Government-funded from the start, Guinea's Bembeya Jazz were formed in 1961 to help promote the cultural strength of the new African nation. Such culture-building projects are risky, but this driving, guitar-heavy dance band had the players and the grooves to capture the imagination of the post-colonial state. Ups and downs in Guinea's economy and government brought Bembeya Jazz to a standstill by the late '80s, but they regrouped in 1998, and Bembeya, an energetic reworking of old hits from their glory days, gives a good sense of what their contributions to the Afropop explosion are all about.
Their fire came from a propulsive four-guitar lineup that's still plenty powerful, especially on the title cut and the Hawaiian guitar-laced "Gbapie." Folk themes and rhythms drawn from the West African region occupied by Guinea lend the music an easygoing quality that trendier, hard-sell pop music lacks. Every track is appealing, and the complexities of the cyclical guitar parts will have amateurs and professionals alike wondering, "How'd they do that?"
