Musick, the Global Language

One time about a year & a half ago, Zer0_II over at Digital Melrd0wn, another blog that I help out on, had the idea for a Musick around the World project. We were going to attempt to post at least one album from every country in the world. It was a massive undertaking & we elicited the help of numerous other friends & bloggers to help out. The project never got off the ground & died what to me was a sad, sad death. I had accrued musick from at least half of the countries myself, so I felt I had invested a great deal of time & effort into a project that never happened. I did however keep most of the files, so lately I have been mulling over the prospect of rebirthing, to a lesser degree, this crazy plan.

Throughout the month of February I challenged myself to post one post per day. I chose February because it is the shortest month, granted, but here it is March & well, I succeeded. This gave me the confidence I needed to attempt this resurrection of Musick Around the World. With apologies to Zer0_II, whose idea it was, I think I’ll begin.

From Zer0_IIs original proposal, some notes…

      “The primary goal of the project is to post at least one album from every country

       in the world. The music we post will be obscure, & either out of print, issued

       under a creative commons license, or otherwise commercially unavailable. We

       aim to make the project seem like a "journey around the world", rather than simply

       taking the easy route & covering countries according to alphabetical order. The

       plan is to start in Northern Europe, & follow a route that would take us through

       each continent, covering every country located within it before moving on to the

       next continent. “

I believe this is the countries list we finally agreed upon:

EUROPE

Greenland     Iceland     Norway     Sweden     Finland     Russia

Estonia          Latvia      Lithuania   Belarus      Poland     Germany

Denmark       Netherlands     Belgium     England     Wales

Scotland        Ireland     Portugal     Spain     Andorra

France           Monaco (City Nation)      Switzerland     Liechtenstein (City Nation)

Austria          Czech Republic     Slovakia     Ukraine     Moldova

Romania        Bulgaria     Greece     Cyprus (Island Nation)     Albania

Macedonia     Kosovo (Disputed Territory)     Montenegro     Serbia

Bosnia and Herzegovina     Croatia     Hungary     Slovenia

Italy               San Marino (City Nation)     Vatican City (City Nation)  

Sicily (Autonomous Region of Italy)       Malta (Island Nation)

AFRICA

Tunisia     Libya      Algeria      Morocco      Western Sahara   Mauritania     

Cape Verde (Island Nation)     The Gambia     Senegal     Guinea-Bissau

Guinea      Sierra Leone      Liberia      Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)      Mali

Burkina Faso      Ghana      Togo      Benin      Nigeria      Niger      Chad

Central African Republic      Cameroon      Equatorial Guinea      Gabon

Republic of the Congo      Democratic Republic of the Congo      Angola

Zambia      Zimbabwe      Botswana      Namibia      South Africa

Lesotho (City Nation) Swaziland      Madagascar      Comoros (Island Nation)

Mayotte (French Territory)      Réunion (French Territory)      Mauritius (Island Nation)

Seychelles (Island Nation)     Sao Tome & Principe(Island Nation)   

Mozambique      Malawi     Tanzania      Burundi      Rwanda      Uganda

Kenya      Somalia      Djibouti     Ethiopia      Eritrea      Sudan      Egypt

MIDDLE EAST

Israel      Palestenian Territory      Jordan      Saudi Arabia      Yemen      Oman

United Arab Emirates     Qatar     Bahrain (Island Nation)     Kuwait      Iraq      

Syria      Lebanon      Turkey      Armenia      Georgia      Azerbaijan      Iran

Turkmenistan      Uzbekistan      Kazakhstan      Kyrgyzstan      Tajikistan

Afghanistan      Pakistan

ASIA

India      Sri Lanka      Maldives (Island Nation)     Indonesia      Malaysia

Brunei     Thailand      Cambodia      Vietnam      Laos      Burma (Myanmar)

Bangladesh      Bhutan      Nepal      Tuva (Federal Subject of Russia)     Free Tibet

China      Mongolia      North Korea      South Korea      Japan      Taiwan

Hong Kong (China - Special Administrative Region)      Philippines

Macau (China - Special Administrative Region)     East Timor (Island Nation)

PACIFIC ISLAND NATIONS

Northern Mariana Islands (In Political Union with the United States)     Kiribati 

Federated States of Micronesia     Fiji      Marshall Islands     Nauru     Palau

Samoa      American Samoa (US Territory)     Solomon Islands      Tonga

Tuvalu     French Polynesia      Guam (US Territory)

AUSTRALIA

Australia      Papua New Guinea      Vanuatu (Island Nation)      New Zealand

Cook Islands (self-governing parliamentary democracy)

