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Artist List:
Amampondo
Amjad Ali Khan
Asad Qizilbash
Bembeya Jazz
Chico Cesar
Clave Y Guaguanco
Eliza Carthy Big Band
Ensemble Kaboul
Jimmy Cliff
Julien Jacob
LoJo
Manecas Costa
Manu Dibango and
Ray Lema
Nitin Sawhney
Ojos de Brujo
Oumou Sangare
Pape and Cheikh
Samba Sunda
Sevara Nazarkhan
Sierra Maestra
Super Rail Band
Temple of Sound
Teofilo Chantre
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Profile:
Bembeya Jazz
 
Bembeya Jazz is one of those bands that have gradually metamorphosed into a cultural institution, like an African answer to the Kirov Ballet or the Royal Shakespeare Company. They were formed in 1961, in that euphoric dawn when newborn nations like Guinea and its visionary president Sekou Touré celebrated their autonomy and identity by investing heavily in local music and culture. Since then, the apocalyptic horsemen of Aids, globalisation and corruption have soured the sweet hopes of independence but the lilting funky soul of Bembeya Jazz lives on.
At the heart of this remarkable story of survival is guitarist Sekou Bembeya Diabaté, aka 'Diamond Fingers', a master of dazzling fretwork who joined the group almost four decades ago at the insistence of his uncle. In those days Bembeya Jazz was a 'nationalised' regional orchestra based in the Guinean town of Beyla which is dissected by the Bembeya River, hence the name. After moving to the capital Conakry, Bembeya Jazz ballooned into a king sized dance band with four guitarists, three vocalists, a brass section, drums and percussion. And so it remains to this day.
The band survived the death of its star vocalist Aboubacar Demba Camara in 1973, the de-nationalisation of Guinean dance bands in 1980, the departure of another singing legend, Sekouba Bambino Diabaté, in the late '80s and the fluctuations of fashion that any quatragenarian band must inevitably fall foul of at certain moments in their career.
In 2002 Bembeya Jazz regrouped to perform at the Musiques Metisses festival in Angouleme, France, after which they recorded 'Bembeya' their first album in over a decade. For fans of classic West African dance music the world over, it was the second coming they had all been waiting for.
Biography by Andy Morgan, July 2003
Elsewhere on BBCi:
Album Review
R3 Awards for World Music Profile
Other links:
Band Profile
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