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STAFF BENDA BILILI
BOUGER LE MONDE (Crammed Disc CRAW81-P)
The 2009 debut of this band marked an incredible story of triumph over diversity: the group was formed of paraplegics and kids who lived on the streets of Kinshasa and hung out at the nearly abandoned zoo where they played for change. They were heard by Vincent Kenis, Crammed Disc's man on the spot, and almost overnight their lives were transformed. Their debut disc sold 150,000 copies and they toured Europe, America and Japan, even starring in a documentary film. Vincent Kenis recorded that first album on his laptop in the zoo, and at one point lost some overdubs when his computer was stolen. This time he has taken the band into an old Kinshasa studio, formerly used by Franco, Tabu Ley, Pepe Kalle & Papa Wemba for some of their hits. The great spirit of Congolese music hovers over the whole thing. Again we hear the homemade guitars and drums, and above all the incredible virtuosity of Roger, who plays solos on a satonge: a single guitar string attached to a tin can. They've added Amalphi, a new lead guitarist (dig his shimmering Johnny Bokelo style on "Mutu esalaka [The brains are OK]"), and have rediscovered Randy, a street kid who vanished for a couple of years but has returned on percussion. The best part of the success story is the band members now have homes and are able to send their kids to school. In addition they have started a school for homeless and disabled youth to train them in mechanics, carpentry, computer science and, of course, music. Here is "Osali mabe," the opening track. There are many moods on this album, and as SBB have evolved, different musical styles abound: check out the haunting "Djambula," with bull-roarer effect, for something completely unexpected.
Album release date is September 3; Tour dates here, including BBC proms and Slim's on October 25. Can't wait!
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JAGWA MUSIC
BONGO HOTHEADS (Crammed Disc CRAW80)
Straight off the streets of Dar Es Salaam comes this fierce band of Bongo Hotheads. I haven't heard anything this intense and raw since Konono Numero Un. Jagwa Music is another fount of unstoppable energy. This ensemble have home-made drums and, as lead instruments, two old battered Casio keyboards wired to homemade amps. Singers and dancers complete the line-up. While the music is trancelike and repetitious, the fuzzy Casio lends grit and weirdness, and the pace suggests Afro-Punk. The mainstream media in Tanzania ignore this shanty-born music, deriding it as the music of thugs, but it has had a strong following for twenty years now as the band has continually renewed itself with young singers and performers. Vocally, the songs recall the old sound of Tanzania (Shikamoo and co), and are about lost love, voodoo and other popular topics. The producer of this hi-level insanity is Werner Graebner who has a distinguished career as one of the leading African musicologists today, author of Sokomoko. Popular culture in East Africa (Amsterdam, 1992). His record production credits include the Zanzibara series, Abana ba Nasery, Culture Music Club, as well as work on Mlimani Park Orchestra's Sungi and also Masimango, the great remastered reissue of Mbaraka Mwinshehe. While these wonderful albums are a treat to us in our small circle of cognoscenti, this Jagwa Music deserves to break out to worldwide acceptance and popularity.
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ABLAYE NDIAYE THIOSSANE
THIOSSANE (Discograph/Syllart 3247952)
A native of Thies in Senegal, Ablaye Thiossane has waited over 70 years to make his debut. In the early fifties his father used to play Duke Ellington and Tino Rossi 78s which inspired him to take up music, and the then-prevalent Afro-Cuban style. In 1966 he was recognized at the Festival of Negro Art by President Leopold Senghor for his song "Talene lampe yi," which became a hit. He has re-recorded it here, along with a bunch of great material that has that warm feeling of dry West African desert winds. Guests include Papa Noel & Cheikh Tidiane Tall on lead acoustic guitar, Orchestra Baobab's Thierno Kouyaté on alto sax, and their Mountaga Kouyate on percussion. There's also accordeon, electric bass, sabar and other drums. Kouyaté's alternately strong and dreamy sax has been heard on Lat-Dior (when Thierno played with Ouza et ses Ouzettes in 1982), & on Bambay Gueej, my favourite album by Cheikh Lo from 1999. He's even played with Etoile de Dakar. If it seems like old home week: Medoune Diallo, the vocalist from Baobab, also shows up to do a guest shot. The Cuban styles are not completely subsumed in the African idiom: "Thiere Lamboul" has a familiar son riff from Trio Matamoros that has been through the wash with rock, cumbia, soukous, etc, and still not faded. "Bouki Ndiour" is the most laid-back track and sounds like they were really jamming and having fun. Fans of Baobab, Super Cayor and other classic Senegalese bands will love this.
