Syliphone Records archival project completed

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Wow! This has evidently been a huge project and illustrates the difficulties of restoring African tapes from before 1970!

http://www.radioafrica.com.au/BNG.html

Radio Africa

A personal report on the Syliphone archival project in Guinea

In 2007 I applied for funding through the British Library's Endangered Archives Programme. In June I received the good news that my Major Research Project funding application had been approved, and in August I was in Guinea. I had been in contact with the Director of the Bibliothèque Nationale de Guinée (BNG), Dr Baba Cheick Sylla, for some months and we had established a good rapport. My project proposal was two-fold, firstly that I create a copy of the complete Syliphone catalogue, transferring the original vinyl to compact disc format and housing them in the BNG, and secondly that I transfer to compact disc the reel-to-reels of Syliphone-era songs which were located in the archives of Radioduffusion Télévision Guinée (RTG). These reels contained recordings of federal and national orchestras. In 2001 I conducted PhD research in the RTG and was shown a hand written catalogue of some 50 reels, which I thought was the complete archive.

Arriving in Guinea I got through unscathed the "formalities" at Gbessia airport, and met with my translator, Allen Nyoka, a few days later. Allen was fantastic, and I recommend him to anyone who requires a translator in Guinea. I then met with Dr Sylla to begin the project. From the outset Dr Sylla was very supportive. He arranged meetings with musicians, RTG personnel, government ministers, and people associated with the Syliphone label, and I found myself very busy early on. The newly created Ministry of Arts became involved, and I met with Minister Ifono who threw his complete support behind the project and declared that it was the number one priority of his Ministry. Jeannot Williams, the lead guitarist with Camayenne Sofa and now a senior journalist in Guinea, took over the media liaison, and a series of interviews on Guinean radio ensued. Riad Chaloub, the vocalist and harmonica player of Camayenne Sofa, and the number 2 in the Ministry of Arts, was also firmly backing the archival project. My days were spent with Dr Sylla in meetings with a broad spectrum of government officials and musicians. I had made CD copies of entire recordings of orchestras to give to musicians, for many did not own a copy of their own recordings and had not even seen some of them for many years. It's also a sad truth that Guinea's Syliphone era musicians have not received any royalties from their recordings. This I hope to change, for it is shameful to see the poverty in which they live and to hear them whisper "I just want a little money before I die", as one musician put it. I am trying to get a lot of their music released, and trying to promote some of the existing orchestras.

Early on I met Balla Onivogui, who is now mostly confined to his home. I met often with Lamine Camara, the chef d'orchestre of the Horoya Band, and with Sékou Le Growl Camara. Lamine informed me that Métoura Traoré, the former band leader of the Horoya Band, is sick and was in hospital in Dakar. I also learned that Keletigui Traoré was very unwell, and I put off meeting him until his health improved. I also had a big meeting in Club Bembeya with Sékou Bembeya Diabaté, Mohammed Kaba, Sékou Le Growl Camara, Bangaly Gros Bois Traoré, Linke Condé, Lamine Camara, and others, which let everybody know the parameters of my project. I was heartened to see that La Paillote in Camayenne is still going well, and that Keletigui et ses Tambourinis perform there every Saturday night. I had some good times there with Abdoul Karim “Chuck Berry” Camara, Papa Kouyaté, Talib Traoré, Linke Condé and Amadou Thiam, interviewing them and talking about their music. It was a wonderful time, and to see them smile so broadly as we listened to their music on my laptop is a memory I cherish.

Returning to the project - once upon a time, the Guinean government, under President Sékou Touré, boasted some of the finest archives and libraries in West Africa. Then in 1985, a year after his death, an attempted coup resulted in widespread looting and ransacking of government offices. The RTG was bombed and the Syliphone archive destroyed. (In a strange twist I met the army officer who ordered the bombing of the RTG. He spent more that 10 years in jail). Many thought that the complete archive of Syliphone recordings would never be seen again. As the (new) Syliphone archive grew day by day I was persisting with my enquiries to get access to the reel-to-reels at the RTG. I had the support of the Arts Ministry, Dr Sylla, and Mme Yayé Haby Barry, the RTG archive head, though it took several weeks for the paperwork to come through. It is not easy getting access to the RTG, it's a heavily protected building with armed soldiers at the gates, but once past them it's quite a tranquil place, right on the ocean, with small herds of sheep wandering underneath the giant satellite dishes. After a month I was finally given approval to access the material, and was even given my own aircon space to work in. I had a RTG pass and was given unfettered access to all the archives, a rare privilege, especially for a non-Guinean. I discovered rooms in the RTG archive that I never knew existed, rooms full of reel-to-reels. Many were of orchestras, others were of traditional music, or contained oral narratives. I discovered perhaps 600 reels of music of orchestres moderne, with many unreleased recordings by the national orchestras. The bulk of the recordings, however, focused on the federal orchestras, and the earliest recordings were from 1963. There were also some reels of post-Touré era groups such as Super Flambeau, who during the Syliphone era performed under their name the Super Boiro Band. It was a dirty and dusty job to winkle out the reels from the shelves, where they had sat for years, and I set up my little studio and began copying as many of them as I could. On a good day I could copy 5 reels. I began to see first hand how desperately in need of archiving the reels were. Any reel recorded prior to 1965 usually broke when played and had to be repaired many times, for the tape had become brittle. Any reel recorded between 1965 and 1970 usually broke when re-wound and also had to be repaired, though tapes after 1970 were not too bad. I copied some truly rare and incredible music at the RTG, with some examples being 1963 recordings by the Orchestre Honore Coppet (an early member of the Syli Orchestre National), 1963 recordings by Orchestre de la Paillote, 1964 recordings by the Orchestre de la Garde Républicaine 1ere formation, three versions of Moi ça ma fout (by Bembeya Jazz, Keletigui et ses Tambourinis, and Sombory Jazz), and many many recordings by great Federal Orchestras such as Manden Könö, Kébendo Jazz, and Kaloum Star. CD copies of these recordings, over 100 reels, were given to the RTG archive and will also be given to the British Library. I may apply for further funding in 2009 to complete the archival project, as there are many reels that need urgent digitising.

