Sunday 26 June 2016

Oumou Sangare - 199x Live & 200x K7 only

In 1992 spring I prepared for my trip to West-Africa, a part of it was checking music from the area. After hearing just one song from Oumou, immediately bought her first album 'Moussoulou', it's still one of my all time favourites. In the following years saw her several times performing live, each time absolutely brilliant with that subtle swinging groove, throwing the calabashes with shells and the powerful vocals by both Oumou and the backing girls.
1993.Aug.27 - Africa Festival Delft - picture by Frans Schellekens at gettyimages
Unfortunately never could tape nor get some concert recordings of Oumou in the 1990s. In recent years I could catch some individual live tracks from various performances and sources, as it's only 5 tracks from 1993 till 1996, I added some K7 only tracks from the early 2000s catched from a radio special.

Short Introduction to Oumou Sangaré

Oumou Sangaré, born 1968 in Bamako, is a Malian Wassoulou musician. Sangaré's mother was the singer Aminata Diakité. As a child, Oumou Sangaré sang in order to help her mother feed their family as her father had abandoned them. At the age of five, she was well known for her talents as a gifted singer. After making it to the finals of a contest for the nursery schools of Bamako, she performed in front of a crowd of 6.000 at the Omnisport Stadium. At 16 she went on tour with the percussion group Djoliba.
Oumou Sangaré recorded her first album Moussoulou ("Women") in 1989 in Abidjan with Amadou Ba Guindo, a renowned maestro of Malian music. With more than 200,000 copies sold, the album (K7) was an unprecedented West African hit. At the age of 21 she was already a star. With the help of Ali Farka Touré, Oumou Sangaré signed (in 1991?) with the English label World Circuit.
Oumou's music has been inspired by the music and traditional dances of the Wassoulou region in south-east Mali. She writes and composes her songs, which often include social criticism, especially concerning women's low status in society. Many of Oumou's songs concern love and marriage, especially freedom of choice in marriage, she supports the cause of women throughout the world.
More about Oumou Sangaré at wikipedia (basic only) and in various 'album extras' at worldcircuit (in depth).

Listen to a track from the 1994 Druga Godba Festival in Slovenia


SANGARE OUMOU 199x Live & 200x K7only

Various Live Recordings
19930711: Diya Gneba (Festival Hertme - souce: website, sounds audience rec.)
199308: Ah Ndiya (Heimatklange Berlin - source: No Make Palaver CD, prianha)
199405: 1.Moussoulou / 2.Ah Ndiya (Druga Godba Slovenia - source: 2011 AfroPop radioshow)
19960109: Djama Kaissoumou (Symphony Space NY - source: 2010 WFMU radioshow)

Various K7s only (source: 2009 concertzender.nl radioshow)
2001: a1.Sina / a3.Been / b4.Tcheou (from 'Laban' K7)
2002: a1.Aw Bissimila / a2.Be Ka Wili (from 'Mussowla Diala' K7)

Discography

1991: Moussolou (CD/LP, World Circuit)
         recorded 1989 in Abidjan and first released on K7 by Syllart in West-Afica
1993: Ko Sira (CD, World Circuit)
1996: Worotan (CD, World Circuit)
2001: Laban (2001, K7 only) - see mali-music.com
2002: Mussowla Diala (2002, K7 only) - see mali-music.com
2003: Oumou (CD comp, World Circuit) comp.of first 3 CDs and 'Laban' K7
2009: Seya (CD, World Circuit)

Related Videos

16 comments:

  1. Hi

    thanks for that post; are you sure that Moussolou was recorded in 89?
    I have it as a tape, it's SYL 83103, but my notes say it's from 1987. I can't remember though the source.



    A.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. =>A.Anonymous
      Here's what says the liner notes to my CD: "In February 1989 Oumou Sangare travelled to the JBZ studio in Abidjan to record her debut K7"
      PS: love to see scans of your K7 sleeve (in return can send you the artwork of the CD)

      Delete
  2. thanks for the oumou.
    i'd try these two links for more Oumou related material frrom radio shows.

    World Routes from january 2005 (excellent)
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p005xk4q

    L'Afrique en Solo from last years' Fiesta des Suds in Marseille (in two parts)

    https://www.franceinter.fr/emissions/l-afrique-en-solo/l-afrique-en-solo-25-octobre-2015
    https://www.franceinter.fr/emissions/l-afrique-en-solo/l-afrique-en-solo-27-decembre-2015

    Finally, the complete show from Afro Pfingsten in Winterthur 1995 is available from Swiss radio live broadcast, get in touch just in case

    ReplyDelete
  3. =>doyadig
    Thanks for the L'Afrique en Solo links!! Oumou live in an all female Malian band Les Amazones d'Afrique, great!!
    Unfortunately the audio in the BBC link is not working here (reason could be outside of UK?), but could catch years ago the real audio stream of it. The BBC program is actually from 2003, during the promotion of the 'Oumou' compilation (and repeated in 2005).
    And about the complete 1995 Afro-Pfingsten ....... YES YES very interested indeed, please comment with Email so I can contact you.

