Aicha Kone and the Alloco Band biography, Aicha Kone and the Alloco Band discography
Label in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Haus der Kulturen der Welt.Stars wie Youssou N'Dour oder Mory Kante aufnehmen kann.November 1992 im Berliner Haus der Kulturen.And can this woman sing!...Whoever is looking for high quality dance floor music, should look no further.Artist: Henry Kaiser and David Lindley Album: A World Out Of Time Vol.Volume three of Adventures in Afropea takes us to and from the Atlantic shores of Africa, from Angola to Cape Verde, tracing the strange journey that music can make.Portuguese and Brazilian pop, Cuban grooves and central African moves.Perhaps epitomized by the recent popularity of Cesaria Evora, the Verdean folk diva, this music is as complex a stew as the last half century of Brazilian music, mixing the most sophisticated melodies with the most raw sounds and emotions.Sam Mangwana
Galo Negro
Putumayo Artist (www.His rich voice has carried many
a cool rumba and fiery soukous groove in his various solo recordings to
follow, but few have delved so fully and acoustically into cross Atlantic
Latin roots as this new album.To start with, we get a wonderful ensemble backing him.Lots of small
percussion, some rock solid and occasionally brilliant guitar playing by
Papa Noel, a constant melodic squeeze from the accordion of Regis Gizavo
and fellow Malagasy music, Justin Vali even makes a guest appearance on
valiha.Which is all to the best, because
Mangwana has one of those direct, unpretentious voices that my ears crave
more and more these days.Singer and percussionist Rasha hangs on tight to the old
songs of romance and passion that are the hallmark of the Sudanese sound.On this album she mixes both the more familiar folkloric pieces and
orchestral works with accordion, ouds, horns and strings with a more
slimmed down contemporary, easy jazz sound that works quite nicely with the
material.Miquel Garzon for
part of this success.Her popularity has been understandably expanding for
over 30 years, especially in Egypt.Warda grew up in Paris above her father's Arabic night club, sneaking
downstairs to listen to the bands and singing to herself.At the age of
eleven she was discovered and put on French radio.Warda's self titled release is a collection of some of her works from the
first half of the nineties.Known as "The Rose of
Algeria," Warda at the same time coaxes emotions with her voice and compels
physical response with her Arabic dance rhythms.Le Voyaguer is a lesson in excesses, every trick in the digital array being used to the fullest, at times burying the most important element on the record, a voice that melts hearts and stirs more intimate places.When it fights its way out of the 24 track morass, it is fantastic."Le Voyaguer" is a prime example of the beauty that lies beneath the onion skin.Papa Wemba deserves the fame he has accrued over the years, as an innovator of the genre, as a fighter for the expansion of Zairean music.He also needs a year or two out of the bright lights of Paris.Influenced by the drums of Ghana, the groove of zouk, the soul of New Orleans, the guitars of soukous and the voice of Cuban son, this is still every bit an American ensemble, with a local message to a worldwide audience.Mikata is a ten piece group with backgrounds as varied as their influences: black, white, and Hispanic, male and female, professional musicians, teachers, dancers, and singers joined together to send a message that percussionist and composer Richard Hill describes as "the politics of dancing."But comparisons to everything from Kassav to Motown, while easy, are inadequate.From the funk and rap of "Don't Buy It" to the New York Latin sound of "People Don't See," Mikata express a musical vision that is rooted in the the world's traditions and the human condition.His familiarity with European classical and popular music and his devotion to the complex rhythms of Senegal make him a formidable composer and arranger.Strumming guitars, subtle electronic effects and an uncredited (or synthesized?"Rasciste" accents his arranging skills, bringing in a full band of guitars, drums and horns for a sinuous line of melody and riffing."Jiggenu Ndakaru" is full tilt African rock that will be familiar to fans of N'Dour.In either context, full blown pop or sinewy folk, this album will find a long term listenership, one that will grow every time you hear it.Ketama, Toumani Diabate, Danny Thompson
Songhai
Hannibal
