In the 1960s the Republic of Guinea had the heaviest African music and Bembeya Jazz National was the top band with their excellent vocalist Demba Camara and lead guitarist Sekou Diabate. Bembeya and other Guinean bands combined African, Caribbean, and American Jazz to create a deep and inspiring music. Their emotional singing and notably off-key horn sections can elicit an intense frisson. These songs and parts of songs were recorded from Radio Guinea and are mainly by Bembeya Jazz. The last two tracks are from Regard Sur le Passe, their LP-length hommage to Samory Toure, a Guinean hero who fought the French in colonial wars. Both songs are up-beat calypsos.