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SUBWAY SALSA: THE MONTUNO RECORDS STORY (Vampi Soul)
I am always on the lookout for interesting new salsa albums to get me moving, but I usually end up with the oldies. Lately I have been digging Alfredo Valdes Jr album's A Cataño, which has been on my iTunes for 18 months and comes up frequently because it's filed under "A." Now checking I see it's a Lassissi album with Melcochita and other great singers on here. So I made sure to find out who was on Subway Salsa and was pleased to discover many old friends on here: Manny Oquendo, Son de la Loma, Zaperoko & Totico. Tambó reminds me of Ricky Ricardo's orchestra -- now that's old school! But we open with their smoking version of the Ignacio Piñeiro tune "Coco mai mai," which has rarely been done better. We move from Yambú to Zaperoco, for their smash hit "No quedó ni el gato," with its lovely interplay between tres and trombone -- and the hits keep coming. The story of this album is pretty fabulous also. Robert, my old boss at Round World Music, used to buy stock at this record store in the 42nd Street/Times Square subway station in New York called Record Mart. It's an underground booth stocked with Latin & Caribbean music; people would hang out there while waiting for trains and check out the sounds from their sound system. A great idea! (Sun Ra's Arkestra was playing Koncepts Kultural Gallery in Oakland -- before they were forced out of business by Yoshi's -- when a freight train rumbled past and they immediately swung into "Take the A Train"!)
As well as distributing some hard-to-find stuff, Record Mart also had a label, called appropriately Montuno Records, and their taste is spot on. It's not all straight-up salsa, instead it's something like the Anti-Fania label, in fact there's some son on here (the outstanding "Mariana" by Son de la Loma) and then, to completely surprise you, merengue, konpa and zouk too. It's a great move when suddenly you get Scorpio or Skah Shah thrown down in the middle of a salsa set. Something a DJ in a subway station could pull off with aplomb. Plus there's two discs so there's two and a half hours, with quite a few songs from most of the contributors, so it's a subterranean tour of the music as well as a concise "best of" featuring Zaperoco, Manny Oquendo, Tambó, Yambú, and others. The CD has a bonus track, a pure rumba, not on the 3LP set. Waiting for your train was never this exciting.
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ANDRA KOUYATE & SEKE CHI
SARO (Studio Mali)
You can sense the dry hot atmosphere of Bamako in this recording of traditional Malian music, with Andra Kouyaté on bass ngoni, along with calabash, tamani and guitar. Kouyaté has a deep resonant voice to match the bass ngoni (which he made). From a musical family, he started studying ngoni at age 7 and moved to Bamako in 1989 to play with National Badema. In 1997 his big break came when he was invited to tour with Rokia Traore (along with Baba Sissoko on second ngoni). That tour lasted three years and exposed him to a wider world of music, but it also gave us our first opportunity to hear the talented musician. Thereafter, he was in great demand, performing with Fantani Touré, Ali Farka Touré and Toumani Diabaté. In 2005 he was one of the founders of Ngoni Ba with his brother Basekou Kouyaté and together they recorded the wonderful Segu Blue album. He goes from strength to strength and has played with jazz musicians (Raaga Trio), Dee Dee Bridgewater, as well as other African artists. While this is definitely filed under "Traditional," you will be surprised by the sudden lurch into one-drop reggae on the title track, "Saro." I have to say it's by far the best African re-interpretation of reggae I've heard. A wonderful balafon skitters in on this one. Glorious stuff.