SOUTH AMERICA

Ecuador     Peru      Bolivia     Chile      Argentina      Uruguay      Paraguay

Brazil      French Guiana (French Territory?)      Suriname      Guyana

Venezuela      Colombia

CARIBBEAN ISLAND NATIONS/TERRITORIES

Netherlands Antilles (Netherlands)     Aruba (Netherlands)     Curaçao (Netherlands)

Trinidad and Tobago      Grenada      Barbados      St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Saint Lucia      Martinique (French Territory)      Dominica     Guadeloupe (French Territory)

Montserrat (British Territory)      Antigua and Barbuda     Saint Kitts and Nevis

Saint-Barthélemy     Anguilla      British Virgin Islands (British Overseas Territory)

US Virgin Islands (US Territory)      Puerto Rico (US Territory)      Dominican Republic

Haiti      Jamaica      Cayman Islands      Cuba      Turks and Caicos Islands (British Territory)

The Bahamas      Bermuda (British Territory)

CENTRAL AMERICA

Panama      Costa Rica      Nicaragua      Honduras      El Salvador      Guatemala

Belize

NORTH AMERICA

Mexico     United States      Canada

Well, you get the idea how crazy this is---225 countries on this probably less than accurate list. I guess if I’m going to do this thing, I better do this thing.

Starting now…

Greenland

Equatorial Guinea

A small country about the size of the state of Massachusetts on the west coast of central Africa, Equatorial Guinea comprises the mainland territory of Río Muni (where most of the population live) & five volcanic islands. The largest island is Bioko, on which the country's capital, Malabo, is located. After independence from Spain in 1968, Equatorial Guinea fell under the rule of Francisco Macías Nguema, who plunged the nation into ruin. He was overthrown & executed in 1979 by his nephew Obiang Nguema. President Nguema continues the family dictatorship. There is widespread civil unrest over flawed elections. New oil wealth masks stagnation in the rest of the economy & the widespread endemic poverty.

The largest ethnic group are the Fang, though there are also numerous Bubi & smaller populations of Bisio, Bujeba, Ndowe, Combe, & Annobónese people. The Fang are known for their mvet, a cross between a zither & a harp. The mvet can have up to fifteen strings. The semi-spherical part of this instrument is made of bamboo & the strings are attached to the center by fibers. Music for the mvet is written in a form of musical notation that can only be learned by initiates of the Bebom-Mvet Society. The mvet plays a role in traditional Fang society very similar to that of the kora among the Mandinka peoples of West Africa, as an accompaniment to epic ballads, the performance of which many times lasts all night. Music is typically call & response with a chorus & drums alternating. Musicians like Eyi Muan Ndong helped to popularize folk styles.

Here is Ekien Ndong Ela, one of the epics of the late Mvet master Eyi Muan Ndong. 

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There is little popular music coming out of Equatorial Guinea. Commercial recording remains scarce. The bands that I would like to post up are mostly available elsewhere.

Hijas del Sol (Daughters of the Sun) are aunt Piruchi Apo Botupá & niece Paloma Loribó from the island of Bioko, Equatorial Guinea. They sing in Spanish & their native tongue, Bubi. It is a blend of traditional, Afrobeat, & Afropop. They have eight or more albums to date. Kchaba is a great place to begin. This release is dedicated to the Nigerian pioneer of Afrobeat, Fela Kuti. 

Here is “Sibolló” from that album.

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Concha Buika was born 1972 in Palma de Mallorca. Her family is originally from Equatorial Guinea. Her father was a political exile from Equatorial Guinea, from one of the most repressive regimes in Africa. The fusion of flamenco with jazz, soul, & dance rhythms in Buika's music mirrors the story of her own life. She grew up in Mallorca, where the population includes American millionaires as well as many German & English tourists. She was the only person of African descent in her neighborhood & her school.

"I was always the only black in the movie theater, the only black in class, the only black in the library, the only black in the discotheque," she says. "I always felt observed and judged."

She was raised among poor Spanish Romani people (Gitanos or gypsies) in the barrio where her family lived. They introduced her to the traditional 'cante' flamenco music that became part of her style. Her family sang African tunes at home & her mother had an entire wall filled with jazz records. Her album Niña de Fuego was nominated for the 2008 Latin Grammy Award for Album of the Year. 

 

Here’s No Habra Nadie en el Mundo from that album.

