Balla et ses Balladins
Encyclopedia
Balla et ses Balladins were a dance-music orchestra formed in Guinea
-Conakry in 1962 following the break-up of the Syli Orchestre National, Guinea's first state-sponsored group. Originally known as the "Orchestre du Jardin de Guinee" the group made a number of recordings for the state-owned Syliphone label and become one of the first modern dance musical groups in Guinea to use traditional musical instruments and fuse together traditional Guinean folk music with more modern influences.
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Les Balladins made a number of recordings for the state-owned Syliphone label, which was founded in 1968. The group also toured abroad representing Guinea and some members worked as backing musicians for Miriam Makeba
when she lived in Guinea in the 1970s.
In 1970 Balla had a falling-out with some government officials and was briefly replaced as leader by his friend and trombone player Pivi Moriba, to be restored following the intervention of president Sékou Touré himself.
Guinea suffered a series of economic crises in the 1970s and in 1983 the national orchestras were all established as private concerns. In 1984 President Sekou Toure died, and the Syliphone label ended. Balla et ses Balladins continued to play during the Lansana Conte era, and when Balla Onivogui retired in the late 1990s his group recruited new musicians and still performs in Conakry.
Guinea
Guinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...
-Conakry in 1962 following the break-up of the Syli Orchestre National, Guinea's first state-sponsored group. Originally known as the "Orchestre du Jardin de Guinee" the group made a number of recordings for the state-owned Syliphone label and become one of the first modern dance musical groups in Guinea to use traditional musical instruments and fuse together traditional Guinean folk music with more modern influences.
Background
The newly-independent state of Guinea established a number of music groups, competitions and festivals throughout the country to play the traditional musics of Guinea rather than the European styles that were popular in the colonial period. The government also set up the Syliphone label to record the ensuing music and thus preserve and enhance the culture of the new nation. Balla et ses Balladins were one of the most popular groups arising from these initiatives.Career
The group was named after their leader trumpet player Balla Onivogui, who was born in 1938 in Macenta, a small town in south-east Guinea and was a student at a conservatory in Senegal before being recruited to play in the Guinea independence celebrations in 1959. He quickly became a member of the state's leading orchestra, the Syli Orchestre National, who were tasked with working with music groups throughout Guinea to train them to play the traditional musics of the country. In order to expand this programme the government split the orchestra into smaller units, one of which under the leadership of Balla became Balla et ses Balladins and held a residency at the Conakry nightspot Jardin de Guinée. (The other group emerging from the split was the equally renowned Keletigui Et Ses TambourinisKeletigui Et Ses Tambourinis
Keletigui Et Ses Tambourinis were a dance music orchestra founded by the government of the newly independent state of Guinea-Conakry. They were one of the most prominent national orchestras of the new country.-Background:...
.)
Les Balladins made a number of recordings for the state-owned Syliphone label, which was founded in 1968. The group also toured abroad representing Guinea and some members worked as backing musicians for Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba , nicknamed Mama Africa, was a Grammy Award winning South African singer and civil rights activist....
when she lived in Guinea in the 1970s.
In 1970 Balla had a falling-out with some government officials and was briefly replaced as leader by his friend and trombone player Pivi Moriba, to be restored following the intervention of president Sékou Touré himself.
Guinea suffered a series of economic crises in the 1970s and in 1983 the national orchestras were all established as private concerns. In 1984 President Sekou Toure died, and the Syliphone label ended. Balla et ses Balladins continued to play during the Lansana Conte era, and when Balla Onivogui retired in the late 1990s his group recruited new musicians and still performs in Conakry.
Discography
See http://www.radioafrica.com.au/Discographies/Syliphone.html and http://www.radioafrica.com.au/Discographies/Guinean.html for the Balladins complete discography.Various artist compilations
- Authenticite - The Syliphone Years (2008) Stern's Music on http://www.sternsmusic.com