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CURUMIN
ARROCHA (Six Degrees 657036 etc)
First off, this is not Arrocha music in the traditional sense -- that, my friend, is wet romantic pap from Northeast Brasil, best left to Zbigniew Podolski, the celebrated ten-foot Pole. This is a mixture of styles, starting with "Afoxoque," a rap-like dirge with insistent synthi bass & random percussive bomps and tinkles, but engaging enough to tweak your interest. Things pick up with a dubby "Treme terra," then go limp again with a wet ballad, "Passarinho," which all things considered, is pretty well arranged & nicely sung. It changes style once more, and just when you're ready to bail out, suddenly there's an echoey slice of Brasilian reggae. It maintains this feel for a spell then goes back to something resembling Kraftwerk on "BlimBlim." Curumin certainly pack in some disparate ideas. But it's worth sticking around for the brief "Acorda" and its heartfelt vocals, this time with a more interesting synth, plus drum and bass and some Space Invader effects for good measure. Some of the tunes are bite-sized which is great for snacking. It's a pleasant light album of contemporary Brasilian pop. With only two years 'til the world cup I predict an upsurge in popularity of Brasilian music. Stay tuned.
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PUTUMAYO PRESENTS ARABIC BEAT (Putumayo P320-SL)
If you ask me, or anyone else, what the best Putumayo comp is, most folk would agree it's their 2001 Arabic Groove, which cruised along the North African coast as effortlessly as Michael Jackson moonwalking backwards. And it's backwards we go to recapture that mood with this new effort. Ali Slimani is back, as a good luck talisman, with a similar sound -- "Lirah remix" -- to that which kicked off the earlier entry. But this disc is less intense. (Well, we have all aged at least a decade since then.) Jalal el Hamdaoui from Morocco kicks off with the famous snake-charmer melody by Borodin, best known as "Stranger in Paradise" from the musical Kismet. But he just repeats the head riff so it doesn't evolve (to "Somewhere in space, I hang suspended..."); instead it repeats and fades and we are into a tortured, moody piece (also Moroccan): "Saab Alyia" from Samira Saeid. Ahmed Soultan's "Itim" could be considered soul music (or whatever nueva name there is for that genre). Choubène (i.e., "Young people") is back on the Med with a Rai number that has a dose of funk in the bass and drums while the synth plays homage to Gap band (there seems to be a kora on here, but it might be a sample). Zein al-Jundi from Syria (now safely stowed in Texas) has gypsy kings flamenco guitar, parisian cafe accordeon and a whole range of other influences saying, "Get me outta Basra!" If you crave that disco bomp-badomp from the first Arabic Groove it comes back for the big finish with Cheb Amar's "Lala Torkia." As usual with the 'Mayo label this CD is barely over half an hour. Not long enough to start to bug you, but enough to engage you and make you look for more.
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GEORGE PETER KINYONGA
HITS OF ORCH JOBISO (TCK Records)
I am really not happy about the direction the music industry is headed. Amazon and iTunes dominate the field of downloads and I have to ask, Is anyone listening? I mean really listening to music, either with good headphones or on a real sound system? Their bit-rate is miserable and when you reissue an album that was originally on cassette it is going to sound like you are hearing it in a tin can via a piece of string. (Unless you have Doug Paterson doing audio restoration!) Fortunately other sources are available for the Orchestre Jobiso reissue of pure "Muziki wa dansi" (which still has some warbly tape rumble moments in the bass). It's four of their hits (A side plus B side, with a gap in the middle, so if you are energetic you will have to edit the files to eliminate the silence in the middle) from the late 70s. There's a picture of George Peter Kinyonga about 100 pixels square and no other info, other than titles. George and his brother Wilson were the founders of the legendary Simba Wanyika in Tanzania, pioneers of Swahili rumba. They started out as Jamhuri Jazz in their hometown of Tanga, Tanzania, and then moved to Arusha where, inevitably, they evolved into Arusha Jazz. In 1970 they moved to Nairobi, Kenya, and became Simba Wanyika (Lions of the Desert). The Super Wanyika Stars story is relatively well known and Sterns has done a glorious job of reissuing the Issa Juma material recently. Orchestra Jobiso was George Peter's outfit after the fracture of the Wanyika band into several offshoots. The cassette, er download, collects four of his hits.