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Anastasio Bickie was born into a musical family in Bata, on the mainland Rio Muni district of Equatorial Guinea in West Africa. Bickie immersed himself in music from an early age. His father played guitar & often his home would be filled with people singing, dancing, & playing drums. There was a popular musician, Ecuaga Miko who along with his wife, would travel from village to village singing & dancing to traditional Fang rhythms & melodies. The town’s people would supply the drummers & be the backup choir for Miko & his wife to perform. Bickie was influenced greatly in his early years through these musical experiences. This environment contributed to his decision to make a career in music.

While growing up there was not a lot of local recorded music available. The radio stations mostly broadcast popular music of neighboring countries like Cameroon, Gabon, & Nigeria, soukous of Zaire, music from Spain, South America, & Cuba, or European & North American pop music. These musical styles along with the traditional 'elon' rhythms & other indigenous musical styles of Equatorial Guinea combined to create the unique sound of Bickie’s music.

Here Annax Bickie & Zalang are: Anastasio Bickie – vocals & guitar, Simon Akirov – lead guitar; Howard Goldbach – keyboards; Steve Perzow – bass; Daniel Shlagbaum – percussion; & Maurizio Valente – drums.

Anastasio & Zalang – Live at Afrofest 2011.

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With the political & economic conditions after independence from Spain in 1968, many musicians, like Hijas del Sol or Concha Buika’s family moved to Spain or like Anastacio Bickie, to Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The commercial popular music scene, as I said earlier, didn’t amount to much.

Here is a look at the music of Equatorial Guinea today. This is a compilation of young artists from Equatorial Guinea. Some live there & some are as far flung as Spain (Lion Sitte) or Texas (Narkelly Pana) or China (D.3.F.). This is hip-hop, reggae, & other urban styles from Equatoguinean artists scattered around the world.

Most of the songs featured on Pequeño corazón de África (Small Heart of Africa) have lyrics about Guinea & Guinean identity, which is very important to the new younger musicians. 

“We come from Guinea to a country that isn’t ours,” says Lion Sitté, “Liberation, immigration, or things that have happened in Guinea – those themes come out naturally.”

 Various- Pequeño corazón de África, 2012.

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Tracklist –

CNC ft Emily y Lui G - Un largo viaje

Negro Bey – Gaou

Narkelly Pana - G.E. Ghetto

West Barna – Guineanismo

Kultama ft Primizia y Maika Sitté - Destrucción del mundo

Black Bee - Ecua Nation

Barby - Super Nzalang

Reactable Global Sound - Dorado Life About

Jordana Mba - Olé Olé África

Dnoe - Amor infinito

Maelé - Dónde vas Guinea

Baron Ya Búk-lu – Panafricano

Duddi Wallace ft. Phone - Una vida

Diff Days – Terapia

D.3.F. - No voy a llorar

Lion Sitté – Despiértame

Tanci - Sin ti

Piruchi Apo - As de corazones

Betty Akna - Mira tu vida

Enjoy,

NØ

 

Cameroon

Tourist literature always describes Cameroon as "Africa in miniature", so much so that it has become almost a cliché. But the country does exhibit all major climates & vegetation of the continent: coast; desert; mountains; rainforest; & savannah. Cameroon’s worst problem is one I can relate to myself. It is a victim of lousy neighbors. It sits in a tough neighborhood, bordered by some problematic countries. Just avoid the troubled border areas, & enjoy the Cameroon hospitality. One of the most culturally diverse countries on the continent, its people include ancient tribal kingdoms, Muslim pastoralists & forest-dwelling pygmies.

The landscape is no less dizzying in its diversity. Mt Cameroon (4095m) is the highest peak in West Africa. A still-active volcano, it rises almost straight from the sea in a spectacular manner. Further north are the rolling grasslands of the Ring Road area, while the Mandara Mountains are a complete contrast again, dry, rocky, with isolated villages barely eking out a living. Fringing all of this are some of Africa’s oldest rainforests, & the excellent Parc National de Waza, with abundant mammal & bird life, with large herds of elephants gathering at water holes in the dry season.

Or you can just head for one of the fine palm-fringed beaches, throw back a few cold beers, & dig some lively home-grown makossa music. This is no mellow pop bikutsi dance music. This is the late 70s when ‘Makossa was King’. These people might have lousy neighbors, but they sure know how to throw a great party. I dare you to stay seated. I double-dog dare you!

Sam Fan Thomas is born in 1952 in Bafoussam, the capital of the West Province of Cameroon. The city is also the cultural & economical center of the Bamilike people. Thomas is a famous singer & guitarist who became known in 1984 when his album African Typic Collection sold more than one million copies.

This is Sam Fan Thomas’ second solo LP. He went solo after he left Andre Marie Tala's Les Tigres Noirs in 1976. Thomas went to Cotonou the following year, where he recorded this LP with the l’Orchestre Black Santiago. Great late 70s makossa/soukous.

