In 1961 Leo Sarkisian travelled through West Africa recording groups for the Hollywood based Tempo International label. In Guinea he gained the trust of President Sékou Touré, who allowed him to travel throughout the country and record Guinean musicians. A sound engineer, Sarkisian later used his skills to assist Guinean technicians to develop their recording techniques in the nation's new national radio station. He became a government employee, and was close friends with Fodéba Keita, the founder of Les Ballets Africains.
Sarkisian’s recordings were released as ten LPs and five 45 rpm vinyl discs. They were the first commercially available recordings of Guinean music since its independence in 1958. The series of discs commenced in 1961 with three "Edition spéciale" LP releases, followed in 1962 and 1963 with seven LPs and the 45 rpm discs. The recordings of the orchestras are especially interesting, for many of the Guinean groups still featured acoustic string sections and had yet to amplify their instrumentation. A year or two later all of the orchestras were amplified, so the recordings captured a rare and brief glimpse of the early style of modern Guinean music. Sarkisian recorded the local orchestras in the towns of Beyla, Guéckédou, and Kissidougou, groups who were better known as Bembeya Jazz, Kébendo Jazz, and Niandan Jazz. There are several unreleased recordings by Sarkisian available through The Syliphone Archive - sounds.bl.uk/Wo....
In 1965 many of the discs were re-issued for the New York World's Fair, where they were available for sale from Guinea's public stall. This helps to date the Syliphone releases, as it seems likely that the Tempo discs were the only recordings of Guinean music available in 1965 to represent the nation on the world stage.
Tempo 7015 - This is the first and much fabled LP by Bembeya Jazz, before Demba Camara and before they were a national orchestra. The personnel are introduced in the first track, “Présentation”.
1 Présentation
2 Yarabi
3 Lélé
4 Din ye kassila
5 Wonkaha douba
6 Seneiro
7 Wassoulou
8 Maniamba
28 авг 2024