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SOTHO SOUNDS
JUNK FUNK (Riverboat TUG DD1066)
Something tells me Hugh Tracey would have dug this. A group of Southern African shepherds who make music in the tiny landlocked kingdom of Lesotho. They sing acapella, or accompanied by home-made instruments -- weird one-string fiddles, guitars made from tin cans and bicycle brake cables, plastic tub drums, thunking washtub bass. It's recognizably South African, especially the vocal style and the melodies, and the instruments are suitably scratchy and creaky to counteract the sweetness of the singing. Riverboat continues to do a good job of unearthing great roots music from around the world. Maybe the Riverboat explorers could sail over and unearth some of the great music lost in my iTunes download folder. I am sure they won't be disappointed. Sotho Sounds' songs are about everyday things, though since the band played in England they have a piece called "Something to think about," which is a response to the perennial greeting, "How are you?" It's not funk so the name is a misnomer, instead it's poppy and fun. "Jo! Kelishapa" has wonderful bird calls & whistles on it, over an insistent one-string fiddle and gravelly vocals.
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ZANI DIABATE ET LES HERITIERS
TIENTALAW (Stern's STCD1113)
I just wrote this up for Songlines magazine, giving it five stars, so I will reiterate briefly what I said there: it's a top notch album and sadly, the last recordings of this brilliant West African guitarist. Zani rode to international fame with the Super Djata band in that moment when African music had a big Western audience and labels like Mango willing to promote them with tours and other support. True, there is still a huge festival circuit in Europe every summer, but ever since the Bush era the US State Department has done its best to keep foreign acts from touring the USA. Occasionally bands play New York's summer stage or venture as far as Washington DC but I don't hear of any acts coming out West, though I recall the days when Sunny Ade, Nusrat, or Sly 'n' Robbie packed the Greek Theatre in Berkeley. Nevertheless Zani wowed the European audiences, as attested by this Youtube video. Zani started out as a teenager playing balafon & kora and dancing with the National Ballet du Mali. From that troupe he met fellows who became his lifelong companions in a group that evolved into one of the first non-state-sponsored bands in Mali, the Djata Band. These were vocalists Alou Fané and Fani Sangaré who also played kamalen ngoni and djembé. They took Bamako by storm with their fusing of traditional music (from all over Mali) with Zani's electric guitar. It was the flash of Zani's guitar that recalled Freddy King and T-Bone Walker which widened their appeal to Western audiences. When Zani's originally partners Fané and Sangaré died, he inducted their sons, and his own son, into the line-up and that is the outfit playing here, known as Les Héritiers, or the Inheritors. I don't know how they will fare without Zani, but here he is in control, with a great set of Malian music, full of pulsing bass, congas and drums, balafon, djembe, ngonis, & other traditional instruments weaving in and out, plus his acid-tone guitar. The sequencing is great because the hottest songs are saved for the end, like a live show, so by the time you get to "Ambou wele (You've gotta dance)" you really have to dance, and then "Soubagaya," which trades riffs between guitars and sax, lifts the roof. A great exit for Zani (if only Sir Mick or Sir Paul had departed when they were still hot). God speed, maestro.
