I will not agree to your assertion "I remember attending an Ifangbodi show in Gunjur and that night the way most of the
attendees and the band acted was one reason why I think the nation failed to endorse the band at a higher level " . Yes
some Youths used to drink as a way of rebellion against the Society and as you mentioned some times some of them coming
from a very religious back ground but that blame should not be laid on IfangBondi .I was among the very first people to
set up Ifangbondi Fans Club in Gunjur together with J.O.J , Amadou Bajo , Omar Janneh (Boy Eat) Lamin Darboe and Nfansu
Touray that later became famously known as Dabanani Club .We became the first to bring Ifangbondi to Gunjur on Koriteh
day 1975 to perform both Haware and Night Show .Ifangbondi always played their best in Gunjur and that was why people in
attendance came as far away as Faraba-banta , Pirang , Bakau , Sukuta and Brikama .I wish you succeed in organising an
Ifangbondi Day .
Luntang
----- Ursprungligt meddelande -----
Fr幩: "Alieu Sanyang" <[log in to unmask]>
Till: <[log in to unmask]>
Skickat: den 26 augusti 2006 16:07
獻ne: Re: Ifangbondi - History/ Bunda yele
This is very refreshing. Thanks to all of you for bringing us all back to life again.
I subscribe to having an Ifangbondi day. As one suggested, the government need to be involved in this. I remember
fully how Ifangbondi was well respected in the sub region especially Senegal and now having the Senegalese music more in
Gambia than our own says a lot how the system failed the group and our culture.
However, one question that came to mind, and I think Oko might be able to answer this better is, did Ifangbondi also
failed us as a culture?
My observation in those days are they also did fail the Gambia. I remember attending an Ifangbodi show in Gunjur and
that night the way most of the attendees and the band acted was one reason why I think the nation failed to endorse the
band at a higher level.I even confronted one of them at that time and ask why he was drinking but for his parents were
so religious but I got a rude awakening answer. And unfortunately he stopped going to school too because he wanted to be
a musician. Most of the people at this show were drunk and alcohol and prostitution was kind of being an acceptable
forum for where ever the group was.
Alieu Sanyang.
oko drammeh <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Fye, Sincere greetings!
There is an unofficial explaninatin of the lyrics of the song "Nyepeto-Bunda Yele" since the band never registered the
lyrics of the song with a definative meaning.
Maybe brother Badou will mcome up with an authentic version of the meaning because he co-composed it.
It is spelled Nyepeto-Meaning a Cockroach.
The song is a love song that fall on the category of love betrayal. A wife habours a lover while his husband was away.
Returned expectfully and knock all night but the door never open. Like Bob Marley put it.-"Waiting in Vain"
This is a musical family to "Super tem-temb" by Bembeya Jazz National of Guinea.
Please note that Ifang bondi (Gambia, Osibisa(Ghana) and Bembeya Jazz (Guinea) influence one another. .
As in music, So in Life
Peace
Oko Buhary.
Thanks for the history on my favourite band.Ifangbondi did their best but
at the end the system fail them.Let Jammeh stop talking loud and doing
nothing and start supporting our artists as Senegal has been doing for many
years now.
Btw i have a question for you,Oko or Badou Jobe if he is still with us...
What does Pa Touray mean in his song *Nyepeto Bundayele* obs. the spelling.
Niamorkono.
On 8/20/06, Momodou Buharry Gassama wrote:
>
> Hi!
> Thanks Oko for the additional info on Ifangbondi. Pa Musa, Coach and
> Karamba, thanks for realising the role Ifang played in the subregion. I
> hope
> they will be given their rightful place very soon, i.e., while the
> remaining
> members are still alive. I will dedicate one of these coming days to
> Ifangbondi on Raki Web Radio. I will let you know the day. I hope Dave
> Manneh will be able to tune in as he is an Afromanding fan. Have a good
> night.
>
>
> Buharry.
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "pasamba jow"
> To:
> Sent: Sunday, August 20, 2006 3:45 PM
> Subject: Re: Ifangbondi - History
>
>
> > Buharry,
> > Thanks for this wonderful info. It is always refreshing to read
> something
> > inspiring about Gambian heroes, and believe or not the Pap Tourays and
> > the Badou Jobes are as important to the shaping of Gambia's identity as
> > any politician. Just maybe one day, soon i hope, Gambia will put these
> > great pioneers in their right historical place, as Gambia's social and
> > cultural icons.
> > Pasamba Jow
> >
> > Momodou Buharry Gassama wrote:
> > Biography:
> >
> > For more than twenty years the Gambian roots band Ifang Bondi ('be
> > yourself') has had a leading role within West African popular music. It
> > was one of the first groups that decided to return to its African roots
> by
> > playing traditional Manding music.
> >
> > To talk about an influential band such as Ifang Bondi, one needs to know
> > how its origins came about. It was the year 1970. The auditorium of
> Legon
> > University in Accra (Ghana) was filled to capacity. There was an
> > environment of restless expectation awaiting the arrival on stage of the
> > Super Eagles of The Gambia. The devastating performance of highlife,
> soul,
> > Cuban music, reggae and western pop songs which followed, faultlessly
> > delivered by the men in sharp suits, revealed why this band from The
> > Gambia had become West Africa's number one superstar attraction. West
> > Africa had just completed its first decade of independence and was in
> the
> > throes of anticolonialist sentiment, pan-Africanism and 'Say it loud, I
> am
> > Black and Proud'. This was to be the last time most people saw the Super
> > Eagles, leaving only the legacy of their all-time classic album 'Viva
> > Super Eagles'.
