johne

I'd like to learn more about music from Camaroon

__________________
http://www.last.fm/user/jenyc

Bulldog

When I'm feeling a bit less hungover, I'll look around for some good youtube links.

Watch this space!

Inuzuka Skysword

This thread is great.

The Prophet

I love the Kuti clan (with Seun being my current fave), and a good friend of mine has been hooking me on African tunes for a while now.

I have been trying to track down some stuff by Mwafrika ever since I first heard The Dusty Foot Philosopher by K'naan, but to date, no luck.

This is a thread I am gonna be biting into a lot.

Thank you Johne.

\m/

__________________
I broke the walls that kept the world small.

johne

Thanks guys for positive feedback, that helps.
Since Prophet mentioned Fela Kuti's youngest son, Seun, I found some links. The Egypt 80 band that Seun fronts was started by his father:
YouTube - Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 in Dakar
YouTube - Seun Anikulapo Kuti & Fela's Egypt80 Live

Ah, K'naan and Mwafrica. Now you're getting into East Africa and current rap/hip hop. K'naan's from Somolia and Mwafrica from Kenya. I have heard of The Dusty Foot Philosopher, and went back and listened to The African Way with Mwafrica. I like them together. Only thing I could find on Mwafrica was his myspace page--see both the track and the video:
Mwafrika on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads

__________________
http://www.last.fm/user/jenyc

johne

Ghana (Highlife): Though other West African countries produced Highlife music, Ghana invented and perfected it. Highlife is not necessarily my favorite WA music to listen to. But, then again, listening to it is not the desired end. It is meant to be danced to, and if Highlife musicians can't get people on their feet, then they have failed in their own estimation.

Highlife was likely first developed by bandleader, E.T. Mensah, in the mid-20th century. Though he is not alive, a myspace page is still dedicated to Mensah, and there you can hear an example of "old-school" Highlife, which is very danceable, jazz-influenced, and "big-band" sounding:
E T Mensah on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads

An exciting form of Highlife was developed by a band started in the late 60's called Osibisa. While still identifiably Highlife, you can hear the pop and rock fusion--nice listen:
YouTube - Osibisa- Gong Gong Song

In the early 80's, George Darko integrated a llittle German beat, a little disco, and a little funk into his music. His brand is called "Burger Highlife"--also good listens:
YouTube - odo colour-george darko
YouTube - prempremsiwa-george darko

C.K. Mann was more influenced by Latin beat in his Highlife. This isn't great quality video, but it conveys the idea of Latin-fused Highlife:
YouTube - mansa wo mu mann CK Man1

A last Ghanian Highlife artist I would like to have highlighted is probably the best guitarist of any of them, Ebo Taylor. But, I couldn't find a decent-quality track or video that showcased his Highlife style. I did find, however, a nice video of him paying tribute to Ali Farka Toure. So, this is not an example of Highlife, but a Highlife guartarist playing the more Mande-"blues-y" music of Toure:
YouTube - Guitar Virtuoso Ebo Taylor plays tribute to Ali Farka Toure

Next post: Djembe drumming

__________________
http://www.last.fm/user/jenyc

The Prophet

I got to admit, I had forgotten that was East Africa. Still, I love K'naans music.

but I will be pursuing all the names you have in this thread with great intensity (minus the ones I know already).

__________________
I broke the walls that kept the world small.

johne

Drumming: You can’t have a thread on West African music without paying some attention to drumming. While there are many African drums, I’m going to focus on djembe drumming in this post, but will say something about dunan and tamani drumming.

Djembe (or jembe), is a goblet shaped hand drum. Traditionally, a djembe was used alone, but more often with other types of drums, to summon people to dance. Similar to contemporary break dancing, during drumming sessions, people jump in and out from the crowd, taking turns dancing. Here is a contemporary rendition of the traditional drummer/dancer interaction:
YouTube - "ALLSTAR"! Gala Spectac: Guinee Dununba w "best of the best" players!

Throughout WA, there are hundreds of rhythms that djembe drummers and ensembles play. The above is an example of Dununba (always fast and strong beat), and within Dununba, there are 20 or more sub-rhythms.

West African djembe drumming became well-known throughout Africa and the world, largely because country governments sponsored international tours of djembe troupes (e.g., "Les Ballets Africains" from Guinea). Eventually, the emphasis began to be placed on the drummers more than on the dancers, so that today, there are master djembe drummers who perform stage concerts in front of large audiences. Probably the best known is Mamady Keita from Guinea:
YouTube - Mamady Keita in "Djembefola"- documentary

More contemporary djembe drummers include Fatala, a troupe from Guinea which has a number of full tracks on last.fm:
Fatala – Listen free and discover music at Last.fm

Farfina is a troupe from Burkina Faso and has a myspace page where their drumming can be heard (I especially like “Percus”):
FARAFINA on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads

Dunan is another type of drum—a double-headed cylinder that comes in 3 sizes and provides the rhythmic and melodic base for djembe ensembles. (While the djembe is the “show off” featured drum, the dunan sets the rhythm for most numbers.) Baba Olatunji, from Nigeria, played both dunan and djembe drums and is probably the African who had the first and most influence on percussion in European, American, and other Western music. His “Drums of Passion” album, released in 1959, has been very influential among percussionists and other musicians throughout the world. John Coltrane, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and Quincy Jones all recognized elements of Olatunji’s influence in their music, and he played with the likes of Mickey Hart, Carlos Santana, the Grateful Dead, and Airto Moreira.

Tamani (or tama) is a small drum held under the armpit of the drummer, who beats the drum with one bare hand and a stick held in the other hand. The best tamani drummer is probably Baba Sissoko from Mali. This guy is incredible and worth a listen:
MySpace Video - Baba Sissoko's Video Channel & Video Clips

__________________
http://www.last.fm/user/jenyc

koza13

Thanks for getting this thread started! To follow up with the great suggestions above, how about some love for Cameroon? Please add to these, as there are just a few to get started here and I’m not an expert at all, just some of my favorites below; please add if you love some Zouk, Soukous, Makossa, Ndombolo, Bikutsi…will follow up with some Central African favorites later.
Cameroon:
Henri Dikongue
Sally Nyolo is great too:
Grace Decca is a longtime favorite, but hard to find some of her music online for some reason:
Manu Dibango as many know Soul Makosa
Of course, Petit Pays-a little 'Sans Visa':
K-Tino (not so risque):

I tried to post links to some videos/music, but MusicBanter won't allow me to do this until I've posted 15 times...sorry, but the names are there for you to look up! I'm sure I'm missing a lot here, any others anyone can share?

johne

^^^Here are some links for the Cameroon artists that koza13 mentions:

Henri Dikongue:
Henri Dikongué – Listen free and discover music at Last.fm

Sally Nyolo:
Sally Nyolo – Listen free and discover music at Last.fm

Grace Decca:
YouTube - video Cameroun - (Grace Decca-oyo iyo)

Manu Dibango (Soul Makosa):
Manu Dibango – Listen free and discover music at Last.fm

YouTube - Manu Dibango 'Lion of Africa'

Petit Pays (some full tracks and videos):
Petit Pays – Listen free and discover music at Last.fm

K-Tino:
YouTube - video - Cameroun (k-tino - viagra)

Nice listens, koza. Nice to have some women artists on here. Also, Manu Dibango's "Lion of Africa" seems to be a good example of Afro beat and jazz fusion--I see he did some things with Fela Kuti. Petit Pays--WOW--sexy, sensuous! Thanks, koza.

__________________
http://www.last.fm/user/jenyc