I promised another track off the 1972 Africa Dances compilation in my post yesterday, so here you go.

Les Bantous de la Capitale are one of Congo’s oldest bands still playing (as far as I know). Formed in 1959, they were heavily influencial in the development of Congolese rumba and early soukous. Today’s track, Lisie, is a particularly Congolese-laid-back rumba. It makes me think of palm trees, coconuts and slow-moving ceiling fans.

It’s strange listening to such relaxed, happy music when it comes from a country still divided in two by a brutal civil war. All I can say is, “way to go Belgium.” They really gave Portugal a run for their money for the worst colonizer crown. And no, you aren’t allowed to blame it on the king.

Anyway. Enjoy the tropical rumba. Grab a piña colada or something.

Bantous de la Capitale - Lisie

A few posts ago I mentioned that highlife started out as more of a big-band thing, ie orchestras and horn sections rather than rhythm guitars. Something about my Monday morning coffee makes this kind of sound fit the bill for today’s post.

The Broadway Dance Band is a classic big-band highlife group out of 1950s/60s Ghana. I wish it was easier to find bands and concerts featuring this kind of music these days since if you put a few whiskeys in me I love dancing to the stuff. High-heeled ladies and guys in white-collared shirts wilting in the humidity, sleeves rolled up.

Got this track off that great 1972 pan-African compilation, Africa Dances. I was going to post another track off this album today but I’m a touch shy on bandwidth so I might wait until tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Broadway Dance Band - Broadway Special

I mentioned The Allenko Brotherhood Ensemble in my post yesterday. Since I’m in the mood for some afrobeat I thought I’d post a track off that album to kick-off the weekend.

The Allenko Brotherhood Ensemble isn’t a group but rather an effort by Comet records in 2001 to unite some contemporary musicians and DJs with Tony Allen’s drum beats. Instead of same-old same-old remixes the album incorporates Allen’s classic beats with new styles… with great results.

My favourite track off the album is by Tweak from Straight Ahead Recordings. It’s also one of the closest in style to Tony Allen, particularly his recent solo works. I’ll illustrate this by posting a track off Allen’s 1999 album, Black Voices.

Tony Allen - The Same Blood
Tweak - Leroy

I’ve posted quite a few West African hip-hop tracks but I don’t think I’ve posted any Afro-French or Afro-American hip-hop collaborations. There are loads but two that stick out in my mind are 113’s “Voix du Mali” with Oumou Sangaré off their 2003 album Dans l’urgence (thanks, sufi, for reminding me about this track) and Tony Allen’s Jekalewa off the Nu Afrobeat Experience compilation.

OK, you probably know all about Tony Allen. Pioneer of afro-beat along with Fela Kuti, drummer and one of the main forces behind the Africa 70 band, &c &c &c. His trademark rhythm is timeless and instantly recognizable. You still hear it on great albums such as the Allenko Brotherhood Ensemble compilation and those by Antibalas. Allen is especially cool since he hasn’t stopped trying new things- he continues to release a wide variety of tunes with rnb, soul, hip-hop, jazz and even house musicians and DJs. He may be a little age-ed but the guy manages to stay cutting edge.

113, named after the Parisian banlieue 113 (think lower-class French suburb), are most famous outside of France for that unfortunate but oh-so-catchy tune “Tonton du bled” that came out when I was living in Paris a few years back. I promise they’re more than that, though, and even though I’m not a super-fan they have some solid tracks. Today’s pick is, in my opinion, one of them. Sangaré’s singing is beautiful and the rapping/rhythm works well. Listen especially to the last minute and a half or so.

Tony Allen - Jekalewa
113 - Voix du Mali feat. Oumou Sangaré

There’s this great club in Dakar called Le Voyageur. If you hit it on a good night it’ll be packed until dawn with a couple hundred sweaty, university-aged Central Africans dancing to hip-hop, rnb and, most often, soukous.

I like the Voyageur because as much as I enjoy Senegalese mbalax, contemporary Congolese music, particularly soukous, is much easier to move to. Something about the quick, repetitive rhythms and swiftly-picked electric guitar makes you want to stick your ass right out there and shake it around the dancefloor. (My back is almost better so this may soon be possible.)

Soukous is one of the most recognizable forms of sub-Saharan African music. It has a large following in Western countries not limited to African ex-pats, comes in many forms and has been around for a long time. Old-school African music collectors will sneer at new forms of the music while the kids at Le Voyageur will laugh at the soukous of old.

