Posts tagged with ‘music’

2004 was the summer of Raï’n’B in France.

“One album that has further diminished the boundaries between cultures and musical genres is Raï’n’B Fever, which marries Algerian raï music and R&B/hiphop. The project is the brainchild of producers Kore & Skalp, who have compiled material by some 20 acts of various origins including Willy Denzey, Khaled, Rim’k, Cheb Bilal and Faudel. The album was released in June on Sony Music France’s urban imprint, Small.”

H/t to africansunset

ladyfresh: Nigeria 70 cover

ladyfresh:

Nigeria 70 cover

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Ali Farka Touré & Toumani Diabaté - ‘Sabu Yerkoy’

From Nonesuch Records, July 9, 2010:

“Metacritic.com, the site that aggregates major reviews of music, film, and other media, has released its mid-year report of “The Best Music of 2010 So Far”—albums released over the past six months met or exceeded a Metascore of 81 (out of 100), and three Nonesuch releases have made the cut: the late Ali Farka Touré’s collaboration with kora player Toumani Diabaté came in at #2, and Laurie Anderson’s first studio album since 2001, Homeland, followed it at #3.”

It’s great to see the second collaboration between two of Africa’s most renowned musicians receiving so much critical acclaim, and good to see them in such good company too.

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Régis Gizavo - Tsikaholy

Régis Gizavo is a Malagasy accordionist and member of the Madagascar All Stars.

“The idea of mixing traditional Madagascan music and the accordion may appear a little strange at first. However, the two have a shared history going back hundreds of years. The accordion - or the “poorman’s piano” as it is known in French - was introduced to Madagascar by sailors in the early 19th century and went on to become an integral part of the local culture.”

Cameroonian singer Coco Mbassi performing at what appears to be one of the Eden Project biomes in Cornwall.

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Rokia Traoré - Dounia

How can one nation produce so many amazing musical talents? #Mali

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Cocody Rock - Alpha Blondy

Yeah, we need some Cocody Rock tomorrow for sure. Come on #CIV please show the Canarinho what African teams are really capable of. Go #Drogba! Go #Touré!

“Apala is a musical genre, originally derived from the Yoruba people of Nigeria. It is a percussion-based style that developed in the late 1930s, when it was used to wake worshippers after fasting during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. The rhythms of apala grew more complex over time, influenced by Cuban music. Haruna Ishola (above) is undoubtedly the most well-known performer of apala in Nigerian history. He played an integral role in the popularization of the genre, and incorporating it into fuji music.” In 1969, Ishola founded STAR Records Ltd with fellow musician I.K. Dairo. This was the first African label owned entirely by its artists. You can download the entire album here.

“Apala is a musical genre, originally derived from the Yoruba people of Nigeria. It is a percussion-based style that developed in the late 1930s, when it was used to wake worshippers after fasting during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. The rhythms of apala grew more complex over time, influenced by Cuban music. Haruna Ishola (above) is undoubtedly the most well-known performer of apala in Nigerian history. He played an integral role in the popularization of the genre, and incorporating it into fuji music.”

In 1969, Ishola founded STAR Records Ltd with fellow musician I.K. Dairo. This was the first African label owned entirely by its artists.

You can download the entire album here.

[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

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Dick Brummelman is “grumpy man” with impeccable taste in African music. You can follow him on twitter or blip.fm. Every day during the World Cup he posts a track from an artist of each country playing that day. During the Cameroon - Japan match he blipped Coco Mbassi’s “Bhafrika”.

The track I’ve posted here is also a Coco Mbassi tune, called “Iwiye”

Enjoy it.

“Coco Mbassi is a singer and songwriter from Cameroon in West Africa who made her name as a backing vocalist with leading African and French pop artists based in Paris, including Salif Keita, Oumou Sangare, Touré Kunda, Manu Dibango and Ray Lema. She was nominated for the BBC Radio 3 World Music Awards in 2002 and was the winner of the German Record Critics prize in 2001 and the Radio France Internationale Discoveries contest in 1996.”

Source

Thanks to Sean Jacobs, another Sean who blogs about Africa, for tweeting about this gem, and also to Nick Lotay for posting other rare Mahotella Queens clips from the 60s and 70s on YouTube.

It’s fantastic to read so many comments from South African and Zimbabwean diaspora reminiscing about what this music meant to them and their parents.

The photo above shows the now abandoned record store and then headquarters of the Disco Maghreb music label in Oran. In 1980s Algeria, Disco Maghreb was to Raï, what Motown Records was to African-American soul in the 1970s. Although Raï is popular throughout Northern Africa, especially in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, the Algerian port city of Oran has always been considered its home. With both Arab and French influences Raï is folk music played on traditional instruments mixed in with synthesizers, sequencers and drum machines. It became popular among young people who sought to modernize the traditional Islamic values and attitudes. Regional, secular, and religious drum patterns, melodies, and instruments were blended with Western electric instrumentation. Raï music mixes with hip hop, reggae, funk, blues and with North African beats and rhythms. - Wikipedia Raï singers usually place the word “Cheb” or “Chab” before their names (Cheba for female artists). Cheb is derived from Shabb or young. Famous Raï singers include (Cheb) Khaled, Cheb Mami, Fella and Cheba Djenet. Photo courtesy of tomichill.

The photo above shows the now abandoned record store and then headquarters of the Disco Maghreb music label in Oran. In 1980s Algeria, Disco Maghreb was to Raï, what Motown Records was to African-American soul in the 1970s.

Although Raï is popular throughout Northern Africa, especially in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, the Algerian port city of Oran has always been considered its home. With both Arab and French influences Raï is folk music played on traditional instruments mixed in with synthesizers, sequencers and drum machines.

It became popular among young people who sought to modernize the traditional Islamic values and attitudes. Regional, secular, and religious drum patterns, melodies, and instruments were blended with Western electric instrumentation. Raï music mixes with hip hop, reggae, funk, blues and with North African beats and rhythms. - Wikipedia

Raï singers usually place the word “Cheb” or “Chab” before their names (Cheba for female artists). Cheb is derived from Shabb or young. Famous Raï singers include (Cheb) Khaled, Cheb Mami, Fella and Cheba Djenet.

Photo courtesy of tomichill.

For your listening pleasure: Amadou & Mariam singing Sénégal Fast Food, the fifth track from their 2004 album Dimanche à Bamako, produced by Manu Chao, who also makes an appearance in this video.

Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia, “the blind couple from Mali” are currently touring Europe. Their North American leg starts this June 2nd in Chicago. They will also join Coldplay for their US tour in July. Washington Post rock critic J. Freedom du Lac calls their new album Welcome to Mali “the best thing I’ve heard this year.”