Kanté Facelli et son Ensemble Africain: Chants Et Danses D'Afrique [Le Chant Du Monde, 1950s]

Seminal Westafrican guitar music with a strong latin flavour.

Kanté Facelli is considered a pivotal figure in Westafrican music, being among the first to adapt the melodies of the traditional instruments, such as balafon and ngoni, to the guitar. The combination of this new approach to the guitar and a strong Latin-American, especially Cuban, influence, created a highly influential sound that would be picked up and altered by musicians on the whole African continent.

The musicians heard here were all members of the famous Ballets Africains. The Ballet was founded and led by Keita Fodeba who's credited as the conductor of half of this material, but doesn't play any instrument. The personnel is in fact basically the same on both sessions collected here. Facelli plays guitar and sings on all tracks and is accompanied on many tracks by one or two additional singers and sparse hand percussion.

The music is only apparently simple, closer listening will reveal many beautiful details. It is obvious that the singers were used to performing without microphone, or at least capable of it. The voices are strong and a little rough, often the lead voice is answered by the "choir". Kanté Facelli plays what i guess is an amplified acoustic guitar. His picking can best be savoured on the instrumental blues "Kadia Blues".

The exact date of these Parisian recordings is unclear. The Ballet stayed in France for almost eight years -  from it's foundation in Paris in 1952 until Sekou Touré, the new president of the freshly independant Guinea, made the Ballet the National Ensemble of Guinea in 1960.

Le Chant Du Monde issued the material several times. First on two 7inches with 6 tracks each, credited to Kanté Facelli and Keita Fodeba respectively, as pictured on the top of this post. Later these tracks were combined on a 10inch with 10 tracks as seen down below and finally on the version i own with 12 tracks, as seen on the left.

Monitor Records issued the material in the US, adding 6 tracks by Mouangué and his African Ensemble taken from another Le Chant du Monde 7inch (see pic at the bottom of this post).

Keita Fodeba, Kanté Facelli: Chants Et Danses D'Afrique
Le Chant Du Monde ‚ LDX 74381, Serie Chants Et Danses, France, 1970s

A1 Couri-Couri (Casamance: Dialecte Créole Portugais) 3:37
A2 Soda (Guinée: Dialecte Soussou) 2:57
A3 Aloa (Casamance: Dialecte Créole Portugais) 2:00
A4 Mia Bele (Dahomey) 2:48
A5 Laila (Guinée: Dialecte Soussou) 3:09
A6 Carolina (Casamance: Dialecte Créole Portugais) 2:45

B1 Kadia Blues 2:50
B2 Kikalama (Guinée: Dialecte Soussou) 2:40
B3 Telefonista (Casamance: Dialecte Créole Portugais) 3:02
B4 Kankan (Guinée: Dialecte Mandingue) 2:39
B5 M'batilaya (Niger: Dialecte Yorouba) 2:30
B6 Saidouba (Guinée: Dialecte Soussou) 2:18

Kante Facelli (g, voc) on all tracks, solo on B4,5
with
Achkar Marouf, Yansané Kerfala (voc) A1,3,5,6, B3,6
Achkar Marouf (g) A2
Sy Papa (voc) A4
Collet Philip (g) B1
Yansané Kerfala (voc) B2
Conductor: Kante Facelli, Keita Fodeba
Ensemble: Ensemble Africain


Other issues:
Kanté Facelli et son Ensemble Africain: Chants et Danses D'Afrique (Dahomey - Niger - Guinée), Le Chant Du Monde LDY-4049 (6 tracks)

Keita Fodeba et son Ensemble Africain: Chants et Danses D'Afrique (Casamance - Guinée)
Le Chant Du Monde LDY-4048 (6 tracks) 

Ensembles Keita Fodeba / Kanté Facelli: Chants et Danses D'Afrique
Le Chant Du Monde ‎LD-S-4275 (10 tracks)
Le Chant Du Monde LDX 74381 (12 tracks)

Mouangué and his African Ensemble / Kanté Facelli and his African Ensemble / Keita Fodeba and his African Ensemble: The Voices And Drums Of Africa
Monitor Records MFS 373 (18 tracks)
(Tracks by Monagué from Le Chant Du Monde LDY.M 4027:
Mouangué Et Son Ensemble Africain: Chants D'Afrique (Cameroun))