Les Percussions de Guinée Vols 1 & 2

A welcome reissue of the two classics from Guinea's national supergroup, this was assembled to promote Guinean culture on the back of the longstanding successes of Les Ballets Africains and Djoliba. This double CD is a testament to the charismatic djembé master Noumody Keita who died in 1995 aged 47. In a time before the explosion of djembé culture (and CD releases) these widely influential recordings covered standards of the repertoire with a six or seven-piece group. Aside from the inclusion of krin (slit-drum or log drum) and sikko (frame drum), the first album opens and closes as a djembé fantasy with some well choreographed moments giving way later to solo after solo – the fireworks that are the more regular fare of djembé group albums.

The second CD is comprised of recordings made six years later, in 1994, and has more variety, thanks party to master balafola (xylophone player) El Hadj Djeli Sory Kouyaté, who adds spirited excellence. Rarer instruments (water drum and tama) also make an appearance. Though the design of the Guinean tama is near identical to any other hour-glass shaped talking drum, the music is very different to the better-known traditions of Wolof, Yoruba or Dagbani. The krin ensemble workout ‘Nzekele’ but has a strong symphonic construction and execution. Its busy, detailed and engaging show develops on many levels: sonic, rhythmic and interactive; it both relieves and completes the djembé-fest. Altogether, this is a happy reminder that the djembé genre was always good from the moment it became available in the West.