In today’s post I’m going to do a hack-job at tracing the evolution of the kind of modern soukous you’ll hear in the DRC, the Voyageur or some hot-spots in Ixelles, Brussels.

First we’ll start with Kanda Bongo Man. In 1981 his album, Iyole, was a major hit both in Europe and in the DRC. Its success helped further the morphing of soukous into a high-energy dancefloor music as many of us now know it.

Secondly, Kanda’s star guitarist, Diblo Dibala, used this success to launch his own project, Loketo. Loketo, like Kanda Bongo Man’s band, inspired many other bands and eventually splintered into numerous soukous spin-offs.

Third, Dibala eventually left Loketo and put out a few solo albums and others with Matchata. His style remained consistent: a high-energy soukous infused with quick guitar, nice harmonies and fast rhythms.

Dancefloor soukous is now firmly established as the dominant form of music in Congo thanks to the work of Kanda, Dibala and others. It continues to evolve, so lastly I’ll post a track by one of the current kings of the Congolese music scene, Koffi Olomide. He has developed his own flavour of modern soukous called ndombolo that’s currently all the rage in Kinshasa.

ps- I’m pleased to announce that I’ve hopefully struck up a deal with some local hip-hop and graffiti artists in Dakar so we’re going to try to do some kind of a multi-post feature next week. Stay tuned…

Kanda Bongo Man - Iyole
Koffi Olomide - Droit de véto
Diblo Dibala - Super K
Loketo - Pingui Bill

After yesterday’s hardcore we need to swing East and take it down a notch.

Aster Aweke is one of contemporary Ethiopian music’s finest voices. She was born in Gonda, Ethiopia, but grew-up in Addis Ababa. By the mid-1970s she had developed an interest in local music and started singing with some groups in Addis. Her powerful voice attracted the attention of musician Ali Tango who would go on to support her musically and financially as her career developed.

In 1978 she got a break when she started singing with the Roha Band. By ‘79, however, Ethiopia was descending into political chaos. Aweke fled the country, eventually settling in Washington DC by 1979. In the USA she quickly gained popularity among the American-Ethiopian community and eventually attracted quite a large following back home.

Two songs today, one from 1991’s album Kabu and another off the first volume of the wonderful Desert Blues compilation.

Aster Aweke - Tchewata
Aster Aweke - Y’shebellu

Today’s post is going to be a little strange for two reasons:

1. I’ve managed to throw my back out and have been confined to my bed with codeine, paracetamol, a muscle relaxant and Nurse K.
2. I’ve had a few requests for some music that you’d really have a hard time buying or even hearing outside of Nigeria and/or West Africa.

Fuji has been around since the 1970s. It’s mainly a Lagos thing and its artists and fans are primarily Yoruba, one of the largest ethnicities in Nigeria. Its high-speed percussion and vocals have their roots in Islamic Ajisari music, although modern fuji sounds nothing like it. Among Yoruba youth in the Lagos area, fuji is the most popular form of music, arguably eclipsing even hip-hop.

Fuji is basically Nigeria’s equivalent to drum n bass. I read one guy refer to it as “afro-hardcore”. It’s a super high-speed genre of contemporary Nigerian music that is almost impossible to dance to unless you know what you’re doing or have done a lot of something.

I’m not sure if I like fuji too much, but it’s definitely unique. Much like Senegal’s mbalax, fuji is purely local and very popular. Cultures outside of Yoruba Lagosians would have a tough time finding their way around the music. Let me know if you’re into it. And seriously, even if you hate the stuff, if you’re ever in Lagos and get the chance to go to a hot fuji club you shouldn’t miss it.

Today’s picks are by the “King of Fuji”, Abass Obesere. He’s the in-thing among the young fuji afficionados on the Lagos mainland.

Obesere - His Excellency
Obesere - OBTK

I need some help identifying a song. I know that it’s by Chief Stephen Osadebe, but I don’t know the song name. It’s off a compilation titled “Ebeano’s Greatest Hits” that I picked-up in Nigeria, but the liner notes are completely wrong as so often happens with these bootlegs. If anyone knows more please let me know.

While listening to the Osadebe tune this morning it occurred to me that I hadn’t yet posted any highlife from Ghana. Highlife has its roots in Ghana during the 1930s and only later showed up in Nigeria. It’s only appropriate that we feature some here.