Sam Fan Thomas – self-titled, Disques Tropiques SATEL SAT 159,1977. 

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Face A –

Kapap

Kello Kello

Ni ate Dje

Face B –

Na Ma Pula Dimbea Oa

Special Kwongne

Yayakam

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Louis Wasson is a great guitarist & arranger from Cameroon. During the 70s, he spent several years in Benin where he recorded with greats such as Danialou Sagbohan & Fidegnon Ambrose. He also worked on the arrangement for albums by artists including Antoine Dougbé.

Ma Fille Fait Attention features a unique blend of experimental psychedelic Afro-reggae makossa/soukous.

On Ma Fille Fait Attention, the performers are: Louis Wasson - vocals & lead guitar; Pierre A. Dikaki – rhythm guitar; Dieudonne Tsang – organ & strings; Ignace de Souza – trumpet; Jean Katou-Zingila – tenor saxophone; Black Pepper – alto saxophone; Pierre Egnile – bass; & Danialou Sagbohan Miguelito - drums & backing vocals, with Giles Toffo & Miguelito Hossou – backing vocals.

LouisWasson – Ma Fille Fait Attention, Disques Tropiques Satel SAT 175, 1978.

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Face A –

Ma Fille Fait Attention

Message

Face B –

Give Us Heavy Sound

La Facilité est Ephémère

Okel’mvoe

Music Maker, give us heavy sound,

NØ

Central African Republic

Louis Sarno is an American romantic from Newark, New Jersey. Idly listening to a Flemish radio station one night in Amsterdam in 1985, he heard a recording of some pygmy singing. He was immediately transfixed. It was one of those rare moments which alters a person's life permanently.

Without any real idea of what he was doing, he bought a one-way ticket to Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic. From there he took a bus that was prophetically labeled 'Ainsi donc la vie' (& so there’s your life). He found himself in the village of Bomandjombo. From there it was only a short distance to the pygmy settlement of Amopolo, which was to become his home. Louis Sarno is married to a Bayakan. He lives in the forests of Central Africa.

To learn more about Sarno’s experiences, he relates all in his memoir, Song from the Forest: My Life Among the Ba-Benjellé Pygmies (Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1993). Additionally, there is a movie based on his life called Oka! (‘Oka’ is Bayaka for ‘listen’). While living with the Bayaka (how the Ba-Benjelle refer to themselves, rather than pygmies), Sarno made voluminous field recordings.

Ellipsis Arts has released two book that contain CDs of this music: Echoes Of The Forest: Music Of The Central African Pygmies, & Bayaka: The Extraordinary Music of the Ba-Benjellé Pygmies.

Echoes CD contains eighteen tracks recorded by three different anthropologists over a span of forty years. Bayaka CD is an hour long with eleven tracks recorded by Sarno & Krause.

What I am presenting here are soundscapes from recordings made by Louis Sarno & Dr. Bernie Krause, a world famous musician, author, soundscape recordist, & bio-acoustician, who coined the term biophony. Krause helped define the structure of soundscape ecology. Biophony is the collective sound vocal non-human animals create in each given environment. The study of natural soundscapes is called soundscape ecology.

"Louis Sarno's work is so important," says Krause, "because it conveys for the first time, the connection between rain forest, its sounds and the music created by those intimately joined to all its resources."

These recordings have not only the songs & music of the Bayaka, but the sounds of the insects, the wind, the forest itself. These are unedited original recordings from master tapes.

Various – Music of the Ba-Benjellé Bayaka, Sarno & Krause’s Master Copies 2.

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Tracklist –

krekels zang percussie

krekels en grondboog

bos en fluit

bos en zang

bos & geedah & percussie

zang

lied & percussie

zang & percussie

zang & drums

bos en mbyo

bos en harp

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More field recordings. This is a wonderful old gem from the French Ocora label. While the previous offering was the Ba-Benjellé, these are field recordings made in the Central African Republic of nine other ethnic groups of the region. I could tell you about these groups, but you can look them up for yourselves. I’m just the DJ here.

 Various ‎– Musique Centrafricaine, Collection Radiodiffusion Outre-Mer, Ocora OCR 12, 1968. 