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LENINE
CHAO (Universal Music)
A friend sent me a glowing review of Lenine's latest concert in Brasil and I was inspired to check out his latest album, which you can listen to in part, streaming on the artist's website here. Lenine is one of the most brilliant performers working in Brasil today. He writes great songs full of linguistic tricks and intelligence. These aren't the lovelorn lyrics typical to a lot of MPB; his delivery is unexpected and despite his unassuming manner he is a fine showman. Above all his arrangements are orchestrated to make his songs engaging and surprising. "Chão (floor)" starts off with what sounds like someone walking on gravel, but turns out to be a percussion instrument, a kind of guiro with metal ball-bearings wrapped around it, I think. The album abounds with interesting musical effects, heartbeats, lots of birds, and a solid rhythm with, occasionally, real bass and drums, but often as not collaged sounds providing the backing to his provocative lyrics. (The bird is his mother-in-law's pet canary which got into the studio and started singing to the playback, so they decided to include it.) The marching feet on gravel (from the opening) returns again for "Isso é Só o Começo (This is only the beginning)," which is the closer, completing the circle. He is great at building to an ominous intensity, reminiscent of early Pink Floyd, or creating rhythmic drama like late Led Zep! On "Seres estranho (Strange beings)" he heightens the drama quickly with only a few effects and sustains it, then just as quickly cuts to a simple ballad plucked from his Ovation. Suddenly a kettle starts to whistle -- he ignores it, but its insistence creates a differently ominous voice to focus you on the music. He does this again with a chain saw felling a tree on "Envergo mas não quebro (bend but don't break)" which comes next. Much as I hate streaming music, the alternative is a pricy import (Amazon mistakenly has the date as 2007: it came out in 2011), or a download from his website. His site also leads you to videos, including an animation of the title track of Chão, music and lyric sheets, and other stuff.
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AFRICAN ROOTS REVIVAL (Rough Guide RGNet1269)
The phenomenal Staff Benda Bilili head the line-up for this excursion into the world of acoustic African music. As you probably gather this is a passion of mine. The roots music showcased here is not traditional folk-in-aspic but rather a vibrant movement that is ever-evolving, with instruments often born out of necessity. Large plastic jugs can be used over and over for carrying or storing liquids, they can also be beaten to make a satisfying thud. Africans have long made thumb-pianos from wood and nails, and more recently flattened tin cans and other recycled metals, which can also be fashioned into guitars, with bicycle wire strings. I was keen to check this out because, apart from Staff Benda Bilili, Konono Numero Un, Kasai All Stars, Seprewa Kasa and a few other familiar names there were some unknown to me. So I am thrilled to discover the Bedouin Jerry Can Band, whose music still sounds traditional, even when played on scrap ammo boxes backing their flute and five-stringed lyre. Then there are the bands that use more convention instruments such as mbira or ngoni. Two Zimbabwean groups are represented: Hukwe Zawose's offspring, known as the Zawose Family, and Mbira Dzenharira who play lovely meditative cyclical music on their massed thumb pianos. Other thumb pianists are Konono, Kasai All Stars and, new to me, Papa Kourand, who all hail from Congo. Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni Ba have become quite well known in the West with their bluesy Malian music featuring the (also pentatonic) ngoni. Before we get lost in the mellowness of it all, the abrasive electric likembes of Konono No 1 jar us awake, from their Live at Couleur Café album. I predict Jagwa Music will emerge to become more widely recognised, like Staff Benda or Konono. Then we get three lesser-known but accomplished acts, two of them from worldmusicnet's own Riverboat series: Zulu musician Shiyani Ngcobo and Mamane Barka, a harp player from Niger. This is portable, intimate music and the disc represents a good cross-section of current artists renewing their own musical traditions. But wait! There's more: the bonus disc is Kenge Kenge, which I already gave a rave review to on my Kenya page. Well worth the price of admission.
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ROUGH GUIDE TO MOROCCO (RGNET1266DD)
Among its many peregrinations across the globe, Rough Guide returns to North Africa for a fresh look at the scene in Morocco. The music scene there is thriving: both traditional and modern sounds are sampled in songs culled from the last decade. The traditional rap that opens it is not to my taste though the instruments are familiar. There's another noisy entry called "Boolandrix" that demonstrates the enduring appeal of Jimi Hendrix on aspiring guitarists -- sadly none of them are a patch on the original. The big boomy sound of Amira Saqati is appealing on the grooving "Al Aloua"; but one question keeps coming up and that is, Does mint tea and kif make you this speedy? Finally we get to the soulful krakrebs and guimbri sound that I find so satisfying -- here it's "Bania Bambara" performed by Maalem Said Damir & Gnawa Allstars. But all things must pass and we are thrust into the horror of a heavy metal rap called "Jil Jdid" by H-Kayne -- a noisesome racket about the appeals and dangers of the internet. Skipping that we come to a classical vocal track "Mal Habibi Malou" by Samy Elmaghribi which is poorly recorded but you can still get the impact of his voice, though the instruments are lost in the background. The only familiar name is the Master Musicians of Joujouka who anchor things with a final trancelike whirl of their flutes and drums. I am ready to discover new artists but if you are already into Moroccan music I suggest you skip this offering.
