Les Amazones de Guinée

Founded in Guinea, West Africa in 1961. Les Amazones de Guinée is an all-woman musical group composed of female members of the Guinean militia army (Gendarmerie). Guinea had gained independence from France in 1958 and, inspired by the country’s decision to promote traditional West African music, the group first formed as L'Orchestre Féminin de la Gendarmerie de Guinée. The group, who incorporated Cuban influences into their chiefly acoustic and rhythm-based sound, eventually changed their name to Les Amazones de Guinée in order to sound more internationally appealing. As time progressed, the band began adding electric guitars to their mix of percussion, brass, and strings. The line-up, which consisted of up to 15 members, played their own take on Afro-pop and became a popular live act. However, they didn’t release their first album, Au Coeur de Paris, until 1983. Les Amazones de Guinée continued to tour and perform but it took another 25 years before they released their second album, Wamato, in 2008.

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