    ReplyDelete
  4. you will soon have the cover.

    A.

    ReplyDelete
  5. =>A.+ =>mangue
    Nahawa, Nyama Toutou published in SYL83102 (1989),
    Moussolou was published in SYL83103.
    By commenting recording date.
    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Ngoni

    thanks; your Doumbia-example makes the year 89 for Moussolou quite reasonable.
    I add the fact, that in these days (and still today), artist in Mali made tapes first and if was a success, Syl or K7 or Camara, etc made a CD out of it.
    Example: Tamala from Aminata Wassidje Traore was a tape before/in 2011 and became a CD in 2013... with same title but some changes --> suited more for the western market.

    ReplyDelete
  7. =>to all
    My CD gives following info about date:
    1.recorded 1989.Feb in Abidjan
    2.P-copyright dated 1990 by Syllart Production
    3.C-copyright dated 1991 by World Circuit
    Furthermore it states that the copyright is owned by Syllart Production and licensed to World Circuit via Sterns African Record Centre.
    Anybody got any info about who took Oumou to the studio in Abidjan? Was the Syllart K7, really the first issue, or a reissue of a K7 already in the local market stalls?
    Anyway, it's a brilliant debut and still one of my al-time favourites!! Could be any outakes?
    PS: have seen various CD covers (mine is Oumou's face in side-view printed ca.orange on black, German pressing), so that's why I really like to see the K7 sleeve

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Some more from the booklet:
      "Produced for Samassa Record Bamako by Bientou Musique"
      Anybody know something about these?

      Delete
    2. "Bintou musique" if I'm not mistaken, is the musical editor of Syllart, and Samasa is a known producer, the man that put the money.
      The K7 is really a "outtake", the sound does not carry the postprodución of World Circuit.
      I uploaded the original clip to ytb, Moussoulo to compare the song.
      https://youtu.be/ONmrkxcs0EY

      Delete
    3. Thanks for the original clip!! Will compare it with the CD.
      With "outtakes" I meant other songs than the 6 on K7 and CD.

      Delete
    4. There are three easy to perceive differences, the video-clip going faster, they have not introduced the fake and boring karignan and guitarist Boubacar Diallo it is brighter.

      Bah Amadou Guindo must estimate the extra percussion useless.

      Delete
  8. Following back to the conversation on the K7 which are published in Mali, then after the success,are re-edited masse ("but some chages").
    The Moussolou album, does not sound like an African K7, surely Ibrahim Sylla, sent the audio to some Studio in Paris, to soften a bit, so the album were not particularly difficult to listen to an international audience.
    My question is whether there will be some version of the Moussolou album, before tinkering, circulating in Mali.
    I put in a folder four videos of the time, with songs from Moussoulou, there are two songs live, and two in play back.
    All songs are more vital than in the album.
    The audio is picked up 320 @, but has not been cleaned and has some noise, but it is enough to "imagine the African version of the Moussoulou album."
    http://www.mediafire.com/download/yikyi7ptarl1ffq/Moussoulou.zip

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks Ngoni

    My tape sound pretty much the same as the CD, need to relisten, but lack of time today ...
    Anyway your contribution is, as alwith, inspiring.

    Following it, we might dive into Sogonikou/Sogonikon (Wassulu-dance-rhytme, performed by a female chorus, a female solo singer and drums); Sali Sidibe, and earlier: Kagbé, Bintou and Coumba Sidibé Sogonikou (even Nahawa, but that's another story) and later Oumou Sangaré took from Sogonikou.

    From Sali Sidibe we habe a direct link to Alou Fané and with that a link to the Kamalen Ngoni, beside the discussion about the "inventor" of the Kamalen Ngoni.


    Did you send my tape cover to mangue?

    A.

    ReplyDelete
  10. =>A.nonymous & NGONI
    Got the K7 sleeve OK and THANKS, so original K7 picture is now used for the 2016 re-release.
    No time yet to compare the audio of NGONI's videos with the CD, but will do..... and let you all know

    ReplyDelete
  11. Following back to the conversation on the K7 which are published in Mali, then after the success,are re-edited masse ("but some chages").

    สูตรบาคาร่า
    gclub

    ReplyDelete