Highlife as most of us know it evolved out of a fusion of West African and Western European/American sounds in and around Ghana during the 1960s. At this time post-colonial West African countries were actively encouraging the development of local culture while trying to become modern nations. These efforts are in a way perfectly represented by highlife: traditional rhythms and local languages fused with electric instruments and Western funk/soul elements.

Today’s track by Ahamano’s Guitar Band is an older-school highlife classic from the 1960s gold-coast heydey.

Chief Stephen Osadebe - ?
Ahamano’s Guitar Band - Me Nsae Da

We’ve been laying it on heavy with the funk lately but I have a lot of cooking to do tonight so I need to chill-out a bit this morning. Time for some Jamaican guitar meets Senegalese vocals and talking drumming.

During the 1970s notable Jamaican guitar player Ernest Ranglin went on tour with Jimmy Cliff to West Africa. He apparently liked what he saw and heard here as much as I do, but it took him 20 years to get back and make a record with some local musicians.

Never one to slack, Ranglin didn’t just find any old griots to join him on the album. We have Baaba Maal and his band Daande Lenol, Mansour Seck at the mic, plus some great upstarts (who are new to me, too): Alioune Mbaye Nder and Cisse Diamba Kanoute, a 14-year old Senegalese singer. Much of the composing is done by Maal and Seck but it all fuses nicely with Ranglin’s bluesy guitar.

The results are amazing. This is one my favourite West Africa fusion albums, right up there with Talking Timbuktu and Mississippi to Mali. These guys would be great to see live.

Ernest Ranglin - Ala Walee
Ernest Ranglin - Anna

A couple of days ago I posted some West African funk by Ambolley off Afrodisiac’s collection, Booniay!!. It was the site’s busiest day ever, with more hits and unique users than ever before. I figure that makes it worth spinning up some more.

In 2003 Afrodisiac released another funk compilation titled The Danque!!. It’s the result of one man’s crate digging quest over a 10-month period all over West Africa. Check-out their site for more info. While it is not quite as good a collection as Booniay!!, there are still some jems. I’ll post a couple here today.

I bought this album online and therefore don’t have the liner notes. I scraped the Internet clean trying to find information about the groups I’m posting today but came up empty. I guess they’re just 45rpm singles from Ghana, Nigeria or another English West Africa country, but I don’t know much more than that. To be honest I’m a little confused because I actually thought that Guerilla was from the Carribbean, not West Africa. Could someone clear this up?

Either way, here’s some off-beat 70s West African funk to fire-up your Thursday workday.

Guerilla - La Popo
Mustapha - I’m Coming

I’ve had quite a few requests for some Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens. You’ll recognize the South African mbaqanga sound if you tuned in a few posts ago. It’s Zulu pop music that came out of the townships of South Africa’s big cities during the 1970s. (That’s only sort of true. It’s been around since the 60s but mbaqanga as you might know it - in its electric, energized form - wasn’t too popular until the mid-70s.) Mahlathini was right in there with the first of them to popularize the style and was the most well-known voices (or groaners) of mbaqanga.

The Mahotella Queens call their particular flavour of mbaqanga mqashiyo. I read something that likened them to a Southern African version of the Supremes. This seems right on point since their synchronized dancing and harmonized backup vocals really remind me of the soul train ladies from the American 60s.

Mahlathini didn’t really get popular outside of South Africa until the mid-1980s when a track that he released on a South African musical sampler got some attention in the US. Following that he went on tour with the Mahotella Queens and they all attained international success fairly quickly.

Two tracks today: one from Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens off their album The Lion Roars, and another solo work by the Queens off 1991’s Marriage Is A Problem. Both tracks are heavy on the harmonies that I like so much. Mahlathini’s groaning will be featured in another post some time in the future…

ps- Yes, the song choices reflect what I’m thinking about while bored at work today. And yes, that’s you, K.

Mahotella Queens -Selailai (Attractive woman)
Mahlathini & The Mahotella Queens - Khubetswana Yeso (Light-skinned woman)

When a West African musician says something like this,

“1st commandment: Music is Love and Love is music. If you do sincerely and out of Love and respect, money will follow.”

I have to post his music. My music man in Lagos, Dulue, requested some funk to add some spice to his Nigerian afternoon. I’ll respond with some 1970s Ghana funk by the best James Brown imitator this side of Accra, Gyedu-Blay Ambolley. The man can move and grunt with the best of them. My friends and readers of this site will know that I have a special place in my heart for people and music like this.

