NEW WORLD

AFRICA

OLD WORLD (inc Asia, Arabia)

African Discographies

Greetings, Platterbugs!

Updated 1 November 2024

News

New album from Dogo du Togo drops next week; here is the second single

From Robert Falk
"Borom Leer," a Fulbe song from Senegal by Malick Pathé Sow & Welnere
(check his channel for more great stuff)

"I Need a Modem," the Kasai Allstars meet Khalab, an Italian DJ

Echoes of the Unseen by Qais Essar, lyrical Afghan classical music

Picotero fun from Palenque Records

Our West African mélomane, Tony Pitt, likes Naamu with Voix du Mali by Teun Creemers;

and ReEncanto by Mayra Andrade from Cabo Verde. The single "Navega" has flamenco touches;

as well as Sababu by Aboubacar Traore & Balima;

and also Return to the Traditions by Sidiki Camara

From Jazz Crazy: Henry Misango, Kenyan guitar (from 1967), and the other side;

and then this brilliant oud solo from 1936, "Hijaz Taksim" by Oudi Hrant Bey

Music at the Movies

From John Beadle
AYINLA: a docu-drama (on Netflix) about Apala music from Nigeria

Fandom

Finally, a nice piece about the Songcatchers, who, like me, never need to hear "Free Bird" again

R.I.P.

Latest Muzikifan Podcasts

Between Worlds: music from Holland,
Spain, Sicily, South Africa, Cuba, Senegal,
Guinee

Musical Flashback: great music from
1942-96 via Cuba - Mali - Zaire - Ghana -
Tanzania plus Sam Cooke & Boyibanda

Music is my Occupation: Ska and Rasta-
farians from Jamaica, Luo Roots, OK Jazz
goes Latin, Vijana Jazz from Tanzania,
Benin, New York, Colombia, Mexico, & more

November New Releases: All of the music
reviewed below, plus a couple of extra treats
and a Nigeria special...

ARUN RAMAMURTHY TRIO
NEW MOON (Greenleaf Music GRE-CD-111)

This is Carnatic music like you've never heard before. Ramamurthy grew up in a musical household in Brooklyn: his mother was a Carnatic singer and his father was a tour manager for visiting acts from the Indian subcontinent. He was trained in Carnatic violin but his brain was always more into Miles and Coltrane, A Tribe called Quest and Radiohead. His trio includes electric bass and martial rock drums and they add a rocking, jazzy edge to his playing that is sympathetic to his multiculturalism. I suppose one touch-stone, not mentioned by Ramamurthy perhaps because he is too young to remember, might be the Mahavishnu Orchestra which featured classically trained Jerry Goodman on violin whose improvisations were a match for McLaughlin on guitar. Be that as it may, only the bass is posed in counterpoint and is actively soloing also, not just holding it down on the one. Sameer Gupta and Damon Banks are the accompanists and the trio really moves as a unit.

MAALEM HOUSSAM GUINIA
DEAD OF NIGHT (Hive Mind)

The youngest son of the legendary Mahmoud Guinia has taken his father's baton and run with it. His latest album was recorded in one take as Houssam sang and plucked his guimbri into the wee small hours, but you don't have to wait until midnight to put this on. The repertoire is traditional tunes he recalled his father playing late at night when he was a child. These are highly evocative moments in childhood (I remember my father unwinding late at night with Sinatra and a glass of whisky). Guinia is locked into a mood and carries it through. There is no percussion or backing vocals that usually accompany such performances, but the pure bassy sound of the gumbri comes through clearly as do his somewhat growly vocals. After appearing at the World Music Festival in Essaouira, Houssam has toured Europe and jammed with musicians from other cultures, as there is a great affinity between the drone of Gnawa music and trance or house music from European electronica producers. This was what put his father on the map, when he collaborated with Peter Brötzmann and Hamid Drake, or Pharoah Sanders, in the late 1980s. Sometimes continuity is better than change, and Guinia Junior is a great advocate for traditional Gnawan music.

