Sonafric SAF 50.097 : Sory Bamba - Sory Bamba du Mali
While Sun Ra was creating his brand of Afro-futurism in Philadelphia, Sory Bamba was busy orchestrating his own version down in Mopti, Mali - creating an explosive poly-rhythmic electro-funk sound, highly influenced by the local Dogon instruments, culture and rituals. The old Regional Orchestra in Mopti was modernized and the new orchestra issued their first eponymous album on Mali Kunkan in 77 please see previous post on Kanaga de Mopti . They would go on to win three consecutive Bamako Biennales, in the process upending the reign of Amadou Ba and the mighty Super Biton de Segou.
The Dogon people were pretty advanced and were pioneers in matters that involved the cosmos. There is literature that points to vivid descriptions and sculptures that speak of extraterrestrial visits experienced by the Dogon people. It is said that they knew about the moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn but it s their knowledge of the Sirius star system that is most fascinating. They knew about a companion star Sirius B that is invisible to the naked eye, long before it was ever discovered. No wonder that their culture and rites and rituals rubbed off on the futuristic, spiritual and avant-garde jazz scene in the US- think Hemphill s Dogon A.D, Pullen- Graves Nommo etc.
And here was Bamba, the unsung hero of the Malian music scene, distilling that culture and rituals into his music, modernized, and this time way funkier than the Orchestre Kanaga outing a year ago. Kanaga 78 and Mayel are definitely the jams on this - electric Korg, electric guitar, explosive horns, folk melodies and poly rhythms formed by indigenous drums. Absolutely essential