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Face A –

Bagandou - Xylophone et Sanza Bagandou

Babinga - Musique de Chasse Babinga

Linda - Musique de Danse avec Xylophone Linda

Broto - Orchestre de Trompes Broto

Ndokpa - Exemple de Langage Instrumental Ndokpa

Ndokpa – Xylophone Ndokpa

Dakpa – Chant Dakpa pour l’Abbatage d’un Arbre

Face B –

Isongo – Chant de Femme Isongo

Zande – Ensemble Asande avec Xylophone

Babinga – Chant de Chasse Babinga

Dakpa – Musique Dakpa pour Attirer les Termites

Bofi - Chant d’Enfants Bofi

Bianda – Compliante Bianda

Enjoy boyo,

NØ

Chad

Ahamat Salet Rougalta (known musically as Maître Hamed Gazonga) was born May 27th, 1948 in N’Djamena (then Fort Lamy), Chad. As a young man he worked as a bookkeeper. When he was 21 he decided to become a musician. Together with several others he created L’Orchestre Saltanat Africa but before long he left them & formed his own band L’International Challal. Hamed drew his inspiration from the folk music of all the regions in Chad.

Maitre Gazonga recorded one of my favorite Afro-musique albums, Les Jaloux Saboteurs. It was recorded in the JBZ studio in Abidjan around 1984. It only contains four songs, but they are all tremendous. All the songs feature the great guitar playing of Nigayo Issa & a fantastic horn section. During the song "Koysse," Hamed says just before the beginning of the sebene (the sebene is a kind of instrumental bridge typically executed on the electric guitar & is a characteristic element of the Congolese rumba) “Les amis, c’est pas le temps de dormir, allez tout le monde debout” (loosely translated as“ Friends, it ain’t the time for sleeping, so get up off of your asses”), then off the band goes again playing a very wild racy rumba.

As you might expect from a country located in the geographical center of Africa, the musical influences run the gamut: from soukous to highlife, mbalax, even Ethiopian funk. Back in 2005 a lot of people were raving about "Les Jaloux Saboteurs," the tune that opened the compilation Golden Afrique Vol. 1.

Ahamat ‘Hamed Gazonga’ Rougalta died on the first of April 2006, of apparent heart failure.

On Les Jaloux Sabateurs, L’International Challal are: Maitre Gazonga – vocals; Nigayo Issa – lead guitar; Mamboué Maurice – rhythm guitar; Kabiné Traoré – trumpet; Beugré Edouard – tenor saxophone; Niamké Louis – bass; & Téoquer Léon – drums, with Rastayou & Saleh – backing vocals.

 Maître Gazonga & L'International Challal ‎– Les Jaloux Saboteurs, Tangent TAN LP 7003, 1984. 

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A1 Le Jaloux Saboteurs

A2 Koysse

B1 Fatoumata Kante

B2 Kelina

Get up off yr ass & enjoy,

NØ

Niger

Here I get a chance to feature some of my personal favorite music so far, so if I’ve ranted on too much, just skip the words & dig right into the music. I don’t think you will be disappointed. But if you are concerned with the plight of indigenous people around the world, read on, I don’t think you be disappointed either. There is an incredible history that has progressed from 60s Ali Farka Touré, the father of desert blues, to 70s Tinariwen Tuareg guitar rock, to 90s & onward to today’s Tuareg Guitar Revolution music…the fight of an original people for freedom in their own homelands against the capitalist greed for Uranium profits & ethnic supremacy.

Niger is a landlocked country in West Africa bordered by Mali, Algeria, Libya, Chad & Nigeria. Niger has a very rich cultural heritage. It sits at the desert crossroads between the Berber & Arab cultures of the North & the many sub-Saharan cultures of the South. In Niger there are eleven different ethnic groups most of whom are farmers or pastoralists, some sedentary & some nomadic. Amongst theses are the Tuareg. They move with their camels, long-horned cattle, sheep, goats, & donkeys seeking pastures along the Sahelian savannah at the fringes of the South Sahara.

The Tuaregs are a Berber ethnic group, whose immense homeland covers parts of Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Algeria, & Libya. The Tuareg people of Northern Africa operated the much-coveted trans-Saharan caravan trade for centuries. Nomadic pastoralists & broadsword-wielding raiders, the fiercely independent people have resisted European hegemony since Europe began colonizing Africa. The latest revolt was in the early 1990s against the governments of Mali & Niger over the Tuareg’s desire for self-governance of their traditional homeland. The uprising introduced a new form of rebellion thanks to the initiation of the electric guitar into Tuareg culture: political commentary relayed via song.

Cassettes of such music carrying messages through Libyan Refugee camps where the freedom fighters & their families had gone for safety, referred to as the ‘Tuareg Guitar Revolution’, spread quickly across the Tuareg society (whose population is well past the million mark). Unsurprisingly the music was banned by the opposing governments. The 1995 Peace Pact Accord between the governments of Mali & Niger with the Rebels may have diminished the violence, but the electric guitar & the political song’s influence on the culture would not go away.