This project pulls together a diverse group: Spanish pop flamenco band Ketama, kora wizard Toumani Diabate from Mali, and acoustic bass master Danny Thompson from England, whose work with Pentangle and Dizrhythmia has explored the furthest reaches of world music.The guitar is the dominant instrument of Spain, and the dominant invader into the African music world, and the passion of flamenco is easily matched by the power of the African griot singers.But it's where these different forms clash that the music really takes off, as in Diabate's "Africa," with its chanting voices, its almost arguing exchange between guitar and kora, and the eerie bowing of the bass.The slightly less African "Mani Mani Kuru" exhibits some of that same tension, and translates into a storm of strings and voices.This is only the third record I've heard him play on, and each one has produced better and better fusions of north and south, while still avoiding bad pop cliches or a loss of roots.If there's a sequel to this one, watch out!The lineup is unique, six singers front a band of drummers and two harmonica players.Subsequent releases featured Mahlathini and The Queens and luminaries of what is now mainstream in South African pop, and this issue focuses in on The Soul Brothers, one of the biggest acts in the country, along with Sipho Mabuse and Mbongeni Ngema (the composer of Sarafina).Most of the Soul Brothers cut are adequate, a few are special ("Heyi Wena").Ihashi Elimhlophe, and from political "rapper" Mzwakhe Mbuli, whose Freedom Is Resistance is also on Earthworks.Mandingo rock in the seventies.This twelve piece band of guitars, horns, drums, bass and singers has ignored the glitz of Paris in favor of the grit of Bamako, and the results are inevitably satisfying.Retailers take note: Indigo is another label (along with folks like World Circuit, Piranha, and Riverboat) that Stern's is exclusively distributing at near domestic prices, and includes albums from Albania, Algeria and Argentina.Volume three is a collection of the harps of this island nation.The word itself gives you an idea of its importance; valiha is the word for "musical instrument."The music is quiet, but can be highly rhythmic.The album features solo performances, duets with voices, and ensemble pieces and include some of the better known folks like Rossy and Mama Sana."Ninki Nanka," one of the more powerful vocal pieces ever put to tape.Enter his latest bit of sax induced diatribe, Underground System.It's the usual Fela recipe of horns, drums and voices in rock and jazz grooves supplied by the 30+ ensemble Egypt 80.African political society, eventually leading to his murder by members of current regime.Mobutu Sese Seko), famed (infamous?Fela style, chorus shouting, horns wailing, a frenzied call for justice and dancing.The world turns as it always does.This is mellow, slithering music, almost psychedelic at times, with sixties electronic effects like electric organ and fuzz guitar (listen to "Seidou Bahkili"), but it is mostly the great African version of soul music.Cuban, but it is also clearly Malian, the sound of the tradition an intentional influence the band used to help create a uniquely national sound.The guitars did the kora riffs, and then the muted trumpet added the popular Latin sound.Over all of this is the sound of the griot, the voice of Salif Keita (and Minx, his replacement on one track) weaving that sinuous call and response.It is straightforward, unadorned, free of the electronic trappings of Keita's more recent solo efforts.This was a time when the sounds of black America were beginning to dominate the African music world, when James Brown was everybody's idol.The sounds of this album reflect that in the cheesey, vibrato rattled organ parts and the tight, riffing horns.But is also an album unique to the artist.Ageyman was a master of the shimmering Zairean guitar lick, but he was also a revivalist of sorts.Over these basics pieces he added lots of horns, bass and kit drums.There are plenty of great examples of this new breed of highlife, but Ageyman's has a special charm, a slightly twisted sense of scale and tuning, a solid sense of American soul music from the heat of the godfather to the cool of Booker T.For the slightly skewed (and that grand frommage organ), try "Abenaa Na Aden?"Rhythms of Sudan
Blue Nile
Blue Nile offers an interesting if somewhat mixed bag of tracks.Elomrobi have some interesting ideas, and would do well to explore the whole idea in a deeper fashion, get away from the mechanical rhythms and generally humanize the approach.New Beat Music From Ethiopia.Very little of the pop music of Ethiopia has surfaced outside the country, aside from the work of American resident Aster Aweke and the lone album of 70s psychedelic pop by Mahmoud Ahmed.Ethiopian TV, and videos by this generation gave a new meaning to the word "groovey," very sixties, very silly, with absolutely marvelous music under all the sunshine, flowers and leisure suits.African sources of rock and jazz.Each of these records has a lot in common, including the backing of The Wallias Band and the production talents of Parisian Francis Falceto.The emphasis here is jazz, with great horn arrangements, wild riffing, and some truly unusual arrangements that would make Henry Threadgill proud.Zap Mama bring together diverse vocal traditions in a wondrously unique way.Zap Mama is all vocals, with only a clap of the hand or a hit of the drum to accent it.Occasionally an unexpected gem spins onto a reviewer's desk.That