Known in Ghana as “Simigwa Do Man” because of the jazz-highlife Simigwa sound that he pioneered, Ambolley has been a well-known face on the Ghanaian music scene since the 60s. He released his first hit single “Simigwa” in ‘73 and has cranked out 14 albums since then.

In 1988 Ambolley moved to New York where he stayed for about 10 years touring and recording music. He managed to score some pretty big gigs during his stay such as the Apollo Theatre in NY and the House of Blues in LA. In 1997 when he returned to Ghana, Ambolley was given a standing ovation by president JJ Rawlings and his wife in recognition of his contribution to Ghanaian music.

You can find the following tracks and other great, great funk classics from West Africa on Booniay!!, a compilation put out by the Afrodisiac label.

Gyedu-Blay Ambolley - This Hustling World
Gyedu-Blay Ambolley - Akoko Ba

Affectionately called “Tuku” by his followers, Oliver Mtukudzi is one of the most popular artists ever to come out of Zimbabwe. He plays a generally happy, light acoustic pop with some splashes of traditional elements mixed in. Some of his stuff is a little too light for me, but he has a few tracks that I particularly like, most notably Dzoka Uyamwe which I’ll post here today.

He started out his career with the band Wagon Wheels alongside future great Thomas Mapfumo. (Anyone have any Wagon Wheels they could trade, by the way?) Tuku has evolved into more of a pop and mbaqanga musician than Mapfumo, but there’s still a touch of chimurenga and mbira in there. Mostly he’s just about simple, flowing acoustic guitar with nice harmonies on the vocals sung in Shona.

Oliver Mtukudzi - Dzoka Uyamwe
Oliver Mtukudzi - Todii

I’m pretty sure that Kouyaté Sory Kandia is actually a Malinké-speaking Mandingo, not Fulani, but I couldn’t resist the title to this post. Basically while listening to West African salsa yesterday I brushed past a couple tracks that struck me as being perfect for a Quentin Tarrantino soundtrack.

The first track is by Sory Kandia Kouyaté (Kouyaté is his family name, but you can write his name Kouyaté Sory Kandia), a well-known vocalist in his day from Guinea-Conakry. I got it off his album Grand Prix du Disc 1970 that was re-released a few years ago. The song makes makes me think of Uma Thurman walking in slow-motion into a country Western bar somewhere in the back alleys of Conakry while pulling on an extra-long cigarette. On top of that image, the song itself is fun and Kouyaté’s singing is over-the-top wonderful.

Second we got a slow jam classic by “we are world music” Orchestra Baobab. They may be wildly popular but they’re still amazing. If you ever get to see them live keep your eye on the sax player - his facial expressions and posturing on stage are priceless. He’s a classic Senegalese “grand homme”. Either way, their song Werente Serigne, available on the re-released Pirates Choice, could easily fit into some retro-heroin American movie à la Tarrantino.

Kouyaté Sory Kandia - NNa
Orchestre Baobab - Werente Serigne

It’s the weekend. This often means rum, red wine and late-night salsa, West African style.

Two groups today. First, Africando, the project of Senegalese producer and musician Ibrahim Sylla, some of Senegal’s top vocalistst and a bunch of New York salsa musicians. Sylla mixes West African star power with a contemporary American salsa sound.

The project has been amazingly successful having released over 10 discs in 10 years. The latest, Martina, is great. Especially if you have a sexy girlfriend to dance with - thanks, K. Today’s track is off this album and features the vocals of Senegalese Adama “Seka” Seck.

Secondly, we have the Congolese-Cuban combination of Papa Noel (great name) and Papi Oviedo. Their album, Bana Congo, is a great combination of two masterful guitars. Papa Noel, product of the Congolese rumba generation, used to play with Franco and was raised on Cuban music. Papa Oviedo is a Cuban big band legend and master of the double-stringed Cuban mini-guitar, the tres.

Have a good weekend.

Africando - Dioumte
Papa Noel & Papi Oviedo - Bana Congo

Apparently a bunch of people from Quannum will be hitting this site rather soon. I figured I’d post some more Wolof hip-hop to greet them.

A quick guide to understanding 90% of rap lyrics in Wolof:

xalis - cash money (the x is pronounced like a growling h)
soxna si - a lady
xale yi - the ladies (literally means “the children”)
Bamba - Cheikh Amadou Bamba, 19th century spiritual leader of Mouride Islam

There, I think that’s all we need.

