NEW WORLD

AFRICA

OLD WORLD (inc Asia, Arabia)

African Discographies

Greetings, Platterbugs!

Updated 1 September 2024

Bandcamping

Giorgos Katsaros' Rembetika album remastered from Mississippi Records

Thumb piano from Uganda

Ghana Special 2 from Soundway, features Electronic Highlife and Afro sounds of the diaspora 1980-93; with Pat Thomas, George Darko, Gyedu Blay Ambolley and many others playing disco

New album of suave big-band mambo from Havana's Orquesta Akokán: Caracoles

Afro-Colombia single from Alfonso Cordoba el Brujo: "La Pataleta"

Spacey accordion by Yara Asmar from Beirut, remastered from Hive Mind

Video

Chucho Valdés, Tiny Desk concert: very fine solo piano

Jodhpur RIFF Festival from Lincoln Center: worth seeing/hearing the first act, Parampara and SAZ (starts about 8 minutes in)

News

R. I. P.

Latest Muzikifan Podcasts

movin 'n' groovin: from Belgium to Bamako to Havana, and Dakar to Kinshasa. With stops in Trenchtown, Pétionville, and Nairobi

Dream, Baby Dream features rare Ngoma singles, music from Congo in Kenya, Benin, Upper Volta, Brasil, Cuba, jazz from Stockholm, soundtracks from Italy

Strange, isnt it?: music from Zambia, Zimbabwe, Congo, São Tomé, New Orleans, Brasil, Jamaica, Puerto Rico

String Thing: new releases reviewed below, with music from Morocco, Baluchistan, Congo, Europe, Brasil, Colombia, Cuba, & Puerto Rican funk from New York

EL KHAT
MUTE (Batov Records/Glitterbeat)

There's something about raw Arabic music that gets one deep inside. It is music that comes from necessity and is produced on home-made instruments, sung with passion and, even if you don't follow the lyrics (which are included here), tells you of suffering, loss and forced migration. This group started out in their home town of Jaffa, well under it actually, in an underground bomb shelter in Jaffa — a port city south of Tel Aviv, once famous for its orange groves, now engulfed in a vicious struggle. The band members are Jewish and Arabic; their musical aim has been to explore the roots of Yemeni music, ever since the release of 'Qat, Coffee & Qambus, the compilation of Yemeni 45s that came out on Dust-to-Digital in 2013. Khat is a bit stronger, being a mind-altering herb that is chewed, like coca leaves (I tried them in Peru and got nowhere, until someone told me you need a little piece of ash in your mouth to activate them!). Bailing on their precarious home situation, the trio visited Brooklyn and then relocated to Berlin. The leader Eyal El Wahab reflects on his life as an Arab Jew, always on the move since his family were forced to leave Yemen in the late 1940s. But Israel didn't provide the home he wanted, and he sings about old loves ("Thank you for forgetting me / so I can have new memories"), family and the pain of migration. He learned cello by ear and joined the Jerusalem Andalusian Orchestra, playing North African Arabic music, while building his own instruments. You can tell he got into Gnawan music by the trancelike feel here on tracks like "Tislami Tislami," which has a Maghreb vibe. El Wahab is joined on this disc by percussionist Lotan Waish and Yefet Hasan on organ. There is a D-I-Y punk sensibility to their music with off-kilter drums that sound like they are made from plastic buckets. Check out their fine live set on KEXP, which will give you a taste of their style.

CONJUNTO AFRICA NEGRA
ANTOLOGIA VOL 2 (Bongo Joe BJR068)

Though not well-known outside their homeland of São Tomé e Principe, until about a decade ago when they began to tour Europe, Africa Negra are one of the consistently great African bands. The band emerged at the same time as the independence movement, prompted by a revolution back in Portugal in 1974, followed by São Tomense independence a year later. Portugal had colonies longer than any other European nation, and in fact started the trans-Atlantic slave trade in the 15th Century!@ After fighting in the Angolan war of liberation, "General" João Seria moved to the island and joined Sangazuza, another legendary band, as second vocal, but was quickly recruited by Africa Negra in 1977. Their song "Bo lega caço modebo (You let the dog bite you)" denouncing the country's lack of democracy, was not only a domestic hit, but was featured on the global best-selling compilation Telling Stories to the Sea (Luaka Bop, 1995). Africa Negra would record at the national radio station, and because the band was so large, they'd play outside in the courtyard, surrounded by fans. A first album Aninha appeared in 1981 to great acclaim. Then in 1983 three albums appeared: Alice, Angelica and Carambola, all of them solid gold. In 1989 they toured Africa and relocated to Cabo Verde for a while, due to their immense popularity in the fellow Lusophone nation (though one with a different dialect). The locals loved their Puxa rhythms. Four more albums appeared in 1990 and 1991, after which their productions only appeared on cassette. I am assuming economic constraints were behind this shift, and the fact they began to pool band-members with Sangazuza. Their Lisbon label changed hands and though some cassettes still appeared, they were notoriously difficult to find, unless you went there and asked around. The band naturally ran out of steam, and took a hiatus from 1999 to 2012. This sequel to Antologia vol 1 is really interesting because it contains mostly unreleased material which, nevertheless, is as good as anything they released. Volume 1 covered their hits and the best tracks from their main albums. Volume 2 goes back to a 1979 session for four songs in the "puxa" style, plus a ballad. These are followed by two tracks from a rare cassette. A 1990 recording with Sergio Fonseca singing lead provides the next five songs, recorded after João Seria moved to Cabo Verde. The lilting interlocking guitars of Emidio Pontes and Leonildo Barros provide the dreamy beachscape while the determined Flay flails on the drums and Vasco Gama (no less) holds down the bottom on a thick bass. Leader and vocalist João Seria returned in 2014 and in 2022 took the band to Colombia for a historic visit. Seria died in May 2023 after fronting the band on and off, for 45 years. There is an element of soukous in the intertwining guitars, but curiously the horn section sounds more like the musical heritage of Guinée. This is a phenomenal release, well curated.