Another of the pastoralist ethnic groups is the Wodaabe. In Niger the Wodaabe & the Tuareg live side by side on the desert’s fringes sharing pastures & water sources. They try to work together to be strong, to give their cultures a future in this changing world. The music of the two tribes is very different. However, that all changed in 2004. Etran Finatawa was formed as a band at the time of the 2004 Festival in the Desert near Timbuctou. The literal meaning of their name is ‘the stars of tradition’. They are the first group ever to use the songs & music of the Wodaabe in a modern context. They began as a group of ten musicians, both Tuareg & Wodaabe, who wanted to unite these two nomadic cultures as a symbol of peace & reconciliation. The way Etran Finatawa combined these two musical traditions has produced a powerful & hypnotic sound, a new musical style of Nomad Blues.

In this interchange of modern & traditional styles, handclapping & rich percussion often lead the songs. This is an invitation to dance, while the guitar work of Alhousseini Mohamed Anivolla (also bass & rhythm guitar) & Ghalitane Khamindoune gives a special blues groove to the music. These melodies, rhythms, & vocals evoke a haunting image of the Sahel arid desert. The rich heady blend of the particular stylings of the Wodaabe singers Bagui Bouga, Mamane Tankari, & Bammo Agonla, the strong singing voices of the Anivolla, Khamindoune, & Jamil, the polyrhythmic tende drumming of Zaig Ag Abdoul Jamil, & the polyphonic chorus of the whole band is highly innovative, unique & richly rewarding.

Etran Finatawa – Desert Crossroads, Riverboat Records TUGCD 1048, 2008.

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Tracklist –

Saghmar N Nanna         

Kel Tamascheck

Iguefan

Tea Ceremony I

Jama’aare

Tekana

Ganyo Maada

Soto

Asistan

Bagui’s Soundscape

Gaynaako

Alghalem Taxat

Tea Ceremony II

Amidinine

Naanaaye

Tea Ceremony III

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Although the most famous of the Tuareg Guitar Revolution bands is Tinariwen, Group Inerane make up in musical ability anything that might be lacking in international following. Helmed by the enigmatic guitar player Bibi Ahmed, Group Inerane encompasses the most exciting aspects of the Tuareg guitar style. Ahmed plays elliptical bluesy riffs over minimalist rhythmic patterns while a chorus of chanting voices add to the polyphony. On the first volume of Guitars of Agadez, Adi Mohammed traded amazing riffs with Bibi. Adi Mohammed was shot & killed during the latest round of skirmishes between the Tuareg of the Agadez region & the government of Niger, a conflict rooted in the struggle for a Tuareg independence but deeply linked to the profitable uranium industry which dominates the northern half of this poor nation. In Mohammed's stead is the older Koudede Maman, who represented a link between Tinariwen, which began in the late 70s, & younger Tuareg guitarists like Ahmed. In October 2012 Koudede Manan died in an accident while returning from a gig in Burkina Faso. 

The idiosyncratic tone of the guitars with buzzing amplifiers on Guitars from Agadez takes on a new form of Sahel psychedelia. One can hear amplified roots rock & blues elements in the music, but it doesn’t sound influenced by American or European counterparts. It sounds as secluded as its geographic homeland, though surprisingly very accessible. Like the Tuareg people themselves, the music is resilient & commanding, making for a continuously exciting listen.

On Guitars from Agadez vol. 3, Group Inerane are: Koudede Manan – vocals; Bibi Ahmed – vocals & guitar; Abdulai Sidi Mohamed – bass; & Mohamed Atchinguel - drums.

Group Inerane – Guitars from Agadez vol. 3, Sublime Frequencies SF061, 2010.

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Side A –

Telalit

Alemin

Tamidit in Aicha

Itrara

Side B –

Tchigefen

Ikabkaban

Golf

Medan

Deran Deran

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As with Tinariwen & Group Inerane, the electric guitar is the most important instrument with Toumast. Coupled with guitarist Moussa Ag Keyna’s playing is his songwriting & rebel attitude. Toumast’s music personifies everything that the Tuareg Guitar Revolution & the Taureg struggle for self-reliance represents. Ag Keyna is a former Tuareg freedom fighter. Clashes between Tuareg freedom fighters & Mali’s /Niger’s military resulted in thousands of casualties. Ag Keyna himself was seriously wounded in 1993. He was taken to France to recuperate. There he continued his fight through music. He got together with his niece, percussionist, & haunting vocalist Aminatou Goumar & the French multi-instrumentalist/ producer Dan Levy who whilst not on the cover can be seen as the third member of Toumast (which means ‘our identity’ or ‘our people’ in Tuareg Tamasheq).

