West African music (singer, music video, blues, country, dance)

johne · 03-02-2009, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bulldog

All the best stuff comes from Mali I reckon. The aforementioned Salif Keita has done some wonderful work over the years. Tinariwen, Boubacar Traore, Ali Farka Toure and Toumani Diabate are a few more of my personal favourites from the area - well worth a listen.

All nice Bulldog. Boubacar "Kar Kar" Traore, Ali Farka Toure and Toumani Diabate all come from the Mande influence that I wrote about. You can hear similarities with Keita especially in the guitar runs. Unlike Keita, though, all three are influenced by American blues in addition to Mande.

Tinariwen are from a different strain of Malian people--Tuareg rebels. Their music is much more "Arabic" influenced and political rather than the more mellow traditional Mande. Good stuff.

Here are some links:

Ali Farka Toure and Toumani Diabaté both have free listens on their myspace pages; both pages have some tracks with Toure and Diabate together:
Toure: http://www.myspace.com/alifarkatoureofficial
Diabate: http://www.myspace.com/toumanidiabate

Boubacar Traore
YouTube - Boubacar TraorÃ© "KarKar"

Traore and Toure duet:
YouTube - Boubacar "Kar Kar" Traore & Ali Farka Toure

Tinariwen, myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/tinariwen

Tinariwen â€“ Listen free and discover music at Last.fm

I wouldn't say ALL the good WA music comes from Mali; wait til you hear the Nigerians!!!

Bulldog · 03-02-2009, 03:09 PM

Nice links there Johne.

You're right, despite my own words all the best stuff doesn't come from Mali alone. What I meant to say was that in terms of quantity that's been the case from all I've heard of West African music. When it comes to Nigeria, Fela and Femi Kuti as well as King Of Juju himself take some beating. Then there's Manu Dibango from Cameroon and probably my favourite African artist Baaba Maal from Senegal, among a bundle of others.

johne · 03-02-2009, 08:27 PM

Nigera (juju, apala, fuji, afro-beat, highlife)
Nigerian music is so diverse, and there is so much, it's hard to know where to start. Here's just a sampling:

Juju started in the 1920s as "bar music", but was updated and was made world-known by King Sunny Ade in the 1980s. Most have likely heard of him and his music, which is heavy on percussion, electric guitar, and vocals:
King Sunny Ade â€“ Ja Funmi â€“ Listen free and discover music at Last.fm or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbIhmfZNBOE

Apala is even more traditional than juju, therefore, it depends more on percussion and traditional instruments. It's roots are in the Yoruba people (like juju and fuji) and is closely associated with Islam. (If you've watched Ramadan observance on tv, you've probably heard traditional apala.) The most important apala musician is Haruna Ishola, but I'm linking to music by his son, Musiliu Haruna Ishola, who is keeping apala traditions but updating the music today. I would put this in the category of GREAT:
Musiliu Haruna Ishola - Soyoyo :: ADERADIO ::

Fuji is an integration of juju and apala. It uses more traditional instruments, mainly percussion and has roots in Islam, like apala, but it has more the energy and contemporary sound of juju, but even fresher. There are two leading fuji musicians, Sikiru Ayinde Barrister and Ayinla Kollington. I like Barrister a lot; here is a cut from a more recent album, Fuji London Garbage (again, GREAT):
Chief Dr Sikiru Ayinde Barrister - Fuji London Garbage - Free MP3 Stream on IMEEM Music

Adewale Ayuba is another fuji musician whom I really like (maybe the BEST one):
Adewale Ayuba - Bubble - Free MP3 Stream on IMEEM Music

I think juju, fuji and apala represent one strain of Nigerian music; another strain exists that begins with African folk music and pulls in influences from rock, funk and jazz (Afro-beat) and danceable "uptempo" and jazz (Highlife). All three are represented by a giant in Nigerian music, Baba Ken Okulolo. He has 3 different bands, each one representing one of these 3 types of music: African Folk (Nigerian Brothers); Afro-beat (Kotoja); and Highlife (West African Highlife Band). Here are 3 sample albums from each band, but only 30 second samples of all tracks:
CD Baby: BABA KEN OKULOLO & THE NIGERIAN BROTHERS: Songs from the Village
CD Baby: BABÃ KEN OKULOLO: Best of BabÃ¡ Ken Okulolo & Kotoja
CD Baby: WEST AFRICAN HIGHLIFE BAND: Salute to Highlife Pioneers

Afro-beat: The most important Afro-beat musician is the pioneer of the genre, Fela Kuti . His most recognized song is probably Water No Get Enemy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdV1V...eature=related
(See jackhammer's Fela Kuti thread, also.)

Fela's son, Femi Kuti, is carrying on the tradition of his father and is definitely worth a listen as well. He has free tracks on his myspace page at:
http://www.myspace.com/femikuti

Highlife has even more roots in Ghana, so sometime later I will post full tracks of Ghanaian Highlife music.

