November 16, 2008

Classic Coumba

This is the second post dedicated to Coumba Sidibé, who is one of the founders of the style which is too often called the Wassoulou style. The main reason for the reference to Wassoulou are, according to the late Alou Fané, the tracks 'borrowed' from dozo n'goni legends like (the -unfortunately also- late) Toumani Koné (I'll post plenty of his music later on). Like 'Noumouna Koulou(m)ba', the track in the video below.

The Sikasso region is, however, a source of a huge amount of musical styles, and Coumba Sidibé used several these in her kamalen n'goni music, which is a relatively new music form. Or, if you like, a tradition which has been started recently.

Here is the cassette I referred to in my first post. The cassette features two great musicians who currently reside in the Netherlands: Dramane Diarra and Zoumana Diarra. The cassette was released by Ibrahima Sylla, and his 'dedication' to the music can be detected on the sleeve: the titles are in the wrong order...

11 comments:

trumpetaaa said...

wonderful music here
many many thanks

Momo said...

Thank you Aboubacar Siddikh for this awesome post.i am looking forward to hear Toumani kone and malian musics

WrldServ said...

@Momo: the post is by WrldServ.
There is a lot more Malian music coming up (and more Coumba too)!

Momo said...

My bad WrldServ.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the share this is awesome. My mom gotta love it because Coumba was our parent ! Thanks again and if you have more albums like "Wari" and others please contact me !

ngoni said...

Re-listening to Coumba Sidibé SYL 8352, the same question that I made the first listen,arises again,is this album recorded in Netherland, with the complete training that usually accompanies Dramane and Zoumana Diarra, sometimes with guest Zani Diabaté?

It seems that there is no n'gonifola, only an introduction,(I imagine) provided by Zou himself.

WrldServ said...

@ngoni: You can ask Zou and Dra yourself, or I can do this too, if you like.

It seems very unlikely though that the album was recorded in the Netherlands, as recording (and release) took place some years before both settled there.

ngoni said...


The way they are answered between the guitars and the bass player, is the same Benkadi style, I always liked how the group worked on this album, it shows that they have quite a journey together, but Coumba is sometimes a bit displaced.
It was really Coumba who was following the band, when the band should attend the movements of the singer.
That makes me think that Coumba had little time singing with that band, but the musicians knew each other well.
But Coumba being there, nothing matters, she had all the magic in her voice, capable of transforming any situation.
You can ask Dra and Zou if there is an opportunity, it was just a thought, I am curious, but not so much.
Happy that you're still there.

WrldServ said...

@ngoni: I will ask them.
I can only agree with what you write about the band following the singer and about Coumba Sidibe, although I am no fan of her later cassettes (which I may post in the future). For me the greatest examples of a singer being in charge of the accompagnement are/were Hawa Drame and Kandia Kouyate.

Me too, I am happy that you are still active, my friend.

ngoni said...

@ WrldServ
I also prefer music in its essence, I prefer naked music, direct to the heart.

But times are changing, and I'm not willing to waste any glimpse of beauty that real artists offer me, even if their music does not exactly match my desires, I'm not going to set limits or borders, I'll enjoy their best moments equally.

You can not demand perfection to start enjoying, otherwise you will lose a large part of the beauty, my friend.

ngoni said...

@WrldServ
Hello friend, I hope you are well in these strange times, I am listening to Coumba Sidibé again, I was wondering if you ever commented with Zou Diarra about this album before he left us, it has been a year since a great musician left, few have remembered him.