BOBBY MARIN
WE'VE GOT A GROOVY THING GOING (Vampisoul VAMPI 302 2LP)

This is the first time Bobby Marin's name has appeared on the front cover of an album. Throughout the Latin boom of the 60s and 70s, when Latin soul, funk, boogaloo and salsa were riding high on the charts and blasting from the airwaves, Bobby Marin was the man behind the mixing desk, producing some of the biggest hits of the era by the likes of Louie Ramírez ("Lucy's Spanish Harlem"), the Ghetto Brothers, Ricardo "Richie" Marrero ("What I Feel"), Los Africanos ("Do It"), and notably the smash hit "Cisco Kid" by La Crema, which are all here. The irrepressible riff of "Cisco Kid" also seems to inhabit "Takin over" by La Cucaracha Brass, from 1968, which appeared earlier. La Crema (like England's Cream) consisted of top musicians including Louie Ramírez (vibes and percussion), Jimmy Sabater (vocals, timbales), Andy Gonzalez (bass) and Steve Berrios (drums). If you have forgotten how to do the Boogaloo then you've certainly forgotten the Shingaling, another dance craze of the era, but you might recall it from the movie I like It like That which documented those times. I guess it was a conscious decision to sing mostly in English for these acts, to broaden the audience, but the grooves are unmistakably Latin. It was a great idea to compile 24 of Marin's hits because there is a continuity as well as great variety. The Ghetto Brothers' "Got this Happy Feeling" sounds familiar, though I was not aware of them back in the day. It's Ghetto power from the Bronx, they assure us in a spoken commentary over the various solos. This really jams. (You can also find their full-length 1972 album of Puerto Rican ghetto funk on bandcamp with the scorching "Mastica, chupa y Jala.") As in any popular music from the late sixties and early seventies, there are echoes of Manu Dibango, late Motown, Curtis Mayfield, Isaac Hayes, even Burt Bacharach in the slow numbers, but it's all taken up a notch by the Latin grooves. The original "Cisco Kid" (later covered by War) is a blast, complete with a crowd of people in the studio having a party.

Year to date

(click on maps at the top of the page to get to continent of choice)

August 2024

Nigerian Guitar Roots 1936-68 is filed in Nigeria part 3
Tribute to Toumani Koné by Nfaly Diakite is filed under Mali 6
Kokoko!'s latest album Butu is in Congo 4
Asmaa Hamzaoui & Bnat Tumbuktou can be reads about in the Morocco section
Okaija Afroso is found under the Ghana part 2 tab
Jyotsna Srikanth's Carnatic Nomad is filed in India part 2

July 2024

Kandia Kouyate's album is filed under Mali part 6
Gabi Guedes can be found in Brasil part 3
Bakary Kamaso is from the Gambia
Orquesta Olivieri is filed in Puerto Rico

June 2024

Okwy Osadebe & his Highlife Soundmakers' Ifunanya is filed in Nigeria pt 3
Ballake Sissoko and Derek Gripper is filed in Old World miscellany
Bassekou Kouyate & Amy Sacko's Djudjon is filed under Mali part 6
Kiki Valera's Vacilón Santiaguera is filed in Cuba 4
Yasser Tejeda can be found in the Dominican Republic
Tidiane Thiam is filed in Senegal 4
as is Tidiane Thiam with Amadou Binta Konte
Grupo Polo Montañez is found in Cuba part 4
Sonora Nelson Ferreyra went to Peru

May 2024

Les Belgicains is filed under Congo Classics part 2
Kolonel Djafaar's Getaway is filed in Olde Worlde misc
Brooklyn Sounds' eponymous disc is filed in Latin/Salsa, New World
Cumbia Sabroso vol 2 is filed in Colombia part 3

April 2024

Franco & OK Jazz compilation from Les Editions Populaires is under Congo Classics 2
Maliheh Moradi and Ehsan Matoori are filed in Iran
Los Guayabo Bros went to Colombia part 3
Rough Guide to Murder Ballads went to USA, of course
ShazaLaKazoo can be found in the Balkans

March 2024

Ngwaka Son Système with Iboto ngenge is filed in Congo part 4
Meanwhile Congo Funk! has gone to Congo Classics part 2
Tarek Abdallah & Adel Shams El Din with Ousoul is filed in Arabia
Adama Yalomba is filed in Mali 6
Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba in concert can be read about in Mali Live

February 2024

Afrika Muye Muye! Tanzanian Rumba 1968-70 is filed in Kenya/Tanzania part 3
Wagadu Grooves from all over West Africa is filed in Mali part 6
Mohammad Syfkhan can be found in Arabia (though he lives in Ireland)
Gao Hong with Ignacio Lusardi Monteverde are in Old world miscellany
Aguidavi do Jeje are found under Brasil 3

January 2024

Mama Sissoko Live is filed in Mali part 6
The return of Dieuf-Dieul can be read about in Senegal part 4
Principe y su Sexteto are found in Venezuela
Said Chalaban is filed in Morocco

...

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A DISCOGRAPHY OF DOCTEUR NICO
By Alastair Johnston

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