 |
Sayon Bamba Camara |
Frank Bessem's Musiques d'AfriqueBack to Musiques d'AfriqueRetour aux Musiques d'Afrique Back to Music of Guinea Retour aux Musiques de Guinée |
| Biography | |
| Sayon Bamba was born in Conakry in 1976, her mother was a pharmacist,
her father was a pilot,
who had worked for President Sekou Touré until he was put in jail by the same president. At that time,
one could be arrested for a simple suspicion, but Sayon was brought up with liberty of speech, her family never denied
her right to speak up. Moreover, in a country where national languages were promoted in education, she was send to the
catholic sisters to learn French, as her father often repeated " in order to say what you think of the devil, you'll
have to speak his language " (cf. www.jeuneafrique.com). After her schooling (she studied science and mathematics), Sayon follows her passion for music and performing arts. She joins the Théâtre national d'enfants, followed by a short stay with the all-women band Amazones de Guinée. The Amazones is a band of the National Gendarmerie, and Sayon didn't want to become a Gendarme, so Sayon eventually ends up in France. She settled in Marseille, where she meets with artists from a variety of horizons. She fuses traditional music from Guinea with various mediterranean sounds, and produced a first album « Chansons des rues et des maquis » in 2005. In 2008, a new album was released, with songs about issues such as increasing poverty in Guinea, corruption and social desintegration, but there are also joyful songs: as the album title « Mod'vakance » suggests, Sayon is in " holiday mode ". Both on her albums as during her live shows, the originality of the songs, the energy Sayon is showing in both singing and dancing and the fusion of various music styles are quite enjoyable. On her latest 2010 album « Dougna », she didn't lose her combativeness as she sings about children at war, about people disconnected from their culture and about female genital mutilation, still perpetrated in parts of Africa. Musicians on « Mod'vakance » album: Sayon Bamba Camara lead vocals, percussion Dominique Beven flute, mandoline, mandola, cornemuse Abdoulaye Kouyaté, Pierre Fernandez guitar Alhassane Camara « Darthagnan » bongo, djembé, calabash, bolon Mohamed Keita « Dany » gongoma, calabash, backing vocals Willy Le Cor kamélé n'goni, balafon, backing vocals Guest musicians: Riad Challoub vocals on « Sadjo » Ibrahima Sory Diabaté balafon on « Bara » Maestro Barry saxophone, clarinet on « Sily » and « Nemalon », flute peul on « Bara » David Camara « Tito » vocals on « N'na », backing vocals on « N'na », « Khimouwa » and « Bara » Aïcha Deen Magassouba backing vocals on « Salimaoré » and « Bara » Emma Bamba backing vocals on « Salimaoré » and « Bara » Aïcha Camara backing vocals on « N'na » Elisabeth Camara backing vocals on « N'na » and « Bara » Mimi Camara backing vocals on « N'na » Sibongilé Mbambo backing vocals on « Sily » Born: 1976, in Conakry Style: modernised traditional music / fusion |
Sayon Bamba @ Babel Med 2006 |
| Discography |
| Title | Year | Label | Remarks |
| Dougna | 2010 | Cobalt / L'Autre Distribution | |
| Mod'vakance | 2008 | Cobalt 138625 / L'Autre Distribution | |
| Chansons des rues et des maquis | 2005 | Self-produced album (Association Sobé) |
| Sources |
| Jeune Afrique [external link].
Sayon's Myspace [external link]. |
Copyright © 1997-2010 Frank Bessem | The Netherlands
Contact | Legal Notice | About This Site | Site Search Engine