is the case with Antoninho Travadinha's exposition of the old time music of
the Cape Verde Islands.African music mix, one in which the melody still predominates and the
accompaniment is the kind of rhythm that is a grandparent to today's
Caribbean pop styles.The effect is exotic, yet familiar, with echoes of 19th century
"parlor music."Hollywood movies from the
1940's.Brazilian small guitars and percussion.The songs are solid, lyrically hip numbers, the production full of great hooks and clever phrases.Mali's women singers, she has a special voice, one that is both sweet exaltation and searing presence.It's no wonder she has developed into one of the nation's most revered and popular performers.Strangely, it's the European recording that is the more rootsy, eschewing the popular digital drums and synths for a more acoustic sound that includes balafon, kora and guitars.It's mostly irrelevant, because the music is just a vehicle for her voice, and her voice will fill you with wonder and joy, no matter how many slick effects try to get in the way.Nahawa Doumbia is one of the premier members of a musical elite, a singer of social songs, free of the restrictions the male griots must adhere to.Ibrahima Sylla, who is discovering that beauty of the real sounds (even if they ARE sampled) overwhelms the easy synth effect and quick rhythm track.After decades of the Latin sound getting a more African groove and African music returning the favor, three of the great voices of African music have united with some of N.The cast is a who's who of power and musicianship: Medoune Diallo, vocalist for Orchestra Baobab, one of the most Latin bands in Africa, Pape Seck and Nicholas Menheim, stars of the Senegalese Latin sound.The rest of the band is a N.Mario Rivera on trumpet, and an endless list of strings, horns, flutes and percussion.But beyond the novelty of African singers meeting Latin superstars, this is the real thing, this is the salsa groove that new York is famous for, ripe with Cuban and Puerto Rican soul.There's nine winning tracks (out of a possible nine!Diallo composition "Gouye Gui" or the roaring charanga of Pape Seck's "Lakh Bi."African sound that is praised and blasted in the press every day, a mix of west, north and east African grooves that could be just so much pudding if it wasn't for the incredible talents involved here.Her roots are Manding, but her idols are Aretha Franklin and Miriam Makeba, and it all shines through.One minute they lope along like a South African jive ensemble, the next moment finds them in a hard Senegalese talking drum groove.Mali, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Cameroon are all clearly evident, yet it never seems scattered.It jumps, it dances and it sings.Cuban band Makina Loca absolutely burn up the tracks of this new release.Am I being a bit too prosaic here or just florid?It's original, hot and total groove.But instead of the mass assemblage of the Joujouka troupe, Attar has opted for a small studio duo or trio that could explore and expand the Moroccan music.To that end he joined forces with producer Bill Laswell, Senegalese percussionist Aiyb Dieng and on three tracks, American horn player Maceo Parker, to make The Next Dream.In stark contrast to the large ensemble, this music is spare, almost sparse at times.Most tracks are simply (simply?But perhaps most revealing of all is the lengthy "1001 Nights."The spacey murmur of the metallic percussion against Attar's lute is seminal acoustic music that gives birth to a sense of vastness through the most basic technology.This is immediately followed by the rocking "Fin Fin," where Erraji's unique flaying oud style really takes off.The album notes also tout this as Hassan Erraji's breakthrough as a singer, but I honestly think it's a talent he shouldn't rely on too much.Her base is the didadi tradition of the Wassoulou, but this is truly modern music, with a mix of African rhythms under the original Mali sound.True, there is the ubiquitous drum machine here and there, but it serves rather than dominates, all but lost in the lush carbon acoustics of most of the album.Just try "N'daya International" for all the kick of high tech with none of the flaws, or cruise into "Muso Nyebaio" for the more folky kora and balafon groove.Shanachie could do better than this, but they often don't take the time or care this great music deserves.All the other contributions, and they are many, are wrapped around this unified voice.Ayub Ogada offers a rhythmic bass line here, a harp solo or backing vocal there.As the world contracts and the music expands, many artists are trying to cram it all into a small space.Oryema and company are taking a different tack.Artist: Various Artists Album: Vietnam no Ongaku Title: ????????????????????????????Artist: Various Artists Album: Vietnam no Ongaku Title: ?????????Artist: Betel Nut Brothers Album: Hunters Who Lost Their Lands Title: ???
|
