Sad news: Benn loxo listener, Andrew, told me yesterday that my favourite musican from Belize, Andy Palacio, died last Saturday after suffering a heart attack and stroke. He was only 47.

Palacio was largely responsible for a revival of Garifuna culture in Belize. He spread its influence far and wide with his music, including to me. You may have read about Garifuna here on Benn loxo a couple years ago after I visited Belize.

I saw Andy Palacio and Paul Nabor perform this past summer in Paris at the New Morning. They were fantastic.

You can read a nice obituary in the New York Times here.

I really respect musicians like Palacio. We can only hope that Palacio’s efforts to reinvigorate Garifuna culture will result in a new generation of talented, young Paranda musicians to follow in his footsteps.

My thoughts go out to his family. RIP.

Aurelilo Martinez & Andy Palacio – Lanarime lamiseu (How Sad)
Andy Palacio & The Garifuna Collective – Ayo Da (Goodbye My Dear)
Andy Palacio & The Garifuna Collective – Aguyuha Niduhenu (My people have moved on)

This is the last day of Eritrea Week.

I don’t know enough about much of the music I’ve collected this week to write full posts so I decided to make you a mixtape instead. This way you get more music and, hopefully, people will be able to educate us in the comments about the tracks I pick.

First of all we’ll hear a track by Tesfay Mehari. What a killer opening – could someone please translate what he’s saying? In my head I imagine a Barry White thing going on.. until the drum machine kicks in, then the sexiness just fades away.

Tesfay Mehari – Abey Alewu

Next some tunes by famous Eritrean musicians, Sami Berhane, Bereket Mengisteab and Wedi Tikabo:

Sami Berhane – Gezana
Wedi Tikabo – Hagarey Nimen Tefqri
Bereket Mengisteab – Milena

Tsehaytu Beraki you’ve heard before but I don’t know what this one is called. Any ideas?

Tsehaytu Beraki – Unknown

I’ll also include an Ahmed Mohamed Osman track. There’s a chance he might be Sudanese. Let me know.

Ahmed Mohamed Osman – SaEloba

Lastly, a mystery Eritrean track that sounds a lot like one of the best TV theme songs ever, Airwolf:

Unknown – Unknown
Theme from Airwolf

I checked the logs, by the way, and this week brought in visitors from Eritrea. This means that according to Analytics, Benn loxo du taccu has now been visited by people from pretty much every single country in the world, except the obvious exceptions.

Thanks for tuning in to Eritrea week.

Today we’ll hear some music by one of the first guitar players in Eritrean popular music, Tewelde Redda.

As I mentioned yesterday he was the one who “discovered” Tsehaytu Beraki back in the 1970s and took her to Addis to record some music.

It’s very difficult to find music by this guy but I wanted to include him anyway despite my mediocre findings. His name keeps popping up the more I dig into the history of Eritrean popular music.

Yesterday in a comment Awet mentioned a YouTube video of Tewelde Redda back in 1967:

I also found a few songs of his in various corners of the web. Unfortunately someone has laid a horrible drum track over otherwise nice music. But try to listen through the drum track for the music within…

Tewelde Redda – Unknown

You can also find Redda on Ethiopiques Vol. 5, that incredible collection of Tigrinya music:

Tewelde Redda – Milenu
Tewelde Redda – Nehadar Zeytkewen

I’d also like to post some music by an Eritrean who I think is called “Goytom”. I really like his music but I don’t know anything about him.. or even his full name. Any ideas?

ps- thanks to a tip from Benn loxo listener, winta, I’ve learned that the singer in these is Ghirmay Kidane – Tewelde Redda is on guitar. Thanks, winta!

Goytom – Unknown 1
Goytom – Unknown 2

Madlib is easily my favourite hiphop DJ and MF DOOM is one of my favourite MCs. The release of Madvillain‘s first album on Stones Throw, Madvillainy, was a major musical event for me. I can’t wait for their new album.

What does this have to do with Eritrean music? I knew that I recognized the sample on Madlib’s remix of Madvillain’s track, Figaro. It’s a classic tune by one of Eritrea’s most famous musicians, Tsehaytu Beraki.

Tsehaytu Beraki is famous for both her singing and krar playing. (The krar is a stringed Eritrean instrument used in much of the traditional and popular music there.) She was originaly discovered by Tewelde Redda, who you’ll hear tomorrow, and soon became a big star both in Eritrea and Ethiopia. Eventually the worsening political situation in Eritrea forced her to flee the country in 1988. She ended up in Rotterdam, Holland.

Over the next ten years she stopped recording until she was “rediscovered” by Dutch producer, Terrie Ex. He built her a new krar and recorded her music for a couple years. The result is a record double-CD release, Selam. It’s on Terp Records, the same place you’ll find the late late Mohamed Jimmy Mohamed, who I saw at Banlieues Bleues a couple years ago, Konomo and Ethiopian sax player, Getachew Mekuria.

The earlier Beraki track I’ll post today is off the fifth Ethiopiques compilation, Tigrigna Music. Tigrinya/Tigrigna is a language spoken by the Tigray-Tigrinya people in Eritrea. It’s one of the most widely-spoken language in Etritrea, and the Tigrinya people make up a large part of the population.

