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December 16, 2008

Le Nimba de N’zerekore – Gön Bia Bia
Editions Syliphone Conakry 1980

Le Nimba de N'zerekore, front

From 1980 is this album by le Nimba de N’zerekore, Syliphone
brought out lots of albums by lots of bands in the 80’s.
I could find no information on this group but I can tell
you this is a fine LP. Singers with sweet voice combined
with guitar driven afrojazz in west african sauce.
Superb rhythms and a great hornsection.

tracks;

1 Gön bia bia
2 Kori magnin
3 Ziko
4 Babaniko
5 Kongoroko
6 Zoo Mousso

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29 Comments

  1. Anonymous 17 December 2008 at 00:32 - Reply

    heya’!
    this is a crazy album! so glad to find it…a few glitches at the end of the first track…any chance this can be fixed up?
    thanks so much for making this (and so many other gems) available to all!!

  2. Anonymous 17 December 2008 at 00:32 - Reply

    heya’!
    this is a crazy album! so glad to find it…a few glitches at the end of the first track…any chance this can be fixed up?
    thanks so much for making this (and so many other gems) available to all!!

  3. moos 17 December 2008 at 01:05 - Reply

    I heard it, will fix as soon as possible, thanks for telling

  4. moos 17 December 2008 at 01:05 - Reply

    I heard it, will fix as soon as possible, thanks for telling

  5. ryan 17 December 2008 at 20:21 - Reply

    What a fantastic band. I heard a live version of Babaniko off of the Prefestival Lagos 77 album and was enthralled.To listen to this album is a treat and I can’t stop moving. Thanks a lot!

  6. ryan 17 December 2008 at 20:21 - Reply

    What a fantastic band. I heard a live version of Babaniko off of the Prefestival Lagos 77 album and was enthralled.To listen to this album is a treat and I can’t stop moving. Thanks a lot!

  7. moos 17 December 2008 at 22:44 - Reply

    Track one is replaced by a new ripped version, I checked it and it should be okay now.
    Try the NEW_LINK and throw away the old one.

  8. moos 17 December 2008 at 22:44 - Reply

    Track one is replaced by a new ripped version, I checked it and it should be okay now.
    Try the NEW_LINK and throw away the old one.

  9. david 17 December 2008 at 23:02 - Reply

    fanastic stuff–thanks for sharing another gem!

  10. david 17 December 2008 at 23:02 - Reply

    fanastic stuff–thanks for sharing another gem!

  11. Wickedmessenger 18 December 2008 at 12:08 - Reply

    Great songs on this one, especially “Babaniko.” Thanks!

  12. Wickedmessenger 18 December 2008 at 12:08 - Reply

    Great songs on this one, especially “Babaniko.” Thanks!

  13. moos 18 December 2008 at 16:50 - Reply

    Kongoroko especially hit me with those vocals, sweet..

  14. moos 18 December 2008 at 16:50 - Reply

    Kongoroko especially hit me with those vocals, sweet..

  15. NGONI 18 December 2008 at 17:37 - Reply

    Thank you very much for this energy trip, for the Nzérékoré village,with this walk through the mountains of Nimba,I have been removed from the harsh winter.

    But what has happened in your picture,are you shivering?

    Cheers!

  16. NGONI 18 December 2008 at 17:37 - Reply

    Thank you very much for this energy trip, for the Nzérékoré village,with this walk through the mountains of Nimba,I have been removed from the harsh winter.

    But what has happened in your picture,are you shivering?

    Cheers!

  17. Starsailor 30 September 2009 at 18:52 - Reply

    I’m eager to listen to this one, thanks for sharing!

  18. Starsailor 30 September 2009 at 18:52 - Reply

    I’m eager to listen to this one, thanks for sharing!

