Sekouba Bambino

Sinikan

CD $13.98

1) Sinikan (listen)

2) Decourage (listen)

3) Ni Mafele (listen)

4) Famou

5) Ndiwa Ndiwa

6) Diougouya Magni

7) Ate Tolama

8) Gnangnini

9) Banandiou

10) Promesse

11) It's Man's Man's, Man's, World

12) Famou (remix dance)

"Among the many peoples of Africa, there are men and women who are blessed with a mysterious gift for poetry and improvisation which is close to madness...They are called the Griots."

-from Victor Hugo's 19th Century first novel, "Bug Jargal"

Sékoube Diabaté was born in Kitinya, a village 25 kilometers from Siguri, a town in Haute-Guineé, near the Guinea -Mali border. Both his father and his mother's family belong to the ancestral Griot caste. Their ancestors were the masters of song, music and spoken word throughout the Mandingue empire. Their cultural legacy is still present in many African countries-Guinea, Mali, parts of Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Cambia, Guinea Bisseau, Liberia, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, and Sierra Leone. Sékouba's father is El Hadj Baba Diabaté the griot chief in his home district and a respected businessman. Sékouba's mother, Marlama Samoura, was one of the most famous griot singers of her generation with two enormous hits -Tayer Tche" (the Taylor) and "Apollo" (a tribute to the American Space mission). Sékoube Diabaté pays tribute to his mother with his own platinum medley which he calls "Kassouma Ma" or sometimes just "Apollo". Sékoube Diabaté declares,
"This song brings me good luck. It's like a sacred heritage. When I sing it, I close my eyes, and it's as if my mother was standing right before me."

In Mandinque, the griots are called "Djell", which means "the Blood." Maybe it's because their voices flow like blood-as a symbolic fluid which irrigates the whole body of society from top to bottom, and from ancient history until the present day. The people of Guinea have understood that without the griots, their country's collective memory would have disappeared a long time ago, because it doesn't exist in written form. Guinea's history has been handed down vocally from generation to generation by Griots.

When Sékoube "Bambino" Diabaté was growing up the Guinean president was Sekou Touré. Sekou Touré was a great music lover and under his presidency, Guinean music flourished. Sekou Touré became a fan and admirer of Sékoube's voice and mentored the initiation of his musical career. "Bambino" quickly stood out in the world of griot singers thanks to his clear originality. With his early recordings "Bambino's" fans discovered that he had a real flair for love songs- perhaps as a hint of the influence Sékouba's mother had on him. Traditionally, it is the female griot singers who were renown for laying aside their embarrassments in order to sing about more intimate subject matters. In a decisive career turn, Sékoube along with producer Ibrahima Sylla and "Bambino's" arranger, Boncana Maïga, they launched the group Africando in which Sékoube is a member.

As soon as you hear the first notes of "Sininkan", one thing is obvious -of all the singers who belong to the younger generation of Mandinque singers, Sékouba is the one whose vocal style is most clearly influenced by the work of the legendary Kouyaté Sory Kandia. Sékouba " Bambino" sings in an ample tenor voice and possesses a majestically colorful pitch, as well as invoking the love for long undulating melodic phrases which seem to dance as they unfurl with inevitable grace. "Bambino" has a classic voice, and this makes him the legitimate heir to the purest musical tradition of his roots.

Track after track portrays flutes, "ngoni" lutes, 21st century keyboards and brass horns intermingling with afro cuban congas and super funky riffs tinged at times with an oriental feel. "Sininkan" is an album that makes you want to jump up and dance on one hand, yet, on the other hand, it makes you want to sit down and listen to it in a more intimate manner. Together with the deft collaboration of François Bréant, the guitar soloist Ouemane Kouyaté (Salif Keita) and Ibrahima Soumano's mandingue guitars, vocal duets soar with intended simplicity complemented by the melodic harmonica colors of Jean-Jacques Milteau.

On the track "Promesse", Sékoube experiments with the Hip Hop genre. As a bridging gesture to his children's generation, Sékoube takes part in a lyrical duet with Senegalese Hip Hop star "Diziz La Peste" from the south Parisian district of Evry. " My children all listen to rap music. I hope with this track, kids from their generation will develop an interest in our traditional music. The wisdom of the ancient griots permeates every lyric on "Sininkan". Every song is a testimonial that can teach us all about the lessons of life handed down through the gift of music, the love of tradition and the will to make people happy as a hope for Africa and for a better world."