Call it desert blues or Tuareg rock’n’roll, it’s the hypnotic, addictive groove which makes it so easily appealing. While listening to "Maraou Oran", keep in mind that Ag Keyna wrote this when he learned that 12 of his fellow freedom fighters had been assassinated. This music is vital on many different levels.

 Toumast – Ishumar (Tuareg Music of Resistance), Real World Records 50999, 2007. 

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Tracklist –

Ikalane Walegh (These Countries that are not Mine)

Tallyatidagh (That Girl)

Innulamane (The Falcon)

Ammilana (O My God, O My Soul)

Ezeref (The Camel)

Dounia (Life)

Maraou Oran (For Twelve Moons)

Kik Ayittma (Hey, My Brothers!)

Amidinine (O My Friend)

Enjoy,

NØ

Nigeria

 Ganja, palm wine, & high life. I'm gonna dig my time in Nigeria.

Orlando Owoh is a highlife singer, composer, & guitarist. He was born in the early 1940s in Owo, Oyo State, Nigeria. His music career started when Owoh was young. He began playing the bongos with The Fakunle Major Band in 1960. He moved to Lagos & learned guitar from Fatai Rolling Dollar. After spending three years fighting in Nigeria's civil war, Owoh returned to Lagos, picked up his music career & formed his own group, the Omimah Band. He recorded his first record in the mid 60s. About this time he decided to play highlife style. He started a new band called the Young Kenneries. Considered to be one of the best bands in Nigeria, Owoh & his new band recorded more than 40 LPs. They gained international recognition. For more than four decades, until shortly before his death in 2008, Owoh's ganja-relaxed voice was a mainstay of popular culture.

Dr. Ganja’s Polytonality Blues contains four songs from three earlier Owoh albums: sides from his Omimah Band's 1974 albums Ire Lowo & Ajo Ko Dun Bi Ile; & two from Owoh & Young Kenneries Beats International 1981 album Obirin Asiko, reworked in a most innovative manner. To create a polytonality superior to even that of Stravinsky or Charles Ives, Owoh has the two guitars & bass tuned in three different keys. Add to this Owoh’s vocal talents, expert song composition, frenetic percussion, & torqued guitar genius & you have a unique rendition of highlife guitar music with massive juju percussion.

Fans of Owoh’s rugged street-style music dubbed his style ‘toye’, which is Yaruba slang for marijuana. Owoh has been called ‘King of Toye’ & ‘Dr. Ganja’.

This release contains four medleys, four psychedelic suites/jams.

 OrlandoOwoh - Dr. Ganja's Polytonality Blues, Original Music OMCD 035, 1995. 

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Tracklist -

Suite 1 - Logba Logba/Edumare Da Mi Lihun/E Se Rere/Prof Oyewole

Suite 2 - Emi Wa Wa Lowo Re/Alun Gbere Wa De

Suite 3 - Easter Special/Baba Wa Silekin/Obinrin Asiko Lagbo

Suite 4 - Cain Ati Abel/Alhaji T'Oyo Mayan/Omi l'Eman

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Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe is one of the few bandleaders from the 1960s Golden Age of Nigerian dance band highlife active on the music scene until his death at age 71 on May 11^th, 2007. He was born in March 1936 in Atani, near the Igbo trading city of Onitsha, Nigeria. Osadebe's musical apprenticeship began with E.C. Arinze's Empire Rhythm Orchestra in the 1950s. He recorded his first record, Adamma, in 1958 while still with Stephen Ameche's band. His next recording was Lagos Life Na So So Enjoyment with trumpeter Zeal Onyiya's band in 1959. Over the years he recorded countless 45s, EPs & LPs, many on the Philips & Polydor Nigerian affiliates of those labels.

He is ‘Chief’ among the Nigerian highlife musicians. Osadebe sings, plays piano, & composes most of his songs.

Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe & his Nigerian Sound Makers International 

- People’s Club of Nigeria Special cassette, 

Sposa 010, 1987.

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Side One – People’s Club of Nigeria (part one)

Side Two – People’s Club of Nigeria (part two)

Here are two great releases by Osadebe, often overlooked in his discography, because they are cleverly disguised as the work of the 'People Star in London'. These were recorded in 1973 at a time when members of Osadebe’s orchestra left to form Ikenga Super Stars. It was probably released under this alternate name (Osadebe was the Nigerian People Star) due to a licensing or copyright dispute, or possibly because these records are  pirate recordings. Whatever the reasons behind all this, these are probably some of Osadebe’s finest material. They contain stellar jams in Osadebe's trademark style merging highlife, juju, funky elements, psych, & more.

