A really quick post before I have to run into work.

Today’s track is once again from an Original Music release, Siya Hamba! 1950s South African Country And Small Town Sounds, a compilation of popular music in South Africa at the time.

I agree with the liner notes when they refer to the 1950s as the glory days of South African music. Upbeat rhythms with wonderful female lead vocals were just a couple of the highlights of the era.

I should say at least that the title of today’s track appropriately translates into the title of today’s post. I’d go on but I can’t be late today! I’m sure that, as always, Benn loxo listeners will fill in the gaps where needed in the comments.

So enjoy this smalltown jump as I fly out the door…

The Jury Mpelho Band feat. Irene Buyiswa Ndumo - Puma Endlini Yam

Today we have the fifth edition of the Highlife Turntable by Benn loxo listener, ubulujaja:

For this volume of the highlife turntable I have selected three Ghanaian tracks to feature.

The first song is Meyee Owuo Den by the group Nana Takyi and his sunkwa international band. The song is off the mid 70’s release Maria. The tight interplay between the vocalists and the extended guitar playing are the things to check out. The word Sunkwa means “Cry for Life” in Twi. Sterns Music used to carry an Atakora Manu CD called Sunkwa that had the same kind of up tempo pop Ghanaian musical style.

I am still grooving on Bob Cole’s music and this track, which I found on his late 70’s release Highlife Akwantua LP, is called Amanfo. The song has the same great boisterousness that I have found in other songs by Bob Cole and the piano playing really stands out. Check-out the solo piano at the opening sequence and then the jump style call-and-response the piano gets into with the horns later in the song. As always, the backup vocals are impeccable. I think the term Amanfo refers to a Ghanaian tribe or cultural group.

The last song is Ahafo KuKuom by the great T.O. Jazz off his LP, Agyapa Ye. I liked the rootsy quality of the vocals and the punchy backbeat.

I hope you like the music.

Thanks, ubulujaja. Great music, as always.

Nana Takyi and his Sunkwa International Band - Meyee owuo den
Bob Cole - Amanfo
T.O. Jazz of Ghana - Ahafo Kukuom

One of my favourite Benn loxo readers, one who is responsible for introducing me to a lot of the music on this site, recently turned me on to Ignace De Souza.

Ignace De Souza is one of the those forgotten greats of West African music who was very influencial in his day. To give you an idea, in the liner notes of an Original Music compilation of his music, John Storm Robers credits De Souza’s track, Ole, as being the first afrobeat recording.

Originally from Benin, De Souza got his first big start when he got a gig playing sax with Alfa Jazz, who John Collins credits as being the first professional dance band in Benin. In later years De Souza moved to Ghana and played with several groups before forming his own. By the mid-60s, De Souza and Black Santiagos had become quite popular and began introducing Congo music to Ghana.

While a lot of the music on this Original Music comp sound pretty much like what you’d expect from the time and place they were recorded, there are several stand-out tracks. Two come to mind: Asaw Fofor for a 1960s chase scene and Anyenko for laid-back, “protofunk” summer music.

Unfortunately, great things never last. Does anyone know why the Black Santiagos split? Either way, in 1970 De Souza left Ghana before eventually settling in Lagos where he played with the house band at the Ritz Hotel. (I can’t help but associated this last bit with an image of Murph and the Murphtones at a Holiday Inn in the film The Blues Brothers.)

ps- you can still buy this album at Stern’s.

Ignace De Souza - Asaw Fofor
Ignace De Souza - Anyenko
Ignace De Souza - Ole

A while ago the people at ThrillJockey got in touch about the band Extra Golden, collaboration between the Nairobi-based benga band, Orchestra Extra Solar Africa, and the a Washington D.C. rock group named Golden.

I was happy to find that I quite like their music, especially since there really aren’t that many American bands that work African music into their sound with any great success. It usually sounds forced and incongruent, with few exceptions. In contrast, Extra Golden’s sound works well to my ears.

Extra Golden got its start when Ian Eagleson was doing doctoral research in Kenya on the history of benga music between 2002-2004. Orchestra Extra Solar’s guitarist, Otieno Jagwasi, was helping Ian with his research.

Ian returned to Nairobi in 2004 and the two finally starting putting some music together. They recruited local drummer, Onyango Wuod Omari, and Ian brought along a Golden band member, Alex Minoff.