> >
> > Unknown to their thousands of fans, this was not the end of the story,
> but
> > just the end of the First chapter in one of the longest-running sagas in
> > African musical history. The truth is that the founders of the band,
> > leader Badou Jobe and vocalist Paps Touray had taken a deliberate
> decision
> > to end Super Eagles at the height of their popularity. Being true
> > revolutionary pan Africanists and musical pioneers, they had become
> > increasingly disturbed by the music they were playing and the image they
> > presented. Despite the greater fame and fortune that was theirs for the
> > taking. They radically gave it all up to go back to square one, back to
> > the roots, to create something African for Africans, to challenge the
> > cultural imperialism of the west which still gripped the continent. They
> > went into the bush to sit at the feet of the jelis - the master drummers
> > and the old maestros of the kora, xalam, and bala - the guardians of a
> > thousand years of culture and tradition.
> >
> > After two years of exhaustive research and hard practice, Badou Jobe and
> > the few musicians like Paps Touray and Ali Harb, who had felt inspired
> to
> > join, came back with unique new music, born from their amazingly rich
> > heritage. To their modern electric outfit, including the novelty of an
> > electric organ, they had added traditional drums, which, next to the
> drum
> > kit's chromium sheen and the fancy sunburst of the guitars, looked like
> > alien objects from another planet. The new repertoire, painstakingly
> > composed according to the rules of the jeli teachers, had meant a
> struggle
> > with unfamiliar scales and mind-boggling rhythm structures. They proudly
> > coined their music the Afro Manding Sound after the legendary Manding
> > empire, cradle of their West African culture.
> >
> > By 1973 the group had shed its eagles' feathers to reappear as Ifang
> Bondi
> > ('Be yourself), a fearsome Manding spirit that puts the newly initiated
> to
> > the test and seeks out evildoers within society. The band's First public
> > performances were greeted with dismay and disbelief by their devoted
> fans,
> > who were outraged by the 'bush' sound of mbalax and jambadongo rhythms,
> > although the musicians had been careful to hide the sabar (drums) under
> > the British flag. At that time this type of music was considered to be
> > played only at weddings and family-gatherings and not for big audiences.
> > But bandleader Badou Jobe, veteran of an earlier bade against caste
> taboos
> > to become a musician in the first place, stuck by his guns through the
> > sticks and stones of this initial period. The only support at this time
> > came from fellow musicians, later to form Toure Kunda and Super Diamono,
> > who appreciated the Afro Manding Sound for the momentum it was bound to
> > give African music. Gradually their
> > revolutionary ideas got accepted, and this was the birth of the popular
> > West African modern music that has since catapulted Toure Kunda, Youssou
> > N'dour, Mory Kante, and Baaba Maal onto the world stage.
> >
> > The role of Ifang Bondi has been pivotal - by rehabilitating the
> > traditional musicians they made people aware of their own heritage, and
> > they offered new dimensions to African artists in search of an authentic
> > sound. To rigorously deprive a devoted public of their pop idols, the
> > ultimate symbol of modern western cultureto induce them to set their own
> > cultural values and to get rid of the inferiority complex, a lingering
> > legacy of colonialism, had not been a venture for the faint-hearted. But
> > in the end the effort proved to be worthwhile. Ifang Bondi have achieved
> > their goal - to create something African for Africans - beyond
> > expectations.
> >
> > Badou Jobe's innovative ideas, based on a vast musical knowledge, have
> > crystallized into a comprehensive artistic concept that created also the
> > inimitable sound, Ifang Bondi's trademark. Throughout the years, Ifang
> > Bondi has continued to develop its unique music which reflects the
> > enormous variety and richness of authentic styles, be it Wolof,
> Mandingo,
> > Fula, Jola or other. The band's line-up shows a similar ethnic diversity
> > They put fresh blood into musical traditions, not only by a prolific
> > output of original material but also by organizing festivals in which
> they
> > invited pop, jazz and reggae musicians from as far as the US and Jamaica
> > to play with traditional performers.
> >
> > From the beginning Ifang Bondi have acted as a true academy of music
> from
> > which many great artists have graduated. Outside West Africa Ifang Bondi
> > has always had a solid cult following. The infrequency of record
> releases,
> > all sought after collector's items, plus the enigmatic personality of
> its
> > bandleader, who seems quite happy to stay out of the limelight, "I once
> > opened the door to the hell of stardom, had a good look around, and
> > slammed it shut again", has only enhanced the mystique surrounding this
> > group. Badou Jobe received the prestigious Kora All Africa Music Award,
> > also known as the African Grammy Award, in 1989.
> >
> > The band:
> >
> > Badou Jobe - bass
> > El Hadj Samb - vocals, percussion
> > Jali Momodou Suso - kora, vocals
> > Juldeh Camara - riti, vocals
> > Lin Diaw - guitars
> > Bassirou Mbaye - sabar, bugarabu, tama, jembe
> > Tafa Ndiaye - keyboards
> > Ibou Gueye - drums
> >
> >
> >
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Discography:
> >
> > Saraba (Disques Griot, 1979)
> >
> > Mantra (Interstate Records LPH 2366, 1983)
> >
> > Sanjo (D&K 860017, 1989)
> >
> > Daraja (MW Records MWCD 3009, 1994)
> >
> > Gis Gis (MW Records MWCD 3019, 1998)
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Booking:
> >
> > Musik + Aktion. Address: Uta Hofmann, Musik + Aktion, Egilolfstr.77,
> 91349
> > Egloffstein, Germany. Phone: +49 (0) 9197697970, Fax: +49(0)9197697971.
> > E-mail: [log in to unmask]
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Source: http://worldmusiccentral.org/artists/artist_page.php?id=1021
> >
> >
> > 中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中中
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