ORIENTAL BROTHERS INTERNATIONAL BAND
ONYE RIE IBE YA ERIE (Palenque Records)

The earth's axis has definitely tilted. Over in Europe and Benin they are rereleasing funk albums that were recorded in Nigeria decades ago, while 8000 miles away in Colombia, Palenque Records is putting out new material from Nigerian Igbo highlife artists, and it is consistently great. The Oriental Bros were legends in their time (the 1970s), and one assumed that time was past, however they reformed under leader Dan Satch Opara after a 20 year hiatus, and this latest outing shows them in fine form. Their former leader Dr Sir Warrior (1947–99) is no more and Godwin "Kabaka" Opara, their rhythm guitarist, has also joined the ancestors (he died on March 22 of 2024). Both had led splinter groups in the group's heyday, but the core remained. Lucas Silva of Palenque Records in Bogota went to Nigeria to film and record two years ago, and discovered the surviving band members: this is their second recording on his label. The guitars and percussion are in full-on highlife mode in these mellow songs.

OKWY OSADEBE & HIGHLIFE SOUNDMAKERS INTERNATIONAL
EGQU MMANWU IGBO (Music of Igbo Masquerade) (Odogwu Entertainment/Palenque Records)

Okwy Osadebe recently emerged as leader of his late father's band and brought that outfit on a triumphant North American tour. Now with the backing of Palenque Records he has released a truly remarkable album of Igbo Masquerade music. It's not typical highlife; in fact it has a lot of chanting and repetitive motifs cycled between lead guitar and shakers. The liner notes suggest the waves of the great Niger River and there is an undulating tide to the music. Like the Oriental Brothers, Osadebe's band come from Onitsha in the East where the Highlife music of Ghana took root and flourished after the Civil War. I have recordings of Masques from all around Nigeria — from Benin, Niger, Ghana, Chad, Cameroun, and also Ivory Coast and especially Central African Republic — but until now I had not heard any music based on Nigerian mask music. It is hypnotic but they still keep the highlife sound pulsing away behind it.

SUPER DISCO PIRATA 1965-80 (Analog Africa No 39)

Analog Africa has a great track record of finding obscure music for reissue, often combined with a funky design aesthetic in the packaging: typewritten text, collaged type, scans of old faded photos and yellowed ads, as well as the discursive notes, featuring the peregrinations of label boss Samy as he navigates the used record markets of the globe, seeking out hoarders and forgotten musicians. Now, if you buy the CD of this compilation you will not be able to read the track titles without magnification: it was 6 point on the LP sleeve and now it is a third of the size, as the CD box was reduced from the LP art. The contents are cumbias that were popular on the sound systems ("sonideros") of Mexico City once upon a time. That era saw record plants pressing small-run copies of Colombian albums on recycled vinyl after hours, in the way the rest of us made mix-tapes on cassette to impress our friends and potential girlfriends. The slow cumbias — rebajadas — that Samy discovered for the Saturno 2000 compilation are here, but only one or two. The rest of the compilation is a mixed bag of sonically and musically varied offerings. Beyond the titles Samy couldn't discover much about the bands, and some of the songs were disguised under different titles. The first side features Beethoven and Bee Gees covers and, frankly, if this had been any other label I would have stopped right there and said, "Next!" The Duchess mocked me, saying "I thought you skipped the Disco era, and now you are catching up with it!" It wasn't until side 3 (and the Duchess was out of earshot) that I began to take notice. The Red Devils, i.e. Los Diablos Rojos turn in a great "A Bailar el Son Satanico," a slow cumbia with wiry lead guitar. Artists you will probably know include Peruvian chicha masters Los Destellos and Colombian pianist Ramon Ropain. The pirates were gradually killed off by the advent of cassette duplicating decks brought in from the USA and the remaining pirates went underground once more.

