DUTY OF REMEMBRANCE
Sory Kandia Kouyaté (1933-1977) was “The Voice” of independent Guinea. A descendant of Balla Fasséké Kouyaté, the illustrious djeli (custodian of a people’s oral tradition) of Soundiata Keïta, founder of the Mandingo Empire, he was introduced to music (in particular the ngoni) and the complex Mandingo genealogy by his learned father. His gifts astonished the royal court of Mamou, which he joined at a very early age. Later he settled in Labé and created a traditional ensemble there, where Sékou Touré discovered him in 1951. His subsequent integration into Keïta Fodéba's Ballets Africains brought him to the attention of audiences far from his native Fouta-Djalon, and, having made a first record for Vogue and completed international tours, he became the figurehead of Guinean versus Pan-Africanism after independence in 1958. His role in the Djoliba National Ballet, his orchestral overture with Kélétigui Traoré and his Tambourinis (Prix Charles Cros 1970), the experimental work he did with the instrumental and choral ensemble La Voix de la Révolution, his performances at the Pan-African Festival in Algiers in 1969, at the UN, and at Festac (Pan-African Festival of Black Arts in Lagos 1977) — all bear witness to this.
It is to this baobab of Guinean song that one of his sons, Kabinet Kandia Kouyaté, aka Kaabi, dedicates this tribute. The project was prompted by director Laurent Chevallier, who made La Trace de Kandia, a film that won an award from the Académie Charles Cros in 2015, in which Kaabi returned to Guinea in his father’s footsteps to discover the places and witnesses of his legend.
Through its choice of repertoire, this tribute recounts the mental geography of Sory Kandia Kouyaté and his place in the Mandinka griot tradition of epic song. “Mobalou” evokes the great warriors of West Africa, including Alpha Yaya Diallo (1830-1912), a Fulani warrior who led the Islamic Federation of Fouta and was accused of fomenting an uprising against colonial authority, dying in exile in the Noudhibou prison camp. This song, under the title “Alpha Yaya”, was performed by Sory Kandia when Guinea was admitted to the UN and became the anthem of the Republic. “Dari” is an adaptation of the iconic “Mani Sadjo”, a legend of the friendship between a hippopotamus and a young girl, of which Sory Kandia Kouyaté recorded a remarkable version. “N’nah Yafa” is a tribute to mothers in recognition of their sacrifice, as the Manta native lost his own mother at the age of two. “Sara Foto” is an ode to feminine beauty. “Masanou” tells the story of an upstart who seduces the fiancée of a poor farmer and dies on his wedding night, a theme often used by griots to denounce forced marriages. “Tinkisso Dan” is a love song about a young girl who forgets a scarf on the banks of the Tinkisso, a river popular with washerwomen. “Mawoula” is another song dedicated to great warriors and their code of honour. “Wamiyo” is a song that Sory Kandia Kouyaté brought back from a trip to Cameroon, where it was sung by Bassa fishermen.
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On the strength of this background, he has surrounded himself with a dedicated team: loyalists such as Badje Tounkara (ngoni), Ballaké Cissoko (kora) and Lansine Kouyaté (balafon), as well as guests who know that Mandinka music can only be approached with tact and humility: guests such as Jean-Philippe Rykiel, well known to African musicians and whose piano has taken up residence in the savannah. The presence of singer Aminata Camara, who was his father's backing vocalist, symbolises a passing of the torch. Yet the most fascinating thing about this album is Kaabi's voice, whose timbre, modulations and inflections, and the felicity of his DNA, echo so hauntingly those of Guinea's most famous griot.
FRANK TENAILLE (translation: Roger Surridge)