One thing I’m confused about are the similarities/differences between those from the Tigray region in northern Ethiopia and the Tigrinya people in central Eritrea. I understand that the dialects they use are quite different, but do both people have a common heritage or should the distinction be made, historically and ethnically speaking, between the two? In other words, if today’s political borders didn’t exist would Ethiopian Tigrays and Tigrinyas in Eritrea be the same people living in a shared region?

Anyway, back to the music. The first track by Madvillain appears on Stones Throw 101, their 10-year celebration compilation mixed by another old favourite, Peanut Butter Wolf. The second from Ethiopiques 5, and the third from Tsehaytu Beraki’s Terp Release, Selam.

You can see her playing on YouTube here. There’s also more info on her and plenty more about Eritrea in general at this great site.

Madvillain – Figaro (Madlib remix)
Tsehaytu Beraki – Mhdjhmhrya
Tsehaytu Beraki – Atzmtom Keskisom

If you haven’t already, check-out some of those links that Awet left in the comments of yesterday’s post. Some funky stuff, plus some telling images of the war.

Today we’ll move to something more recent and certainly more studio-polished from Dehab Faytinga.

Faytinga is one of Eritrea’s most famous musicians and one of the very few to have a non-Eritrean following abroad. She has released two albums to date, Numey and Eritrea, both of which are available at good record stores and online, such as over at Calabash.

Aside from being a good musician, Faytinga is also famous for being a daughter of the leader of the “Faid Tinga” (Fighting Gun) independence movement. She fought in this movement from the age of 14 right up until independence about 15 years ago.

Faytinga comes from a mixed heritage of Kunama, Blen and Tigrinya. Her father was Kunama and most of her songs are sung in this language, but her ties through her mother to the Tingrinya and Blen add to her greater appeal amongst Eritrea’s various ethnicities.

She certainly has an original sound. Two songs today, one from each of her albums.

Faytinga – Buba
Faytinga – Salada God

It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for: Eritrea Week here at Benn loxo.

Following a comment by listener and stellar DJ, Boima, I decided to give Eritrea a go. We’ve heard lots from Ethiopia in the past but never ventured north.

I’m an Eritrea beginner so as usual if you have any contributions or something to say about my picks please leave a comment. On that note, have any of you ever been to Asmara? It looks like an interesting place to visit. All that modernist architecture plus a rich culture that gets little exposure next to its well-known neighbour.

Apologies in advance for all the “unknown” track titles and the shoddy recording quality of the some of the music I’ll post this week. I wanted to find contemporary Eritrean music that is actually popular with Eritreans so I used message boards, video sties, online radio and other sources instead of the lacklustre selection of Eritrean music that I’ve been able to find in Paris or for sale in Europe online.

We’ll start off the week with Yemane “Ghebremichael” Baria (sometimes spelled “Barya” in English). From what I can tell he’s easily the most popular contemporary musician in Eritrea, even though he died over ten years ago. You can find Eritreans singing his praise all over the net.

Baria was heavily involved in Eritrean politics, particularly the fight for independence from Ethiopia . He was also a strong advocate for establishing Eritrean identity – for example he promoted and sung in the Tigrinya language, the “Eritrean language”, despite the predominance of Amharic in Eritrean daily life. More on Tigrinya (sometimes spelled Tigrigna) later this week…

I’m no Eritrea expert and don’t speak a lick of Tigrinya so what grabbed me most about this guy wasn’t his politics. It’s his soul. I love classic Ethiopian and Tigrinya music from the 1960s and 70s. Think Broken Flowers, Mahmoud Ahmed, Alemayhu Eschete… that whole crowd are some of my favourite African musicians from this side of the 20th century. Yemane Baria has a similar thing going on.. funky Eritrea. Who knew.

Check-out this video of a live Yemane Barya concert and you’ll see/hear right away what I mean:

Here’s another more recent video to get a feel for his newer style:

Lstly, here’s a nice track that I picked up in some Ertirean corner of the web:

Yemane Barya – Unknown

We’ve been hearing a lot of classic Congolese music lately. Time to move to other countries and other decades for a few posts.

We’ll head back to contemporary Senegal today. Benn loxo du taccu is a Wolof proverb, afterall…

The other night my friend Laurent, who lived in Senegal for about a decade, gave me a couple mbalax compilations. Most feature songs that were popular while I was living in Dakar and hitting up a lot of mbalax clubs- that’d be around 2002-2004.

Mbalax is always a little shocking for first-time listeners. Laurent and I only brought it out the other night after numerous bottles of wine had been consumed. We’ve discussed many times before on this site how it sounds cheesy at first. Heavy on the synth, frenetic rhythms.. yet strangely addictive and impossible not to dance to once you’ve learned to love the Dakar nightclub scene.

So three tracks today: first a mega-hit by Fatou Laobe that I’m sure you’ll know if you visited Senegal anytime during 2003-2004. The second is a nice one by Sidy Samb, just to show you another style of mbalax (video here). The third is a live recording of Mbaye Dieye Faye with a guest appearance by Youssou Ndour. The crowd really loses their shit over this one.. I love it.

