It is with
great sadness that I learnt of the death of Talibé Traoré,
lead trumpeter of the orchestra Keletigui et ses Tambourinis.
Talibé died when his motorcycle was hit by a taxi at 1am on
5 February 2010
in Conakry. The driver of the taxi left the scene and
was never found.
Talibé was one of the last great trumpeters of his generation.
Guinean orchestras of the Syliphone era often
featured a brass section, led by a sax or trumpet. Talibé originally played with the regional orchestra Télé Jazz,
based in the town of Télimélé,
and he was then
recruited into the
Keletigui et ses Tambourinis orchestra in the early 1970s. He
features on their
Syliphone vinyl release Le Rétour
(SLP 55), with an acclaimed
solo on "Maderi". He played alongside Kerfala Camara,
Keletigui Traoré and Momo Wandel Soumah, the creme de la creme of brass
musicians, during the
period when the Tambourinis boasted the best (and the biggest) brass
section in Guinea. He also played with
the excellent orchestra Kaloum Star.
His trumpet tone was bright and strident, it grabbed
your attention, and he was still a
powerful trumpeter when I last saw him
play in 2008. His
trumpet solos made the group swing.
Talibé provided a lot of assistance with the preparation for the Stern's
"Keletigui et ses Tambourinis
-
The Syliphone years" CD, supplying
translations for the songs and histories of the group. He was so very
friendly and helpful, a gentleman, and his death is
a tragedy. I
offer my sincere condolences to his friends and family.
Video footage of
Talibé
playing with Keletigui et ses Tambourinis can be viewed on YouTube, his
solo on Temedi is outstanding -
https://youtu.be/vjGASgFeHqw
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