Burundi

This is the third release of traditional African music I have posted from Ocora, so perhaps I should say a little about them. Ocora is a French label dedicated to traditional forms of music with a worldwide coverage. They have published more than 600 records for scientific purposes as well as for the general audience on vinyl, cassette, & compact-disc.

Formerly known as "Société de radiodiffusion de la France d’outre-mer", SORAFOM was founded in 1955 by Pierre Schaeffer as a cooperation venture to train radio engineers in African national broadcasting services, but also to record & preserve African rural soundscapes. SORAFOM became "Office de coopération radiophonique" (OCORA) on April the 14th of 1962, as part of Radio France to collect & preserve traditional music heritage. Ocora was initially run by composer and musicologist Charles Duvelle.

Part of Ocora's extensive traditional music line, this album of music from Burundi attempts to present some of the salient examples of musical traditions in the old Kingdom. Some of the music is really quite amazing in the way that it can be both incredibly simple, but at the same time mesmerizing. There are demonstrations of native inanga zithers, ubuhuha vocal techniques, drum troupes, whispered singing techniques, musical bows, &  ritualized greetings.

A whispered low-register male voice opens this collection accompanied by the dull rich sounds of a plucked string instrument. Use your imagination. It is the man pictured on the front cover, singing ghost stories to little ones or recounting the treacherous glories & losses of some past war. Many vocal pieces follow, with or without back-up, varying greatly in tone, character, & style. There are two greetings whose title begins with "Akazehe" sung by first one then two young girls: so beautiful yet fragile. There are gorgeous solo flute pieces, epic chants with a large ensemble, later the haunting voice from track 1 comes back, perhaps even more sinister. Last but certainly not least is a child's voice beautifully weaving in & out of the ringing plings & plongs of a plucked zither.

 Various - Musique du Burundi, Ocora OCR 40, 1967.

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Side  A -

Chant avec Cithare

Chant de Femmes

Ubuhuha pt. 1

Ubuhuha pt. 2

Complainte avec Vièle Monocorde

Chant et Arc Musical  

Chant et Sanza

Side B –

Solo de Flûte  

"Akazéhé" par Une Jeune Fille

"Akazéhé" par Deux Jeunes Filles  

Solo de Cithare

Tambours Royaux Ingoma

Suite de Cithare Inanga avec Voix Chuchotee

Sanza Ikembe avec Voix

Tambours Ingoma avec Choeur d’hommes

Groupes de Tambours royaux avec appels de Trompes

Chant d’Enfant Accompagne d’un Arc Musical Umuduri

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Khadja Nin was born in Burundi on June 27. 1959. She is the youngest daughter of a family of eight. She studied music at an early age like most of her brothers & sisters. She has an exceptional singing voice, & at the age of seven she became one of the lead vocalists in the Bujumbura Choir in the capital city of Burundi.
Ya is her fourth album. Khadja successfully uses a blend of African rhythms & modern pop to create her own unique brand of music. Khadja wrote all the lyrics on this new album herself, using the opportunity to bring up the subjects closest to her heart (street children, war, & her ongoing struggle against inequality of all kinds). It also includes a personal tribute to Nelson Mandela & a song about motherhood, entitled "Mama".
The musicians on Ya are: Khadja Nin – vocals; Nicolas Fiszman – guitar, mandolin, keyboards, electric & upright bass; Luis Jardim – percussion; & David Salkin – drums & African drums. Songs are sung in French, Swahili, & Kirundi (Kirundi, also known as Rundi, is a dialect of the Rwanda-Rundi language spoken by nine million people in Burundi & adjacent parts of Tanzania, Congo-Kinshasa, & Uganda. It is the official language of Burundi).

 Khadja Nin – Ya, Mondo Melodia 186 810 062 2, 2000. 

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Tracklist –

Mama

Embargo

Sesiliya

Turasa

Mzee Mandela

Damu Ya Salaam

Kuji Fondeya

Afrika Obota

Like an Angel

Kembo

Shadow Man

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Here’s another special treat for my loyal world musick travelers. This is Burundi Black. Burundi Black was a 1971 recording credited to Burundi Steiphenson Black. It was released as a single. It made it to #31 on the UK Singles Chart.

The single was arranged & produced by French pianist, arranger, & record producer Michel Bernholc (1941 – 2002). He was a classically trained pianist who had previously worked with pop musicians such as Michel Berger, France Gall, Françoise Hardy, & Claude François. For the Burundi Black single, he used the pseudonym Mike Steiphenson.

The record sampled a recording of drumming by 25 members of the Ingoma people in Burundi. The recording was made in 1967 by anthropologists Michel Vuylsteke & Charles Duvelle. It was released on the album Musique du Burundi on the French Ocora label in 1967. The album I just posted above. Steiphenson overdubbed his own piano & guitar rock arrangement onto the recording.

In 1981, a new arrangement of Burundi Black was recorded by drummer Rusty Egan (of Rich Kids with Glenn Matlock & Midge Ure, later in Visage also with Midge Ure) & French record producer Jean-Philippe Iliesco. It was released in the UK & US where it became a dancefloor hit, described by music critic Robert Palmer as "glitzy pop-schlock, a throwaway with a beat".  This is the 1981 remix. Interesting in comparison to the original Ocora, I believe.

 BurundiSteiphenson Black – Burundi Black Rusty Egan remix, Barclay BAX1, 1981. 

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Side A –

 Burundi Black (first part)

Side B –

Burundi Black (second part)

Enjoy,

NØ