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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 1999.
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 |
