Balla et Ses Balladins

Formed in Guinea in 1964, the original seven-piece line-up of this government-sponsored group had previously been part of a 25-piece ensemble that split into two groups (the other being Keletigue And His Tambourinis). Led by trumpeter Balla Onivogui, the group also featured trombonist/saxophonist Pivi Moriba (Onivogui and Moriba were both teachers who had studied music in Senegal together and were known as the ‘Intellectuels de la Musique Folklorique'), and singer Kanté Manfila (the cousin of the better known Guinean singer/guitarist of the same name). By 1967 the group, which...