Kakilambé is a mask-dance of the Baga-people that live in the coastal area (Boke-region) of Guinee. Origianally it was played on the Baga-drums that are simalar to the djembe.

"Kakilambé is a very important mask of the Baga people, that appears only once a year. The spirit of the Kakilambé is revered as the protector against evil entities. He appears to make important declarations about the present and the future. A priest of the Kakilambé is like a translator, since the mask doesn't talk directely to the people. It's a big day when the mask appears. Everybody comes to listen. Slowly the mask emerges from thge forest, together with the priests. The people have gathered and are waiting. When all of the people bow, the mask grows to a height of five meters! It holds a string for each individual family of the village, and the other end is held by a member of each family.
When the rhythm gets fast, the priest and some of the older men dance around the mask. The priest receives the information. Then he gives the musicians a sign, they play a break, and then the rhythm is played slower and softer. Afterwards he passes on the information given to him by the mask."
(Uschi Billmeier: Mamady Keïta, A life for the djembe).

"Kelyo! Kelyo! Kakilambé! Kelyo!" (Get up, Kakilambé, rise!)

Then Kakilambé, reassured that he was still lord of the children of the Bagatai, just as he had been of their fathers and their fathers' fathers, and swelling with joy, grew big again, and predicted seven years of happiness and prosperity. Then, accompanied by songs and dances of joy and gratitude, he disappeared for another seven years.
So, "for seven years the land will be prosperous and the women fertile" Kakilambé has said so. But, whether the land would in fact be prosperous and the women fertile, depended on the primary power of the men, and of the SENGBE (sacred drums). The man dances, showing his strength, his virility, his confidence and his determination to work with respect for the customs of their people. And, as a start to the favours Kakilambé has promised his people, the goddess of fertility suddenly appears: Nimba with the enormous breasts. The men shout with joy, the women and the girls soon to be married bring offerings and sing:

"O Nimba ! The belly without child, is like a cinder in the desert wind,
like a leaf in a bush-fire.
O Nimba ! goddess of fertility, o Nimba ! you who make the sap rise in the dust
Here are my breasts, let them be the same as yours
Here is my belly, that the sap of the Baga may continue to rise"

And, in a vibrant frenzy, the men and the women of the Baga are united in complete communion, certain that they are protected by the gods."
(text and pictures from a leaflet of the Worldtour of the Ballet de Guinée, ('65-'67).

Mai'm bo, mai'm bo mama, mai'm bo Kakilambé kekumbe

Wap-pages / Paul Nas / Last changed at 22-12-2002

Call 2

		S	S	S	S	S	.	T	T	T	T	T	.	S	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
		2	r	l	r	l	.	2	r	l	r	l	.	f	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.

DUNS-COMBINATION 1
Kenkeni

O

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C

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Sangban

C

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Dun Dun

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DUNS-COMBINATION 2

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Sangban

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Dun Dun

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DUNS-COMBINATION 3

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DUNS-COMBINATION 4

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D

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Djembé 1

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Djembé 2

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Djembé 3

B

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Djembé 4

B

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Djembé 5

B

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Djembé solo accompagnement (fingertips)

S

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r

l

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Break 1

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index | legenda (nl) | legend (en) | inleiding (nl) | introduction (en)

Thanks for taking notice of this interpretation of this rhythm but please consult some real authority's (like Famoudou Konaté and Mamady Keïta) or genuine TEACHERS for further study. Check also the other SITES WITH RHYTHM-NOTATIONS on West African Percussion on the Internet. And share your knowledge and ideas to these WAP-pages and to others.