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