Most of the album was apparently recorded during a single whirlwind session in a Nairobi nightclub. The result is a spontaneous-sounding record with a fresh Western rock-Kenyan benga fusion that actually works.

Extra Golden’s second album, Hera Ma Nono, is coming out on October 9th. It’s as good as their first - check-out the track Obama posted below. My favourite off their first release is the title track, Ok-Oyot System. The song title comes from the Luo expression, ok-oyot, which means “it’s not easy”.

It certainly wasn’t easy for the members of Extra Golden. During the recording process Otieno Jagwasi fell sick and eventually died of complications related to HIV. At around the same time Ian Eagleson had a run-in with the cops in Nairobi and apparently had to pay large sums of cash to stay out of jail.

Despite all this the band persevered and continues to play and record. I’m hoping to catch them live at some stage following their upcoming release.. sounds like they’d be fun live.

Extra Golden - Ok-Oyot System
Extra Golden - Obama

A random morning shuffle of not-yet-listened-to albums brings us Lungiswa’s cover of Marvin Gaye’s classic, Inner City Blues, sung in the Xhosa language.

Lungiswa is a young South African female vocalist from Cape Town. You may know her already from her work with Amampondo.

I thought I’d have a dig around for other versions of the song in my collection.

Have a listen to the original, plus a live version from Gaye’s Last Concert tour (that wasn’t really the last). Marc Moulin’s rendition is easily my favourite, and the New Orleans’ Dirty Dozen Brass Band whips up a version that for whatever reason reminds me of a Jean-Pierre Jeunet film.

If any of you have any good covers of Inner City Blues to share, send them to me and I’ll include them in this post.

ps- sorry, I just realized that podcasts have been broken for a while. They’re fixed now. Podcast link is http://bennloxo.com/?feed=rss2, or iptc://bennloxo.com/?feed=rss2 to open in iTunes directly.

Lungiswa - Inner City Blues (Xhosa version)
Marvin Gaye - Inner City Blues
Marvin Gaye - Inner City Blues (Live)
Marc Moulin - Inner City Blues
Dirty Dozen Brass Band - Inner City Blues
Brian Auger - Inner City Blues Thanks, Francois

I’m not too tired tonight.. might stay up late. Slept well after days in the sun in Marseille last weekend.

This song from Sublime Frequencies’ Bush Taxi Mali album is perfect for the mood.

From a review at Dusted Magazine,

“Bush Taxi Mali: Field Recordings From Mali is an aural tour through this West African country, a series of audio snapshots, made by Tucker Martine during 1998 as an attempt to capture one of Africa’s greatest cultural legacies. Martine has also been responsible for documenting the sounds of broken-hearted dragonflies in Southeast Asia, which appeared on the same label.”

Thanks again, Alex.

Autorail

I happened to sit beside Charles Schillings at a good Sicilian restaurant last night in Paris. Hopefully this means we’ll be featuring some Afro-electro remixes sometime in the future. Either way, the forthcoming Hôtel Costes 10 that he slipped us features a great opener with the kind of North African overtones we so appreciate here at Benn loxo.

Anyway, back to more Original Music…

Today we’ll hear a couple tracks off Dada Kidawa Sister Kidawa, an interesting compilation of Cuban/Afro-Arab music from Tanzania in the 1960s.

It features venerable bands such as NUTA Jazz plus several others like the Kiko Kids Jazz and the Cuban Marimba Band. All these groups emerged during a guitar-based, dance music phase in Dar Es Salaam that emerged during the early 60s.

The compilation’s title track is perfect for what is probably France’s quietest week. Everyone is on vacation, most stores and restaurants are closed. If Paris were on the ocean I’d be down on the beach, listening to Western Jazz Band as I sipped a cocktail under a palm tree.

ps- Benn loxo listener, Zakariyya, is looking for Afel Bocoum’s Alkibar. Does anyone know where he could buy or trade for a copy?

Kiko Kids Jazz - Tanganyika na Uhuru Kids Jazz
Western Jazz Band - Dada Kidawa

Today we have a guest post from Benn loxo listener, CC Smith, in memory of Madilu System:

Bialu Makiese, better known as Madilu System, died suddenly on Aug. 11 in Kinshasa from complications of diabetes. He was 57 years old.

A member of the beefy front line of singers of TPOK Jazz since 1980, Madilu was known as Franco’s favorite singer, and his husky, nuanced baritone was heard on many of Franco’s greatest songs of that era, most notably supplying the lead on “Mario.” (This worldwide hit from 1986 was beautifully reprised by Africando on the 2006 Ketukuba album, again with Madilu on lead vocal.)

