Mariama

The singer, guitarist, ngoni player, and composer Kouyaté Sory Ibrahima was born in 1933 in the village of Manta, near Bodié, on the Fouta Djallon plateau in Central Guinea. He is usually called Kandia, which is the diminutive of Ibrahima. He comes from a family of griots. He learned a lot about the history of his people from his father, Djeli Mady Kouyaté. At age 6, his father gave him a ngoni (a traditional 4-string guitar) and taught him how to play it. In 1947, Kandia began singing at the court of the Almamy of Mamou. That was the traditional leader of a Foula (= Peul) city in the south of the Fouta Djallon. Then, at the invitation of a friend and with the permission of this Almamy, he went to the capital, Conakry. He first bought a “guitare des blancs”, a Spanish acoustic guitar.

During a concert in Conakry, when his microphone went out, he put it aside and continued singing with his powerful voice. The audience was astonished, and this made him famous overnight. Especially since, among his people, the Malinké, a powerful voice is considered a magical gift.

Thanks to his magnificent voice, he became known outside of the Fouta Djallon and even to the later president of Guinea, Sékou Touré, who was a great music lover. Motivated by this, Kandia founded a traditional ensemble of 12 members in Labé (on the Fouta Djallon plateau, then the capital of the Fulani state of Fouta Djallon). Then he was discovered by the artist Keita Fodéba. He was born on January 19, 1921, in Siguiri, in northeastern Guinea, where the Tinkisso River flows into the Niger River. During his law studies in France, he founded a theatre group for Africans, which gradually developed into the music and dance group “Les Ballets Africains de Guinée.” Kouyaté Sory Kandia joined this group. He made many successful tours with them, first in Africa, then in France and various other European countries, and in America. Initially, several tribes in Guinea objected to their traditional dances and music being performed by members of other tribes.

After Guinea gained independence in 1958, Les Ballets Africains became the national ensemble of Guinea. In 1964, Kandia was appointed deputy director of the National Ballet Djoliba, as Les Ballets Africains had then been renamed. (Djoliba is the Malinké name for the Niger River). He continued to do this for five years. But he did not stop singing with them. From 1971, he was accompanied by tenor saxophonist Traore Kélétigui and his orchestra Kélétigui Et Ses Tambourinis.

After undertaking the pilgrimage to Mecca in 1974 with his two wives and seven children, he could call himself El Hadj Sory Kandia Kouyaté.

He took over the “Ensemble Instrumental et Choral de la Voix de la Révolution,” which had been founded in 1961 at the initiative of Sékou Touré. In 1977, on the way back from a performance with this ensemble, Kouyaté Sory Kandia died of a heart attack.

“The “voice of Africa,” as he is called because of his powerful voice, only lived to be 44 years old.

The songs “Nina,” “Malisadio,” and “Chants De Rejouissance” come from the repertoire of Les Ballets Africains de Guinée.

“Nina” is a love song for a girl.

“Malisadio” describes the legend of the friendship between a girl and a hippopotamus. They play games together, the population no longer considers the hippopotamus an enemy, and the hippopotamus is not afraid of humans either. But then, a stranger with a gun comes and shoots the hippopotamus. The river turns red with blood, and the girl sings the song “Malisadio” out of grief.

“N’na” means “mama.” Kandia sings about his mother, whom he never really knew because she died when he was only two years old.

In “Conakry,” Kandia sings about the capital of Guinea, with its beautiful beaches.

“Tinkisso” is about a girl who goes to fetch water from the Tinkisso River; upon returning home, she discovers that she has forgotten the cloth for her head.

Kouyaté Kandia is a Malian singer born in 1959 in Kita, Mali, as a jelimusa, a female griot. She is also a kora player. Her birthplace, Kita, is known for its love songs, which also form a large part of her repertoire and praise songs.

On her CD Biriko, Djelimady Tounkara plays guitar. He was also born in the city of Kita in a family of griots. He is also a ngoni and kora player. In 1971, he joined the “Rail Band de Bamako,” where Salif Keita was the lead singer at the time. Keita left the band in 1973, and in 1978 Djelimady Tounkara became the leader of this band, which was renamed “Super Rail Band International” in 1979.

Thanks to Muziekweb in Rotterdam.

And to Harm van der Wal for making his African CDs available.

Playlist:

1. Kouyaté Sory Kandia: Nina, author: Kouyaté Sory Kandia, trad., LP Les Ballets Africains de Keita Fodéba, 1959, Disques Vogue CLVLX. 297 / Mélodie Distribution 38204-2, 3’19
2. Les Ballets Africains & Kouyaté Sory Kandia: Malisadio, author: Kouyaté Sory Kandia,, LP Les Ballets Africains de Keita Fodéba, 1959, Disques Vogue CLVLX. 297 / 2012, CD La Voix De La Révolution, Stern’s Music STCD3060-61, 4’20
3. Kouyaté Sory Kandia: Chants De Rejouissance, author: Kouyaté Sory Kandia, trad., LP Les Ballets Africains de Keita Fodéba, 1959, Disques Vogue CLVLX. 297 / 1999, Grand Prix Du Disque 1970, Syliphone Sylla 38203-2, 2’57
4. Kouyaté Kandia: Kandia Djeli Nana, CD Ngara, author: Kouyaté Kandia, 2009, Syllart Production – none, 6’51
5. Kouyaté Kandia: Sanougnaoule, CD Biriko, auteur: Kouyaté Kandia, 2002, Stern’s Africa STCD1095, 4’01
6. Super Rail Band De Bamako: N’donikegniba, auteur: Damory Kouyaté, CD Super Rail Band De Bamako, 1992, Indigo LBLC 2500, 5’14
7. Djelimady Tounkara: M’bématoma, CD Solon Kôno, auteur: Djelimady Tounkara, 2005, Marabi Productions 46810.2, 5’49
8. Sory Kandia Kouyate & L’Ensemble National Djoliba & Keletigui: N’na, auteur: Kouyaté Sory Kandia, CD La Voix De La Révolution, 2012, Stern’s Music STCD3060-61, 6’23
9. Sory Kandia Kouyate & L’Ensemble National Djoliba & Keletigui: Conakry, auteur: Kouyaté Sory Kandia, CD La Voix De La Révolution, 2012, Stern’s Music STCD3060-61, 6’09
10. Kouyaté Sory Kandia & Keletigui Et Ses Tambourinis: Tinkisso, auteur: Kouyaté Sory Kandia, CD La Voix De La Révolution, 2012, Stern’s Music STCD3060-61, 5’33
11. Kouyaté Sory Kandia: Sakhodougou, auteur: Kouyaté Sory Kandia, LP Kouyate Sory Kandia, 1970, Editions Syliphone Conakry SYL 12 / CD La Voix De La Révolution, 2012, Stern’s Music STCD3060-61, 11’01