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2012 reviews, so far...
(click on maps at the top of the page to get to continent of choice)
July 2012:
Mose Se Fan Fan's Musicatelema is filed in Congo part 3
The Spy from Cairo's Arabadub went to Arabia
Koo Nimo is filed in Ghana
Look for Emel Mathlouthi under Arabia
Radio Jarocho's Cafe Cafe can be found in the sleepy Mexico section
Rough Guide to Highlife is filed under Nigeria 2
Tareq Abboushi & Shusmo are in Arabia
Ravi Shankar's Nine Decades vol 1 is filed in India
May 2012:
Sidi Touré's Koima is filed under Mali 2
Issa Juma's World defeats the grandfathers can be found in Kenya & Tanzania
The Bariba Sound of Super Borgou de Parakou is filed in Benin
Bombay Royale went to Bollywood pt 2
The Funkees & ROB can be found in Nigeria pt 2
Mucca Pazza are in the brass band section (Old World)
Maga Bo is found in Brasil pt 2
Los Miticos del Ritmo are filed under Colombia
Jaakko Laitinen's latest can be found in the "Old World potpourri" section
Kottarashky & the Rain Dogs's Demoni is filed in the Gypsy and Balkan section
Ramzi Aburedwan can be found in Arabia
April 2012:
The Cheb i Sabbah Tribute album Samaya is filed under USA
So is Chicha Libre's pan-American extravaganza Canibalismo
Ravi Shankar's latest, Living room Sessions, is filed under India
The Kahaani soundtrack is filed under Bollywood, part 2
March 2012:
Ndigal by Karantamba from Gambia is filed in Senegal and Gambia part 2
Bondi Blaster went to Colombia
Kayhan Kalhor is filed in Arabia
Rough Guide to Psychedelic Africa is filed in Nigeria pt 2
February 2012:
Zemelewa by Zieti is filed under Ivory Coast
Taga Sidibe's Wassolou Foli is filed in Mali part 2
Cartagena! is filed in Colombia
Baba Ken Okulolo's African Drum Songs is filed under Nigeria part 2
Debashish's Bhattacharya's Live in Calcutta is filed under India & Pakistan
Baloji's is filed in Congo part 3
January 2012:
Batsumi is filed in South Africa
Novalima's Karimba is filed under Peru
My Top Ten of 2011 can be found HERE.
My Top 9 of 2010 is online HERE
Click HERE for my top 10 of 2009 Click HERE for my top 9 of 2008 Click HERE for my top 10 of 2007 Click HERE for my top 11 of 2006
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MY BEST-SELLING BOOK!
"Essential reference guide to the Congo guitar king" -- SONGLINES 64 **** (four stars)
Note: OUT OF PRINT (Write for details of second edition)
A DISCOGRAPHY OF DOCTEUR NICO
By Alastair Johnston
Poltroon Press, 2009, 78 pages; price $19.95 post-free in the USA; please add $5 for overseas airmail shipping.
Available now. Click here for details.
LETTERBOX
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| all of the writing on this site is copyright © 2004-2012 by alastair johnstonYour comments are welcome. If you are not already a subscriber, send me an e-mail to be notified of updates. Please note none of the music discussed on the site is for sale by me. You can reach me at contact[at-sign]muzikifan[dot]com
muzikifan by alastair m johnston is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.muzikifan.com.
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