Following the death of Franco in 1989 and the dissolution of OK Jazz, Madilu proceeded with a solo career and had just released a new recording, La Bonne Humeur, in Paris this summer. He was also an exceptional harmony vocalist, and frequently joined other singers such as Nyboma, Josky and Malage in duets and lush choral arrangements.

His warm cameo “Tapale” on Kekele’s Kinavana album is one of the delights of that production. But my favorite song by Madilu is “Ya Jean” from his Sans Commentaire album of 1994, a gorgeous heartfelt tribute to Franco Luambo Makiadi with Rigo Star providing the lead guitar on the first section, and Syran Mbenza standing in for the ghost of Franco on the second part, channeling the Grand Maitre’s signature guitar lines as Madilu pours out an anguished wail from the depths of his soul.

CC Smith
The Beat Magazine

Madilu System - Ya Jean

Nice to meet yet another Benn loxo listener and a few of his friends a couple nights ago. Never hesitate to get in touch if you’re through Paris or live nearby..

Anyway, thanks to several of you I now have 23 out of the 39 Original Music releases. I hope to complete the collection at some stage so please get in touch if you’re up for a trade.

In the meantime I’ll try to keep sharing the wealth here on Benn loxo with some music from a 1996 Original Music release, Sam Chege’s Kickin’ Kikuyu Style.

As you read this I’m probably sipping Guinness, eating oysters and riding hookers.. not to mention birthing a calf somewhere. Imagine me doing this all simultaneously while singing Sam Chege. Seriously, even a dip in the cold Irish Atlantic couldn’t get this guy’s catchy, up-tempo music out of my head.

Chege is a Kenyan musician who plays benga in a fast Kikuyu style, as opposed to, say, the Luo way. His sound also has a strong soukous feel. I read a review that said it also drew upon Nigerian influences… but really? Name three.

As usual, I’m a little weak on my East Coast African music knowledge, but a little digging revealed that Chege is actually a relatively young guy, having finished his graduate studies in the US just a few years ago. He grew-up in a rural Kikuyu part of central Kenya before moving to Nairobi where he worked (or works?) as a music journalist.

Sam Chege - Victoria

Every few months I like to dig around the Google Analytics statistics for this site and see who visits and from where.

Apparently I have no friends in Chad.

Not surprisingly, the US, France, Germany and England dominate the charts. I have friends in Senegal, South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Egypt so those countries have decent stats. South Americans apparently love African music so they’ve always had a presence. East Asia is weak, Central Asia almost non-existent.. but once and I while I get that lone visitor from Kyrgyzstan. That hit from Bishkek was much appreciated.

People (or, more likely, spam bots) from 187 countries have visited Benn loxo over the 365 days. But unless the following countries don’t have an ISP, as far as I can tell I’ve never had any visitors from Papua New Guinea, Suriname, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, North Korea, Laos (not a fan, Julie?) and Chad.

So what’s up, Chad? Even one or two people from Equatorial Guinea and the CAR have dropped by. Niger is a hotspot compared to you guys. (Ok, two visits over the past year, but who’s counting.)

Not enough Chadian musicians, maybe? Ok, fair enough, even though Les Jaloux Saboteurs counts for at least ten amazing songs. Can anyone suggest other good music by Chadians?

Well, MC Solaar is sort of Chadian, right? Better yet, I found this great music video by Chadian family group, H’Sao, now based in Montreal.

Most other stuff I found was either too poppy or religious for my taste, so I’m all ears for suggestions.

In the meantime, a little classic French-Senegalese-Chadian hiphop.

MC Solaar - Nouveau Western

If you’ve been reading Benn loxo for a while you’ll know that I can’t stick to a style. Benn loxo is all over the place. Some days I wake-up wanting 45rpm crackle and on others I miss the clean beep of crispy electronic.

That said, I’ve secretly been loving a drum n bass throw-back these last few days thanks to a mix in the mail from Fabric. I haven’t two-stepped in a long time but this Irish kid, Calibre, has got me rockin a breakbeat on my Velib’. I also have a particular fondness for the Irish…

So how do you work rnb-infused, London scene, Irish drum n bass into an African music web site? You dig out a kwaito mix that someone just passed you, that’s how.

Happy Wednesday.

