Sons Nouveaux D'Une Nation Nouvelle - La République de Guinée

Artists

Album Info

Release Date: 1962

Label: Tempo International

Octobre 1962. 4ème anniversaire de l'independance nationale. 1962.

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 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.

The Tempo International discs are the first recorded examples of Guinean music in the post-colonial era. The series of discs commenced in 1961 with three "Edition spéciale" releases, followed in 1962 and 1963 with seven LP discs and five 45 rpm discs. The recordings of the orchestras are espescially interesting, for many of the groups still featured acoustic string sections and had yet to amplify their instrumentation. A year or two later all 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. Unreleased recordings by Sarkisian exist in the RTG sound archive.

In 1965 many of the discs were re-issued for the New York World's Fair, where they were available from Guinea's 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.