DANILO PEREZ & BOHUSLAN BIG BAND
LUMEN (Prophone Records/Naxos, Sweden)

I first noticed Panamanian pianist Danilo Pérez in 1996 where he put out an album of Monk covers, called Panamonk. As a fan of Latin bands covering Monk's music I jumped on it and got a lot out of it. Since leaving Berklee College of Music as a student Pérez has returned as their artistic director of Global Jazz. He has continued to tour, perform and record, and his latest venture features a Swedish big band. Like the Maroon Commandos in Kenya, the Bohuslän Big Band were originally a military unit who continued to perform after they returned to civilian life. They make a good fit with the gentle lyrical playing of Perez and the arrangements are lush and sweet. The wall of brass swells but never overwhelms the piano and the drums and percussion keep everything tight and together. The soprano sax and flugelhorn soloists also improvise in counterpoint to the piano, fitting right into the mix which includes influences from Latin-American folk music, as well as West African and Middle Eastern sounds. The project began when Pérez was invited to be artist in residence at Vara concert hall in Sweden (north of Gothenburg, it is equidistant from Stockholm, Oslo and Copenhagen). His background is with Dizzy Gillespie's United Nations Orchestra and Wayne Shorter's quartet so he is at home with horn players as well as arranging for a larger band. The big band comprises two altos, two tenors and a baritone, all of of whom double on other woodwinds, four trumpeters who also play flugelhorn, four trombonists, bass, percussion and drums. We shouldn't be surprised when the congas and percussion fully engage in a Latin groove: from the outset they are swinging.

MAGNIFICO BOOGALOO (Vampisoul VAMPI303)

Munster Records' latest unearthing from the vaults at MAG in Peru consists of a various artist double-album compilation of the boogaloo sounds of Peru in the 1960s. In New York, the stripped-down urgency of the Joe Cuba sextet was an important shift in the music as suddenly an embargo on Cuba meant less music from that beleaguered island was getting out. Joe Cuba's "Bang Bang" and "El Pito" were global Latin hits (the latter is covered here), but other Peruvian acts like Los Kintos and Melcochita got into the groove with originals and derivates of the tropical sound of New York, which fused soul and funk in the Latin idiom. Joe Bataan felt that the labels killed off boogaloo in North America because they had a roster of older generation musicians they needed to promote, but boogaloo grew in the South American market as salsa and its offshoots began to make inroads. Now-familiar MAG artists like Coco Lagos, Ñico Estrada and Tito Chicoma take the sound and twist it to incorporate Guajiras, a cover of "Pata Pata" or even a "Soul Limbo"! There's also a tired "Guantanamera." Coco Lagos y sus Orates give us a kicking "Tumba Coco," that is heavy on the percussion. Los Kintos' "Bam Bam" is overmiked with a strident electric guitar leading the line on four very familiar chords. (I think they took them from Lovin Spoonful's 1966 "Summer in the City." I also hear Shocking Blue in Laghonia's "Bahia o New Juggler Sound.") After a forgettable Gershwin "Summertime" called "Heriberto Boogaloo" by Pancho Acosta (also of Los Kintos), we get to the slamming "Peruvian Boogaloo" by Melcochita and Karamanduka. Their other entry, "Peruvian Guajira" also lifts the roof. Other gems include "Lindo caballito" by Nilo Espinosa. Overall the more straight-ahead salsa tracks appeal to me more than the novelty remakes, but there's a lot of nuggets here and enough to go around.

Year to date

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

October 2024

Nusrat's Chain of Light can be found in India & Pakistan part 2
Martin Lopez y sus Estrellas are in Peru
Karantamba's Galgi is filed in The Gambia

September 2024

Mute by El Khat is filed in Arabia
Conjunto Africa Negra's Antologia vol 2 is filed in the Cabo Verde and Sao Tomé section
Bobby Marin's We gotta good thing going can be found in Puerto Rico

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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