Calibre feat. DRS - Hustlin’
Revolution feat. P. Tabane - Vhavenda (Revolution remix)

Did you see this article on the BBC the other day? Am I the only one who thinks that the abundance of titles adds to the amazing flavour of contemporary Nigerian life? Seriously, earned or bought, Nigerian title-giving is just another example of the colour we often lack out West. Plus, I would love if my colleagues started calling me Dr. Chief Engineer Matt, Esquire.

Anyway, I’ve never posted any King (Chief) (Dr.) Oliver de Coque on Benn loxo before, so today we’ll hear one of his tracks grabbed off a good compilation, Lagos Chop Up.

I didn’t make up the Chief, King or Doctor part. de Coque earned his Doctor title when the University of New Orleans awarded him an honorary doctorate in music in 1994. The King title came when he was crowned the King of Highlife music by the Alaafin of Oyo. Not sure where the Chief came in, but he refers to himself using this title too.

Oliver de Coque, born plain-old Oliver Sunday Akanite, is a Nigerian musician famous for his Ogene highlife music and untiring promotion of his native Igbo culture. His break came in 1979 when his single, People’s Club Ka anyi bili be ndu, sold two million copies. He kept at it and has released a stream of successful recordings over several decades.

I picked the second track because my favourite Wolof proverb, aside from benn loxo du taccu, is danka ndanka mooy jaapa golo si nahi. It translates into “slowly, slowly, you catch a monkey in the bush.” In other words, chill-out, guy. Take it easy. It’s August. This is the Ikenga Super Stars of Africa’s advice to you in their own pidgin way.

ps- That’s the Emir of Katsina in Nigeria top-left. More pictures of African royalty here.

pps- Benn loxo reader, Kevin, is heading to Ghana. Any tips for live music venues, record shops, festivals or good things to check-out music-wise?

Oliver de Coque & his Expo ‘76 - The Tragedy Story of Two Friends
Ikenga Super Stars of Africa - Soffry Soffry Catch Monkey

So what do you guys think of the latest Antibalas album?

I’ve always thought they were great live but that their studio recordings lacked something.. maybe it was just the imitation Fela that got to me, but in principle I have nothing against modern afrobeat. It’s like their tracks lacked that extra “oh, yeah, ahuh, what” that you get live and other musicians can pull-off on their albums.

All that said, I’m happy that Antibalas‘ latest release is a departure from their previous work. The track I’ll feature today is a clear example of where they’re moving. Produced by the same guy who worked with Stereolab and Tortoise, their sound has certainly changed.

Does that make it good? I haven’t decided yet. It still doesn’t sound as fresh as, say, Nomo, or as cool as the Allenko Brotherhood. But it’s a step in the right direction. Antibalas may yet be capable of becoming a truly rock-out, original afrobeat group in their own right.

Decide for yourself and let me know what you think.

Antibalas - Beaten Metal

When I was in university there were weekly screenings of old-school NFB movies at a local ice cream parlour. (The same place where now-famous Buck 65 used to occasionally rap for small crowds.)

There were the predictable screenings of that classic of classics, The Log Driver’s Waltz, the edge of your seat thriller, Octopus Hunt (check-out the awesome musical sequence at around 6′), and the perennial favourite, Cosmic Zoom.

My favourite short film by far is one I can’t seem to find in the NFB archives. It starts with a guy with an afro running up the stairs to the beat of some whack funk music. He climbs several flights, easing the audience into the rhythm of the music, before bursting into daylight on the roof. He then climbs into one of those 1970s-esque bubble helicopters, puts on his 1970s-esque earphones, and takes-off.

When he’s in the air the film’s title scrolls across the screen in exciting 3D lettering: “Traffic Copter”. The pace of the film then slows dramatically. The funk music dies, and you spend the rest of the 15 minutes listening to some guy explain the inner-workings of a traffic helicopter as he flies over bland 1970s Toronto landscapes.

The first time I saw this film I nearly fell-off my seat laughing.. and undoubtedly got some ice cream on my shirt.

One thing is for sure: if Traffic Copter had been produced in Nigeria they would have used the Ebenezer Obey song I’m going to post today as the soundtrack. Amazing stuff. You can grab it and more on the compilation Lagos All Routes, available at Dusty Groove.

ps- Thanks, Alex.

Ebenezer Obey & His Inter-Reformers Band - Eyi Yato / Elere Ni Wa