  19. tanmoy 27 October 2009 at 01:58 - Reply

    thanks and gratitude from india

  20. tanmoy 27 October 2009 at 01:58 - Reply

    thanks and gratitude from india

  21. owlqaeda 23 May 2010 at 22:12 - Reply

    moos, i’ve owlwaze luvd this record. i swear you must have one of the richest ‘back catalogues’ of any blog out there, not to mentioned all the honey you keep spreading around presently. was wondering if you have #4 of the mali music bar-musicaphon set? people keep asking but i have no idea what it is. thanks for everything you lovingly share here

  22. owlqaeda 23 May 2010 at 22:12 - Reply

    moos, i’ve owlwaze luvd this record. i swear you must have one of the richest ‘back catalogues’ of any blog out there, not to mentioned all the honey you keep spreading around presently. was wondering if you have #4 of the mali music bar-musicaphon set? people keep asking but i have no idea what it is. thanks for everything you lovingly share here

  23. owlqaeda 23 May 2010 at 22:14 - Reply

    oh i fogot to mention, this was in the wire magazines ‘100 records that set the worldon fire (while no one was listening) list, should you or your readers care. i only discovered this list lately when looking for blurbs on my own posts, but strangely people seem to respect ‘the list’. take care moos.

  24. owlqaeda 23 May 2010 at 22:14 - Reply

    oh i fogot to mention, this was in the wire magazines ‘100 records that set the worldon fire (while no one was listening) list, should you or your readers care. i only discovered this list lately when looking for blurbs on my own posts, but strangely people seem to respect ‘the list’. take care moos.

  25. Pauley 8 January 2013 at 21:01 - Reply

    Could you please re-upload this? I cannot find it anywhere…

  26. Pauley 8 January 2013 at 21:01 - Reply

    Could you please re-upload this? I cannot find it anywhere…

  27. Vagn Rose 21 December 2020 at 15:49 - Reply

    Hey Moos. Still love your site immensely. About this album, I found some other festival-albums from Guinea in the good old days, and this band band was Nimba Jazz back then. Thanks a lot for being out there and spreadin’

    • Moos 22 December 2020 at 00:21 - Reply

      .. very welcome Vagn ..

  28. Stefan 10 July 2021 at 18:41 - Reply

    Some time ago I bought an album by Kwi Bamba and Orchestre De Gama Berema. On the backside of the album I learned about a connection to Nimba Jazz (see next paragraph). And I remembered that global groovers had featured Nimba Jazz in past on his blog. That lead me to download the album and do a comparative listening. I would like to thank global grooves for that posting with a few notes on Nimba Jazz I have pulled together:

    Kwi Bamba had been the saxophone player of Nimba Jazz. Nimba Jazz hailed from N’Zérékoré, which is the name of the prefecture and the second largest town in the Republic of Guinea; located not far away from the border to the Ivory Coast. Nimba Jazz was formed in 1960 to promote traditional Guinean music with modern instruments. Nimba Jazz was original in the use of rhythms and singing styles associated with the animist ethnic groups from the forested Guinean region, and in particular the Guerzé (or Kpellé) ethnic group.

    When a French recording engineer met Kwi Bamba in 1997 the golden age of music under the regime of president Sékou Touré was over and Kwi Bamba had joined the N’Zérékoré military brass band, just to be able to play music on a daily basis. Membership in the band allowed him to borrow an instrument (sax), although the reeds were not provided. So he had to make them by himself. Which meant he had to blow extremely hard.

    Nimba Jazz were hailed as a revelation at the National Festival of 1970. The commemorative LP of that festival (Syliphone SLP 19) featured five tracks of Nimba Jazz. And the orchestra went on to win the first prize in the 1975 arts festival. In 1980 Syliphone records published the album featured here on global groovers. This LP is said to offer a chapter of ethnology; as the songs retrace moments of initiation. Initiations mark the passages from childhood to adolescence, according to the respective tribal traditions. GÖN BIA BIA, the title of this album, celebrates the departure to the initiation camp.

    The 1997 recordings of Kwi Bamba & L’Orchestre de Gama Berema confirm the brilliance of Guineas musicians form the golden age as well as those who came after them. The recordings reveal a raw and untamed sound, where you can still feel the spirit of Nimba Jazz transcended into the 1990s. The recordings were cut live in a compound in N’Zérékoré. And if one is interested, the album can be found at bandcamp, issued by Ouch! records from France.

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