Bulldog · 03-03-2009, 05:13 PM

^ Nigerian music is something I'm not so familiar with. As I said earlier, Mali, Senegal and Cameroon are the areas I know best (musically). I've got a few King Sunny Ade and Fela Kuti albums, haven't heard of any of the others you posted - gotta get back to this thread and have a look at those links.

johne · 03-04-2009, 07:39 AM

I'd like to learn more about music from Camaroon

Bulldog · 03-05-2009, 04:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johne

I'd like to learn more about music from Camaroon

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

Watch this space!

03-02-2009, 08:27 PM	#3 (permalink)
johne Music Addict Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Long Island, NY, USA Posts: 114	Nigera (juju, apala, fuji, afro-beat, highlife) Nigerian music is so diverse, and there is so much, it's hard to know where to start. Here's just a sampling: Juju started in the 1920s as "bar music", but was updated and was made world-known by King Sunny Ade in the 1980s. Most have likely heard of him and his music, which is heavy on percussion, electric guitar, and vocals: King Sunny Ade â€“ Ja Funmi â€“ Listen free and discover music at Last.fm or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbIhmfZNBOE Apala is even more traditional than juju, therefore, it depends more on percussion and traditional instruments. It's roots are in the Yoruba people (like juju and fuji) and is closely associated with Islam. (If you've watched Ramadan observance on tv, you've probably heard traditional apala.) The most important apala musician is Haruna Ishola, but I'm linking to music by his son, Musiliu Haruna Ishola, who is keeping apala traditions but updating the music today. I would put this in the category of GREAT: Musiliu Haruna Ishola - Soyoyo :: ADERADIO :: Fuji is an integration of juju and apala. It uses more traditional instruments, mainly percussion and has roots in Islam, like apala, but it has more the energy and contemporary sound of juju, but even fresher. There are two leading fuji musicians, Sikiru Ayinde Barrister and Ayinla Kollington. I like Barrister a lot; here is a cut from a more recent album, Fuji London Garbage (again, GREAT): Chief Dr Sikiru Ayinde Barrister - Fuji London Garbage - Free MP3 Stream on IMEEM Music Adewale Ayuba is another fuji musician whom I really like (maybe the BEST one): Adewale Ayuba - Bubble - Free MP3 Stream on IMEEM Music I think juju, fuji and apala represent one strain of Nigerian music; another strain exists that begins with African folk music and pulls in influences from rock, funk and jazz (Afro-beat) and danceable "uptempo" and jazz (Highlife). All three are represented by a giant in Nigerian music, Baba Ken Okulolo. He has 3 different bands, each one representing one of these 3 types of music: African Folk (Nigerian Brothers); Afro-beat (Kotoja); and Highlife (West African Highlife Band). Here are 3 sample albums from each band, but only 30 second samples of all tracks: CD Baby: BABA KEN OKULOLO & THE NIGERIAN BROTHERS: Songs from the Village CD Baby: BABÃ KEN OKULOLO: Best of BabÃ¡ Ken Okulolo & Kotoja CD Baby: WEST AFRICAN HIGHLIFE BAND: Salute to Highlife Pioneers Afro-beat: The most important Afro-beat musician is the pioneer of the genre, Fela Kuti . His most recognized song is probably Water No Get Enemy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdV1V...eature=related (See jackhammer's Fela Kuti thread, also.) Fela's son, Femi Kuti, is carrying on the tradition of his father and is definitely worth a listen as well. He has free tracks on his myspace page at: http://www.myspace.com/femikuti Highlife has even more roots in Ghana, so sometime later I will post full tracks of Ghanaian Highlife music. __________________ http://www.last.fm/user/jenyc Last edited by johne; 04-04-2009 at 01:35 AM.

03-04-2009, 07:39 AM	#5 (permalink)
johne Music Addict Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Long Island, NY, USA Posts: 114	I'd like to learn more about music from Camaroon __________________ http://www.last.fm/user/jenyc

03-02-2009, 03:09 PM	#2 (permalink)
Bulldog why bother? Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: UK Posts: 4,840	Nice links there Johne. You're right, despite my own words all the best stuff doesn't come from Mali alone. What I meant to say was that in terms of quantity that's been the case from all I've heard of West African music. When it comes to Nigeria, Fela and Femi Kuti as well as King Of Juju himself take some beating. Then there's Manu Dibango from Cameroon and probably my favourite African artist Baaba Maal from Senegal, among a bundle of others.

03-03-2009, 05:13 PM	#4 (permalink)
Bulldog why bother? Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: UK Posts: 4,840	^ Nigerian music is something I'm not so familiar with. As I said earlier, Mali, Senegal and Cameroon are the areas I know best (musically). I've got a few King Sunny Ade and Fela Kuti albums, haven't heard of any of the others you posted - gotta get back to this thread and have a look at those links.