Balla et ses Balladins - The Syliphone Years

Track: Sara '70

Extract form IODA:
From a time when Guinea was at the forefront of African music, these recordings showcase one of the newly independent nation's most inventive and influential groups.
At first they were known as the ‘Orchestre du Jardin de Guinée’, their regular venue and one of Conakry’s best for “bar dancing”. But gradually this changed to ‘Balla’ - after their leader Balla Onivogui �— ‘et ses Balladins’.
Then a spat with a government minister saw Balla sacked and replaced by his friend, Pivi. And so they became ‘Pivi et les Balladins’. But when Sékou Touré, the President, heard about it his reaction was an indignant “Since when?”, and Balla was quickly reinstated ... not that he’d ever really left.

Balla et ses Balladins
"Sara '70" (mp3)
from "The Syliphone Years"
(Sterns)

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