By late September the Syliphone archive at the BNG was close to completion. Dr Sylla and the Arts Ministry had arranged for an official launch, but as the BNG was lacking space it was decided to have it at the National Museum, just a few metres away. Jeannot Williams had contacted the media and the invitations went out. Jeannot even arranged for the RTG to broadcast a commercial advertising the archive launch, and so one day a camera crew arrived at the BNG and filmed Dr Sylla and I miming oohs and aahs as we looked over the Syliphone CDs. There are only about 4 commercials on Guinea's only TV station, so this one drew a lot of attention. The launch was set for September 29. I worked hard to get all the discs ready and remember the morning when I gave Dr Sylla the last of the Syliphone CDs. We shook hands. The collection was now complete, all 728 songs on 157 discs. I had made Dr Sylla three copies of the Syliphone catalogue in booklet form, which featured a photo of each album and its track listing. These catalogues became highly sought after! On the morning of the archive launch a huge storm blew in and it rained very heavily. A good sign, someone said. The crowd gathered and there were plenty of journalists, musicians, and friends. I was asked to make a speech, and Dr Sylla, Minister Ifono, and the ex-Minister of Communications also spoke. At the end of the ceremony the ex-Minister awarded me a Diplome d'Honneur and I was congratulated by all. The launch was broadcast on the TV news that night, and it was all quite an emotional experience for me. I love the Syliphones, as my research hopefully attests to, and I very was moved by people's heartfelt and sincere thanks for what I had done. Some told me that when they had heard of my project they felt like crying, while others told me they did cry when they saw the archive. Others pronounced me "a Guinean". I would often tell people that my 14 years of research on Syliphone wasn't work for me, it was pleasure. The archive was shown at the National Museum for a week, and was then re-shown for another week during Guinea's 50th anniversary celebrations. It is also set to tour Mali, and three Guinean ministries are now involved. I pledged to Dr Sylla that I will continue to update the archive at the BNG as I come across better quality discs and covers, and I will send these to him at the library. Click here to view the Syliphone catalogue.

After the archive launch things quietened down a bit. I was at the RTG archives 6 days a week, copying as many reels as I could, and when I had time I tried to meet with all the musicians. A few weeks before I left I was informed that I was receiving a medal for my work. The Guinean government through the Ministry of Arts decided to award me the Palme Académique en Or, Guinea's highest honour, and on the day before I flew back to Australia I received it.

To my left is Dr Sylla, Directeur de la Bibilothèque Nationale de Guinée, and to my right is Prof Ifono, Ministere de la Culture des Arts et Loisirs.

Readers will be heartened to learn that the following orchestras continue to play regularly in Guinea - Bembeya Jazz, Horoya Band, Keletigui et ses Tambourinis, the Balladins, the 22 Band, and Camayenne Sofa, who released a new CD in September 2008 to mark their 35th anniversary. Even some of the smaller groups in Guinea, such as Kolima Jazz, still get together occasionally, and up until a few years ago groups such as Tinkisso Jazz and the Forest Band were still playing. Sadly, very sadly, Keletigui Traoré passed away on November 11. He was given a state funeral and was buried in the cemetery at Camayenne on November 13. I didn't get a chance to renew our acquaintance. He was a super star in Guinea, a legend going back to 1962. His influence on Guinean music is immeasurable. And of Kébendo Jazz there's only one surviving member. But there is happier news. The Balladins now feature a young line-up, hopefully ensuring that their music will find roots in a new generation of musicians. And then there is Kombo Jazz, a great orchestra featuring many of the Syliphone era stars, who play together every week. And La Paillote after more than 40 years continues to host music most nights of the week. Go there while you can, and if you're lucky you will sit under the stars on a Saturday night while Linke Condé leads the Tambourinis with his sublime electric guitar.

And Graeme got a medal for it! Well deserved. He has done sterling work over many years on this music.

MG