The great thing about Senegal and Senegalese youth is that they’d usually rather listen to local hip-hop than the latest American rap or RnB. Not only can they better understand the Wolof lyrics, but they also appreciate the message more. You hear very little about vice, guns and blood and more about peace in the south or how to marry those hard-to-get Senegalese ladies.

On the main coastal road leading out of downtown there’s a big graffiti piece on the beat-up wall of a mosque complex. It features three Senegalese gangster rap types guys sitting around a fire drinking a mint tea called attaya. This pretty much sums up the scene, in a good way…

The first track was a big hit this year. You’d hear it all the time while riding in Dakar’s famously decorated taxis. It again features Youssou N’Dour’s step-sister Viviane on backup vocals. The second track gives an idea of the kind of hip-hop coming out of Dakar’s poor and bustling downtown district called the Medina. Lastly, since you guys all seemed to enjoy the Senegalese-style PIMP a few posts ago the third track is another faux-cover fresh from the depths of Sandaga market in Dakar.

ps- the title of this post means “rap from my country” in Wolof. And for those of you who don’t know already, benn loxo du taccu means “one hand can’t clap.” It’s a Wolof proverb used to express how you can’t do anything without community.

Viviane & Fou Malade - Taximan
Big D - La Leon
Gokh Bi System - Suma Djigune

I know this is stupid of me, but I love saying the word Xhosa. The way you get to click your tongue off the top of your mouth on the ‘X’, and the kick I get when I manage to slip it into a sentence without pausing to reorganize my mouth.

The Xhosa people are actually called the amaXhosa and they speak isiXhosa, a Bantu language. They’re one of the major ethnic groups in South Africa and comprise a large part of the ANC - South Africa’s ruling coalition party. Nelson Mandela is a Xhosa.

They’ve been pushed around for years, first to the West by the Zulus and then East by the Boers. Eventually the British/Boer colonial governments forced them to take-up lands in present-day Eastern Cape where most of them still live.

No longer oppressed, the rich Xhosa culture is flourishing. Aside from a beautiful language the amaXhosa have a long tradition of dancing and music. One group that captures this tradition particularly well is Amampondo.

Although they’re now touring the world and signed to MELT, Amampondo is still based in their hometown of Langa, a township outside of Cape Town, South Africa. They mix all kinds of traditional Xhosa musical and dance styles with some modern rhythms and instruments to come up with a pretty unique sound. They’re most famous for their marimba music and you’ll see why on today’s two tracks off their 2000 album Vuyani.

ps- I hope it’s pretty obvious why I picked today’s first song.

Amampondo - State of Emergency
Amampondo - 915

If you are an American citizen, this is one of the few times in your life that your vote will actually matter.

Most sub-Saharan Africans either aren’t able to vote at all or their vote will only count towards whichever dictator is trying to hold on to power. Respect the freedom that you enjoy. Head to the polls tonight.

If you’re wondering how I voted and why, read this.

-Matt

I picked-up “Forgotten Guitars From Mozambique” off Calabash a few weeks ago. It features some great acoustic guitar music from Portguese East Africa (now Mozambique) during 1955, ‘56 and ‘57. The tracks are among the thousands recorded by Hugh Tracey all over Africa during the 1950s. (I mentioned Tracey in an earlier post about George Sibanda and 1950s South African folk.)

The folky, jangling rhythm guitar music of southern Mozambique later became known as marrabenta. The lyrics are usually about the simple things in life and many of the songs sound like one-shot live recordings. I can imagine these guys singing and playing around wood fires beside train tracks after a hard day’s work.

Watasala Warila Nanzifile
Riranzo

In honour of the Hallowe’en Hangover I’ll post a track by a group in “disguise”.

The Mandingo Griot Society isn’t actually an African band. It’s a bunch of Americans, Carribeans and West Africans living in the US. Foday Suso, the now well-known bandleader and kora player for the group, is from The Gambia but all of his known recordings have happened elsewhere and with musicians from a variety of backgrounds. Still, there’s something about the kora that will make any music sound eternally Mandingo African.

Today’s track starts as you might expect and eventually builds to a near free-jazz/funk fest by the fifth minute. For some reason I crack-up whenever I listen to this tune.. and then listen more.

Mandingo Griot Society - Jimbasen