you believe it to be.)

No offense meant, but this kind of thing makes me feel like I'm not allowed into the clubhouse, or some such.

yea good one Bubs.

[e2c]

It would help a lot if someone could post the label name and a cover pic, so that the info. is available for anyone who wants to try hunting down a physical copy of the cassette.

Me, I'm a huge fan of the blog Awesome Tapes from Africa (http://awesometapesfromafrica.blogspot.com/). That blog - and others like it - have actually led to a number of recordings being legally issued on CD.

I'd just like to be able to hear it, via streaming audio or whatever.

*

As for getting all hyped about something only a few people have access to in a public thread/post - it's ... probably not the best idea in the world, unless you're planning on making the material available. (off-list is obviously a whole 'nother ballgame.)

I'm sure no harm was intended, but still...

[bubudi]

awww no need to get upset. i said i was going to make some extracts available. i don't think it would be legal to make the whole thing available here. the blog you mention has a lot of very old material and most of their tapes were released in africa, therefore it's unlikely anyone would take legal action. naya was a french recording.

[Carl]

2 things...

1) I would love to get a traditional recording of garangadon, so if you are taking requests, consider this one.

2) I do wonder about this issue, it's like the bootleg issue with some bands. Once a recording is out of print, how can you get a copy of it and still be fair to the performer(s). I guess you could get a recording whatever way possible, then send random cash through the mail.

[e2c]

What year was this released - 1988? Does the label still exist?

i would love to hear the entire thing, really... and thanks, b. (i do appreciate your concerns about copyright holders, but sometimes there *is* no person or company left after a long period of time has lapsed. Ran into that a lot when I used to have a "radio station" on Live365.com.)

[bubudi]

i'm thinking of a couple of possibilities to share it, but i don't want to cross the line. the producer was adrien favreau. there is no address to write to and the phone number is no longer valid. soungalo passed away in 2004. still, the copyright exists (for 50 or possibly 70 years post mortem).

As for getting all hyped about something only a few people have access to in a public thread/post - it's ... probably not the best idea in the world, unless you're planning on making the material available.

sorry, should i just delete this topic now?

[e2c]

No, please don't kill it.

What's the name of the label that released this? (Seriously - I want to try and track down a copy.)

[bubudi]

no label name. just the producer. the recording studio (studio ademes) is also mentioned but i doubt they have anything to do with ownership.

here's a minute from the garangedon track. it's one of the more chilled pieces, but still pretty sweet.

if i receive any concerns from copyright owners about this extract then i will remove it. i sincerely hope that any such people will give their details in order to make legitimate copies available. if i hear nothing for a good while then i will consider making it available. until then you must remain in my good books

[e2c]

Gosh - no details at all? That's odd. Sounds like maybe the whole thing was a one-off for whoever produced it. maybe someday I'll find it at a yard sale - stranger things have happened.

I'm with you on wanting supposed copyright holders to present *all* their bona fides. There are people who troll MP3 blogs (one-file blogs that work with musicians and labels), masquerading as copyright holders. there are also legit requests from the real owners of x, y and z, but honestly - the trolling is just unbelievable. (I don't understand why anyone would want to spend their time at that, but that's a whole ' nother topic.)

Thanks muchly for the clip!

Edited to add: this is the sh*it. Very, very nice. I love Mali-style playing and singing.

[Carl]

Yes, very nice.

It doesn't HAVE to be fast to be very very cool...

C