Oct 5/06
Swahili Disco in 1970s New York
Were/are any of you into Arthur Russell? The driving bass drum and repetitive melodies in Juma Muhina’s recordings with Nairobi Matata remind me a lot of his music.
If you know Arthur Russell, your first reaction might be that Kenyan Swahili rumba doesn’t have much to do with early disco pioneers. But give today’s track a listen and tell me they don’t go great together on a mix. The release dates are roughly similar and who’s to say the dudes in Nairobi Matata didn’t have a secret love for underground NY disco? Not so secretly, I wish there had been more fusion along these lines.
Dada Mwajuma was a popular tune when it was originally released in 1977. It was produced by the accomplished musician Isaya Mwinamo Asiebera, who also produced albums for many of the other big local groups at the time such as Orchestra Mazembe (some of their tunes coming tomorrow if I have time), Daudi Kabaka and Orchestra Viva Makale.
Big thanks goes out to Benn loxo listener, Zim, who pointed out the Juma Muhina album amongst numerous great Music Copyright Society of Kenya re-releases on Orchard now available on Emusic. I’ll be featuring a few over the next while.
This reminds me how a friend of mine would quietly mix Xplastaz into French hip-hop parties, or how I try to hide amazing West African funk tracks on soul mixes for people who wouldn’t normally be into it. Which reminds me… check back tomorrow.
Juma Muhina – Dada Mwajuma (Part 2)
Arthur Russell – Dinosaur L / Go Bang (Francois Kevorkian mix)
arfican roots and techno have always been very connected as a sharp example I remember hearing from Detroit’s Djs that Carl Craig has always been fascinated by Francis Bebey’s pattern in La Condition Masculine…
Thanks so much for posting these, have only recently discovered Arthur Russell’s music after hearing a cover of ‘This is How We Walk On The moon’. A new convert to Swahili disco.
you know, associating arthur russell and juma muhinda may not be that far fetched….if you took a look at the playlists from the 70′s and 80′s of nyc dj’s dave mancuso (the loft) or larry levan (paradise garage), you may find that, in addition to russell, they may have very well have played juma or something similar (especially mancuso)….great post, btw….
[...] Ringelpietz bei “Benn loxo du taccu“. [...]
If you want to hear an even more explicit fusion of African funk and American dance music, check out Osunlade. He makes what he calls “Yoruba soul,” a blend of house beats and diasporic sounds from West Africa and Brazil. He’s earned acclaim for great house remixes of classic tunes like Salif Keita’s “Moussoulou.” He also did a fantastic remix/remake of Grant Green’s “A Time to Remember” for a Verve series.
you can sample some osunlade here and here
Wov! Great tracks! Minimalistic disco played with 60′s surf guitars. I’ve been a fan of Arthur Russell for a while already, but now I’m also a fan of Juma Mufina, thanks to this great blog. I agree that there’s a sonic resemblance between African guitar music from the late 70′s and early leftfield disco & post-punk (check out a band called Liquid Liquid from NY for example, very nice and groovy percussion music).
Well, I did like this track, and followed the link to eMusic to check out what they had Juma Muhina. There are two Juma Muhina albums there, and on a whim I decided to download the other one (Natambua Yesu, the one pictured in this post – but not the one with the selected track, Dada Mwajuma). I’m afraid it wasn’t a good whim … Natambua Yesu is sort of gospel polka Kenyan cheesy organ + guitar music – ok, that does sound good in print, and it’s kind of fun, but I don’t think it’ll stand up through too many listens. I guess that’ll teach me always to choose the album with “Dada” in the name… Can anyone recommend other albums from the Orchid/Music Copyright Society of Kenya collection?
Check-out Fadhili Williams Mdawida and Daudi Kabaka for a start.. great stuff.
-Matt
[...] * 70’s Swahili Disco from NY on Benn Loxo du Tacco. which includes a Francois K house remix. [...]
[...] eMusic has a surprisingly great collection of early Kenyan recordings, thanks in large part to the Orchard re-releases of music belonging to the Music Copyright Society of Kenya. You heard some already in that ever-popular post about Juma Muhina about a month back. [...]
This is one the best Album what listened!
Here is the link to les kamale
http://www.divshare.com/download/2578441-e82