The People Star in London– Festac Explosion Vol. 1, Emerge EMLP 0001, 1976.

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Side 1 –

Ije Awele

Onwu Dinjo

Side 2 –

Onye Lusia Olie

Van Komesia

 The People Star in London– Festac Explosion 77 Vol. 2, Chiemeka Records VOLP 0077, 1977. 

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Side A –

Mbaukwu Boys Special

Side B –

Ogomu Egbunam

Ngozy Ka

Meringue Alto

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Ambrose Campbell was born Oladipupo Adekoya Campbell in Lagos, Nigeria on August 19, 1919. He was the son of a church minister. He started out by singing in the church choir. In his teens, Campbell worked as a printer in central Lagos. He found excitement at night by sneaking out to where palm-wine was sold: stalls under the moonlight where seamen & servants gathered to sing & play music, to drink the sweet, cloudy beverage. Coming from places as far away as Liberia, Guinee, & Cameroun, these men carried with them diverse cultural traditions. They also brought Western ideas picked up on their travels. Influences were exchanged & combined as they played. When he was old enough, Campbell joined them, singing & playing a tambourine.

Campbell left Nigeria & moved to Liverpool in the midst of World War II in the early 1940s. He subsequently moved to London where he assembled a band, the West African Rhythm Brothers, Britain’s first-ever black band. Campbell sang & played percussion & gradually learned the guitar (under the tutelage of Lauderic Canton from Trinidad). He teamed up with bongo-player Ade Bashorun from Lagos, guitarist Brewster Hughes, from Ibadan in Western Nigeria, trumpeter Harry Beckett & reed player Willy Roachford from Barbados, & pianist Adam Fiberesima, an Ijo from the Niger delta of Nigeria. The group made its first public appearance in London at the May 1945 celebrations in honor of VE Day. They performed in Trafalgar Square & Piccadilly Circus as their fellow Londoners celebrated the Nazis’ defeat.

In 1946 the West African Rhythm Brothers toured the U.K. in support of Les Ballets Nègres, Britain’s first black ballet company. Campbell & his band played in the jazz venues of London’s West End, including a club called Abalabi on Berwick Street in Soho, which was owned by a fellow Nigerian, Ola Dosunmu. Ola Dosunmu & his English wife later opened another club on Wardour Street called Club Afrique. Ambrose & the Rhythm Brothers performed there too.

Ambrose was a celebrated figure in bohemian Soho. His friends & contemporaries included British jazz greats Ronnie Scott & Johnny Dankworth. Campbell moved to America in 1972 where he continued to be involved in music. He performed on Willie Nelson’s One for the Road. He received a gold disc for his recording. Campbell returned to the UK in 2004. He settled in Plymouth. He died on June 22, 2006 at the age of 86.

Sadly enough, He never received any credit or payment for his work with the West African Rhythm Brothers. He commented on this during one of his rare interviews. All  he could say was that he felt elated that so many had been privy to his musical ingenuity. He had no regrets about how millions had been milked away from his hard work. He believed music was for sharing, not for selling.

 Ambrose Adekoya Campbell - London is the Place for Me 3 2xLP, 

Honest Jon’s Records HJRLP21, 2006.

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Side A -

West African Rhythm Brothers - We have It in Africa

West African Rhythm Brothers - Oba Adele  

Nigerian Union Rhytm Group - The Wind in a Frolic

West African Rythm Brothers - Iku Koni Payin

Ayinda Bakare And His Meranda Orchestra - Ibikunle Alakija

Side B -

West African Rhythm Brothers - Omo Laso

West African Rhythm Brothers - Calabar-O

West African Rhythm Brothers - Emi Wa Wa Lowo Re

West African Rhythm Brothers - Iwa D'Arekere

West African Rhythm Brothers - Ominira

Side C -

Nigerian Union Rhytm Group - The Memorial of Chief J.K. Randle

West African Rhythm Brothers - Mofi Ajobi Seyin

Nigerian Union Rhytm Group - Unity

Nigerian Union Rhytm Group - Oratido Soso

West African Rhythm Brothers - Ayami  

West African Rhythm Brothers - Oba Ademora II

Side D -

West African Rhythm Stars - Late Ojo Davies

West African Rhythm Stars - Geneva Conference

West African Rhythm Brothers - Ele Da Awa

West African Rhythm Brothers - Aye Wa Adara

West African Rhythm Brothers - Lagos Mambo

West African Rhythm Brothers - Odudua

West African Rhythm Brothers - I Am a Stranger

Enjoy,

NØ