All three come from Mbalax Tarkhiss compilations. They’re some of the better collections of popular music in Senegal. If you hear it at the club, in the taxi or on the radio you’ll soon find it on one of the frequent releases.

ps- check-out the great mbalax dancing in this Fatou Laobe video.

Fatou Laobe – Labat
Sidy Samb – Askan wi
Mbaye Dieye Faye – Deugeula

Today I’ll address a series of outstanding requests from Benn loxo listeners:

First of all, does anyone have a copy of Orchestre Los Angel’s track, Sekele Emonani? It appears on the Afrique Danse 2 compilation, track 10. Unfortunately track 9 is repeated twice on my copy.

Secondly, Keith wrote me the following request last week: “I am trying to find out the name of the artist/s of a very popular AfroRock hit played at house parties in the early to late seventies in Cape Town.

If my memory serves me correctly, it was called Soul AmaKhosa (AmaXhosa). I was in my late teens and frequented house parties (“scenes”) in the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town. It was strangely – the only AfroRock hit, beside the phenomenal OSIBISA of the early seventies. I am sure it was local (South African) but I could be wrong.”

If you have any idea please leave a comment on this post.

Benn loxo listener, Zinzi, has been looking for music by Vundumuna and/or Sammy Kasule. If you have any or know where to get it then let him know in the comments.

Musa is looking for anything by Verckys, particularly tracks like Mama Ndona. Any ideas?

Charlie down in California wrote me the following request: “A few years back, probably six years, actually, NPR ran a Morning Edition story on a Kenyan guitarist and vocalist who performs in a modern jazz/pop style with a large band. He had at the time just released a double-CD set and the article featured some live performances that struck me deeply. I’ve long ago lost my hastily-scribbled notes, taken while driving, and would like to try to find this music.”

That might be a long shot, but if you have any guesses please let us know!

Lastly, Olav would like some help identifying the following two tracks. (The audio cassette warping brings back fond memories of overplayed tapes on road trips across Canada as a kid.) Please leave a comment or send me an e-mail if you know anything about them:

Unknown 1
Unknown 2

A belated dewenati / happy new year to everyone.

After a month-long break Benn loxo is back. I hope you all had a nice holiday season.

Lately I’ve been reading a great book by Gary Stewart, Rumba on the River. It covers the history of 20th century Congolese popular music on both sides of the river, mainly in what are today known as Brazzaville and Kinshasa. Even if you have only a passing interest in Congolese music I really recommend this book. It’s an entertaining read that packs in a lot of information while still managing to tell an engaging story.

Aside from now knowing a large chunk of the groups involved, I’m no expert in the cultural and social history of Congolese music. One thing I certainly didn’t know is how much of a role Congo’s Greek community played in the development of popular music. Almost all of Congo’s greatest stars such as Franco, Dr. Nico, Rochereau, Essous, Kalle and others got their start in Kinshasa and Brazzaville’s Greek-run studios, clubs and labels throughout the 40s, 50s and 60s.

Much like with the Lebanese of West Africa and Indians of East Africa, Congo had a wave of immigration from European political trouble spots during the first half of the 20th century. Many young Greeks had fled the post-WWI troubles of the Greco-Turkish and Greco-Italian wars at home in search of adventure, stability and business opportunities. Plenty arrived on the banks of the Congos.

For reasons that are still not entirely clear to me many of these young Greeks took an interest in the local popular music of the time. Skeptics might argue that they were in it for the money, but starting a successful record label in mid-century Congo wasn’t exactly a guaranteed get-rich-quick scheme. You had to like the music to take the risk. Regardless, by the early 50s nearly every record label and studio in Kinshasa and Brazzaville was run by Greeks. Names like Olympia, Ngoma, Opika and Loningisa, all Greek-run, will all be familiar to Congolese music enthusiasts.

I found myself wondering: what kind of music were these young Greeks listening to back home before they arrived in Congo?

Some help from my friends at Calabash Music (which has been down for a few days, what’s up?) plus a little armchair research later, I offer you Rembetika: Songs of the Greek Underground. Rembetika was a style from the early to mid-20th century that would eventually evolve into Greek popular music.

You’ll hear two Greek Rembetika tracks today, the first by the famous 1930s singer, Rosa Eskenazi, the second a 1936 recording by Jorgos Batis.

It’s interesting to hear the contrast of the music that Congo’s Greek community left behind in their native country with the new sounds that they were producing in Congo. With that in mind, we’ll also hear some music from a few of era’s big stars, Kalle, Rochereau, Nico and Franco.

ps- there’s been much buzz lately about Matthew Lavoie’s African music blog on Voice of America. Great tunes from a humbling musical archive and wealth of knowledge.

Rosa Eskenazy – Eimai Prezakias
Jorgos Batis – Zoula se mia varka bika
O.K. Jazz – On entre OK on sort KO
Orchestre African Jazz – Merengue Fafa
Kalle and Rochereau – Afrika Mokili Mobimbi