Sounds of Africa

Kenya cool

2010-11-26T08:53:00.002+11:00

Update on the music scene in Kenya

"The Nairobi music scene was once dominated by benga, with its popping, pulsating bass and aching vocal interweaves. But over the past decade there's been a musical and technological revolution."
So says this article from Guardian News & Media: Nairobi rocking

Malian songbird

2010-04-12T13:54:00.002+10:00

Malian singer Rokia Traore is a true songbird of Africa and one of my favorite female artists. Her work is once gentle and intense, minimalist in approach yet extremely complex and poetic in execution, employing both traditional and modern instruments in a unique, distinctive soulful mix. The overall effect is nothing short of mesmerising.

Born in Mali in 1979, as the daughter of a peripatetic diplomat she lived in various countries as a child. She told one magazine interviewer she was an extremely solitary child and that "music was therapy for me". Her tastes were influenced by a wide range of musical styles including jazz and blues, rock, traditional singing and rap. Out of all these inspirations comes a lyrical synthesis of sound and song that's once indelibly African and irresistibly moving.

Traore writes in her native Bamanan language. She has released four albums to date. Her debut was Mouneïssa (1998) which she dedicated it to her mentor, Malian guitarist Ali Farka Toure. It was followed by Wanita in 1999. Her third album was the more austere yet at times transcendant Bowmboi (2004), from which this song is taken.

The singer's most recent offering is Tchmantche (2009). You'll find more videos on her official website

Mhlanga magic

2010-03-14T14:53:00.003+11:00

Zimbabwean guitarist Louis Mhlanga was born in Harare. He began strumming as a youngster and, like many gifted, aspirant musicians, was self-taught, learning by ear from songs and licks he heard on the radio.

In colonial Rhodesia this meant British soft pop and rock, the music of The Beatles and Stones, Hendrix and Zeppelin. But he also had an ear for more homespun sounds like the mbira and smanje manje. The black music stations fed him Congolese rumba and the infectious rhythms of Zulu music from South Africa. All these influences eventually coalesced into his fluid, laid-back, jazzy Afro-Western style.

Mhlanga’s proficiency as a player was soon noticed and he shone with many Zimbabwean artists, including the inimitable Oliver Mtukudzi, before heading south of the Limpopo where he's worked with jazz great Hugh Masekela, guitarist Ray Phiri, Caiphus Semenya and Jonas Gwangwa. In 1999 Louis recorded Live at the Bassline with singer Vusi Mahlasela.

He's collaborated with King Sunny Ade in Nigeria, produced Zimbabwean chimurenga star Thomas Mapfumo, developed teaching programs for Zimbabwean music and tutored African guitar in the Netherlands. Song for Momsa is an improvisational album recorded with Dutch acoustic bassist Eric van der Westen.

This clip captures Louis easy-listening style:

Other releases:
Musik Ye Afrika (1997) – with other Zimbabwean artists
Mukai (1999) – debut solo album.
Shamwari (2001) – jazzy-feel instrumental album
Tinganekwane (2004) – African roots influenced

Read this great article

A top trio

2010-02-26T17:32:00.005+11:00

South Africa has produced many great musicians. Top of my charts is Tananas, a trio formed in the late 1980s by guitarist Steve Newman, drummer Ian Herman and Gito Baloi on bass and vocals.

Tananas forged its own own unique sound from a blend of influences which included jazz, rock, the infectious sounds of township jive (mbaqanga) and various motifs and rhythms from neighbouring Mocambique. Extensive touring and the 1988 release of their self-titled first album with Shifty Records won them a huge following.

The trio fractured in 1993 to pursue individual interests then reformed as Tananas Wide Ensemble, but without Gito Baloi. In this guise Herman and Newman released two albums of which Unamunacua (1996) is a personal favourite. It features many top South African musicians.

Once again the band split and it was 1998 before the original trio were back together again. Tananas released Seed in 1999 and appeared on the bill at Womad 2000.

Gito Baloi was killed in April 2004 during a robbery attempt in Johannesburg. Newman and guitarist Tony Cox formed The Aquarian Quartet with Greg Georgiades and Syd Kitchen. Ian Herman lives in the US and plays with various bands. You can listen to Newman's recent release Flavour and also visit his website to find out about upcoming shows.

Tananas on Facebook

Street music rules OK!

2010-02-15T11:24:00.014+11:00

The best good news story in recent years is surely Staff Benda Bilili. A group of homeless, disabled street musicians living in the grounds of the zoo in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), shoot from relative obscurity to global fame. The eight-piece band includes teenager Roger Landu playing a setonge, a one-string instrument he created using an old tin can and a wooden bow. The band's first appearance in Europe last year sparked instant rave reviews.

"There is movement all over the stage: four pirouetting wheelchairs, and crutches used by mighty arms to swing on. Another of the band vaults from his wheelchair and spins on half-legs, ululating with a dazzling grin. All have turned apparent weakness to strength long ago... Like all the finest African bands, Staff Benda Bilili's swirling complexity removes the option to do anything but dance ... Havana cantina, Kinshasa slum, psychedelic club or London arts centre – this crack outfit would tear the roof off anywhere." - The Independent, London

Staff Benda Bilili are booked for a further European tour, starting in April and visiting France, England, Belgium, Germany and Austria.

Their first album Trés Trés Fort – recorded in the grounds of the zoo on a MacBook – is released by Crammed Records.

Essential listening

2010-02-12T18:01:00.051+11:00

An opening gambit - a quartet of all-time greats .... more suggestions to follow.

Ali Farka Toure & Ry Cooder. Talking Timbuktu. 1994

Bhundu Boys. Friends on the Road. 1995

Baaba Maal, Nomad Soul, 1998

Various artists, 2005

Two big stars

2010-02-12T14:25:00.008+11:00

Two of Africa's top musicians in one week! Vieux Farka Toure and Toumani Diabate played individual gigs around town and also appeared together at an open air concert in The Domain as part of the annual Sydney Festival.

At the Becks Bar, Farka Toure topped a lineup of other artists with no African musical links. His liquid runs up and down the guitar fretboard were amazing and he played several of his late father's songs. Diabate was absolutely mesmerizing at the State Theatre, playing several of his beautiful Mande variations before calling up on a stage a squad of "cousins", all of them brilliant instrumentalists.

Suggested releases: