Back to Africa: The New World Afro-Diaspora Roots of Modern African Music

[NYC Rebel]

My father went to the Shrine a few times when he lived in Lagos.

My mom came up with Fela's fam. Knew his brother who was a doctor and his mom. She said Fela gave one of her highschool classmates the claps.

 

[The Odum of Ala Igbo]

My mom came up with Fela's fam. Knew his brother who was a doctor and his mom. She said Fela gave one of her highschool classmates the claps.

Fela gave a lot of women, "the claps" apparently. One of his children, Femi Kuti, was wondering why his mother was always sick when he was growing up. He found out why when he became older.

 

[IllmaticDelta]

1860s

In the mid-1800s, travelling minstrel shows began to visit South Africa. As far as can be ascertained, these minstrels were at first white performers in "black-face", but by the 1860s black American minstrel troupes had begun to tour the country. They sang spirituals of the American South, and influenced many South African groups to form themselves into similar choirs; soon regular meetings and competitions between such choirs were popular, forming an entire subculture that continues to this day.

1890s

Orpheus McAdoo and the Virginia Jubilee Singers were among the most popular of the visiting minstrel groups, touring the country four times. African American spirituals were made popular in the 1890s by Orpheus McAdoo's Jubilee Singers

1897

Enoch Sontonga, then a teacher, composed the hymn Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika (God Bless Africa) Early 1900s
In the early 20th century, governmental restrictions on black poeple increased, including a nightly curfew which kept the night life in Johannesburg relatively small for a city of its size (then the largest city south of the Sahara).
The Marabi music style formed in the slum yards that resulted from the increasing urbanisation of black South Africans into mining centres such as the Witwatersrand. The sound of marabi was intended to draw people into the shebeens (bars selling homemade liquor or skokiaan) and then to get them dancing. Marabi was played on pianos with accompaniment from pebble-filled cans. Over the succeeding decades, the marabi-swing style developed into early mbaqanga, the most distinctive form of South African jazz

1912

South African popular music began in 1912 with the first commercial recordings.

1920s

Marabi's melodies found their way into the sounds of the bigger dance bands, modelled on American swing groups, which began to appear in the 1920s; Marabi added to their distinctively South African style. Such bands, which produced the first generation of professional black musicians in South Africa, achieved considerable popularity, particularly in the 1930s and 1940s: star groups such as The Jazz Maniacs, The Merry Blackbirds and the Jazz Revelers rose to fame, winning huge audiences among both blacks and whites.

1930s

The beginnings of broadcast radio for black listeners. This resulted in the growth of an indigenous recording industry and helped popularize black South African music. The 1930s also saw the spread of Zulu a cappella singing from the Natal area to much of South Africa.

1933

Eric Gallo's Brunswick Gramophone House sent several South African musicians to London to record for Singer Records. Gallo went on to begin producing music in South Africa.

1939

The tradition of minstrelsy, joined with other forms, contributed to the development of isicathamiya, This music form had its first major hit this year with the song "Mbube", an adaptation of a traditional Zulu melody which has been recycled and reworked innumerable times since then, often known as "The Lion Sleeps Tonight".
Solomon Linda's Original Evening Birds, recorded "Mbube" it was probably the first African recording to sell more than 100,000 copies.

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Mbube

Mbube is a form of South African vocal music, made famous by the South African group Ladysmith Black Mambazo. The word mbube means "lion" in Zulu.[1] Traditionally performed a cappella, the members of the group are male although a few groups have a female singer. In this form, groups of voices singing homophonically in rhythmic unison are employed to create intricate harmonies and textures.

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Isicathamiya

Isicathamiya (with the "c" pronounced as a dental click) is a singing style that originated from the South African Zulus. In European understanding, a cappella is also used to describe this form of singing.

Although the style originated in the 20th century, specifically in the 1920s and 1930s, many academics argue it can be traced back to the end of the 19th century. They believe the roots of isicathamiya are found in the American minstrels and ragtime US vaudeville troupes that toured South Africa extensively in 1860. Isicathamiya would have merged from a combination of minstrel inspired songs and Zulu traditional music.[1]

Culturally and traditionally, isicathamiya is influenced by Zulu indigenous beliefs such as: belief in Communalism which is expressed in the Zulu dictum, "umuntu, ngumuntu, ngabantu" , competition, strength and power associated with animals, reverence of the fireplace as a resource for food and warmth and, dreams for communicating with ancestors. The expression "umuntu, ngumuntu, ngabantu" which means "a person is a person because of other people", dominates Zulu social organization and is used as a tool to strengthen social harmony. In the Zulu community, competition is highly valued, especially with music, as it is seen as a social issue which is subject to competition. It is also perceived as a public platform in which people can establish a concept of identity in a community. Isicathamiya performers improve their image by winning competitions. In Zulu folklore, bulls are a common symbol of power and masculinity. Other wild animals such as snakes, crocodiles, tigers and lions are expressions of power relations and assertion of power in competitive isicathamiya competitions. Early isicathamiya groups were named after animals such as Empangeni Home Tigers and Brave Lion Singers.

The fireplace is used metaphorically for the "cooking of songs" in isicathamiya stage performances. Emphasis is placed on the social organization based on the Zulu indigiounous residence which took for in a circular bee-hive grass hut and at the center the head of surrounded by wives and children. The same formation takes places when isicathamiya songs were created with the leader in the center of the group. Dreams were an essential part of communicating with ancestors and formed part of a deeply rooted Zulu religious though process. Some isicathamiya musicians claim some of their songs were created in the spiritual realm given to them by ancestors.[2] Joseph Shabalala of Ladysmith Black Mambazo explains he composes through dreams whereby for six months in the 1960s he was visited by voices in his dreams. These were spiritual elders who were singing in the isicathamiya style. He experienced a final examination where each of the twenty-four elders asked him a musical question and Shabalala achieved a perfect score.[3]

STYLISTIC HISTORY OF ISICATHAMIYA

The origins of isicathamiya are rooted in American minstrelsy and ragtime. U.S. vaudeville troupes such as Orpheus McAdoo and his Virginia Jubilee Singers toured South Africa extensively from 1890, inspiring the formation of numerous Black South African groups whose imitation of crude black-face troupes, song repertoire, and musical instruments signaled notions of cultural progress and self-improvement.

Even earlier, the educated, landed Black elite, or amakholwa (believers), whose Christian missionary education instilled in them the desire to imitate all things British, performed choral singing (imusic) - one of the main symbols of identification with Victorian values. Sankey and Moody urban revival hymns learned from the hymnal of the American Board Missions were central to the repertoire.

The Native Lands Act (1913) prohibited Black property ownership and forced thousands of indigenous peoples from their ancestral land. This devastating piece of legislation led to increasing political repression of all Black South Africans, regardless of educational, religious, and class status. In response, religious hymns were replaced with minstrelsy and other forms of African-American music and dance, as these performance models were considered better suited to emerging discourses of Black social and political dissent. The combination of four-part hymnody (imusic) and minstrelsy (and, later, "traditional" Zulu music) thus became the basis of much subsequent Black popular music in South Africa.

One individual who made a significant contribution toward exploring expressive forms able to satisfy an emerging nationalist, Black identity was Reuben Caluza. A choral composer who emerged from a Presbyterian mission background in KwaZulu Natal, his musical education spanned the whole spectrum of Black performance (Erlmann 1991:118). Although not an overtly political man, Caluza lived with strong commitment to Christian values and was sensitive to social injustice. His convictions became the main inspirational source for his songs. His first composition, "Silusapho Lwase Africa" (We Are the Children of Africa), was adopted in 1913 as the first theme of the South African Native National Congress, the precursor of today's African National Congress. Caluza's use of four-part harmonies and melodies taken from European and American hymn tunes, coupled with Zulu lyrics, did not simply imitate White choral music but "expressed the new relationships and values of urban groups, who expected fuller participation in the social and political life of the community into which they had been drawn economically" (Blacking 1980:198 in Erlmann 1991:121).

Caluza directed the Ohlange Institute Choir, which he toured extensively and which people of all classes and identities came to hear. His concerts, considered one of the earliest forms of variety shows for Black performers, combined imusic, brass bands, film shows, ballroom dancing, traditional drum-and-reed ensembles, and back-to-back dances (Erlmann 1991:122). Significantly, Caluza introduced ragtime into his repertoire. Although black-face minstrelsy groups had existed for a number of years and had come to be known as c00ns (isikhunsi), Caluza's ragtime renditions, which combined slick dance action with Zulu topical lyrics, more vigorously represented nationalist sentiments through their positive images of the ideal Black urbanite (Erlmann 1991:159).

 

[BigMan]

My mom was at that club when she said James Brown and Fela performed. This was before Fela moved to the Shrine. I always thought she was bullshytting!

damn that must have been a hell of a night

 

[NYC Rebel]

damn that must have been a hell of a night

She grew up the street from his first club. Much smaller than the Shrine he later moved to. She said it was mad tight...JB was damn near a foot from her performing.

I don't think people realize how LOVED JB was in Nigeria. He influenced Fela heavy

 

[Yehuda]

Mbalax is a popular music and dance from Senegal and Gambia. Mbalax means accompanying rhythm from the traditional sabar drum in the Wolof language.

[...] It is characterised by poly-rhythmic percussion from the sabar drum, repeating chord progression, fast, syncopated keyboards and guitar. A typical mbalax band might have 4 to 6 sabar drummers. The singing style is from the Wolof Géwël (griot) style. Songs can cover about any subject matter from religious to domestic social happenings. Mbalax is fundamentally made for dancing.

[...] Before Mbalax, Senegalese musicians played and listened to a lot of Cuban music. Salsa was very popular in Senegal and French speaking Africa. Blues and Soul/Funk was also listened(Winders 165). Early musicians, who were typically Géwël (griots) began experimenting with the traditional sabar and Géwël (griot) musical styles and Cuban Rumba, combining them. The conga was replaced with a drum set. Mbalax was birthed in the 1970s. Bands like Star Bands and Orchestra Baobab popularize the form(Ham 64). Youssou N'Dour and his band Super Etoile de Dakar extended the reach of the music during the 1980's and 1990's to an international audience.

Mbalax - Afropedea

 

[How Sway?]

subs

 

[IllmaticDelta]

Afrobeats

Afrobeats (a term also sometimes used to denote popular Nigerian and Ghanaian music, hiplife, or Afropop) is an emerging genre: drawing from broad continental and diasporic sounds.[9][10] The new genre seeks inspiration from Afrobeat, hiplife, R&B, house music, Jamaican dancehall, as well as various local musics.[11] According to David Drake, the eclectic genre “reimagines diasporic influences and—more often than not—completely reinvents them.”[12] However, some caution against equating Afrobeats to contemporary pan-African music, in order to prevent the erasure of local musical contributions.[13]

Afrobeats is primarily produced between Lagos, Accra, and London. Paul Gilroy, of The Black Atlantic, reflects on the changing London music scene as a result of shifting demographics:

"We are moving towards an African majority which is diverse both in its cultural habits and in its relationship to colonial and postcolonial governance, so the shift away from Caribbean dominance needs to be placed in that setting. Most of the grime folks are African kids, either the children of migrants or migrants themselves. It's not clear what Africa might mean to them"[9]

Many first and second generation African immigrants follow - and produce - Afrobeats music. Fuse ODG, a UK artist of Ghanaian descent, coins #TINA or This is New Africa as a means to change perceptions of Africa:

"This movement will shed light on Africa in a positive way and focus on how we can improve Africa. It’s not about just plying your talents in the Western world; it’s about going back home and helping Africa."[9]

The rise of Afrobeats

It's the new sound of the UK underground, reworking the African pop of Fela Kuti for kids reared on grime, hip-hop and funky house. With stars like Kanye West wanting in, just how big will it get?

Abrantee's neologism describes a new sound – a 21st-century melting pot of western rap influences, and contemporary Ghanaian and Nigerian pop music – but it didn't drop out of a clear blue sky. "I've been playing this music to three or four thousand people at African events in the UK for years," he explains. "Things like the Ghana Independence celebrations or the Hiplife festival at the O2 in London last year. Bringing it to the mainstream is a different ball game, though – D'Banj getting played on New Year's Eve at the Thames, that kind of certifies it now – this is serious! For years we've had amazing hiplife, highlife, Nigerbeats, juju music, and I thought: you know what, let's put it all back together as one thing again, and call it Afrobeats, as an umbrella term. Afrobeat, the 60s music, was more instrumental – this Afrobeats sound is different, it's intertwined with things like hip-hop and funky house, and there's more of a young feel to it."

The rise of Afrobeats


African beats are back, under new management

Nigerian and Ghanaian artists are inspiring a crossover of African rhythms, hip-hop and dancehall. Now Wyclef Jean and Sean Paul are getting in on the act

A new sound is bringing sunny positivity to the charts thanks to the input of African and African-heritage artists. Pop-dance hits with links to Nigeria and Ghana have been enjoying both high placings and longevity – a sign that something significant is taking place.

This phenomenon has acquired a name – Afrobeats – to differentiate the fusion of polished house/R&B production, Jamaican dancehall and African rhythms from the classic big-band Afrobeat purveyed by the likes of Fela Kuti. It is a multifarious scene that encompasses both first-generation British talents and African producers with their increasing ambitions to reach into global markets.

It has been bubbling up for a couple of years, though this month sees releases from two key players – Nigerian star D’Banj’s “Bother You”, the follow-up to his breakthrough UK hit “Oliver Twist”, while “Dangerous Love” features reggae star Sean Paul, though fans will be excited that it is the latest single from a Londoner of Ghanaian descent, Richard Abiona, aka Fuse ODG.

Abiona’s three releases to date have all been sizeable hits – his party-starting debut “Azonto” spread the eponymous Ghanaian dance worldwide via word of mouth and a viral video, then came Top 10 entry “Antenna”, aided by a remix cameo from Wyclef Jean. Finally, “Million Pound Girl (Badder Than Bad)” peaked at No 5 in January of this year, so there are high expectations surrounding his propulsive follow-up. The ease with which a former Fugees star and now Paul have collaborated with Abiona suggest parallels with western sounds, though you do pick up recognisable Afrobeat rhythms.

Much of this is down to Abiona’s varied upbringing. Born in the UK, he went to primary school in Ghana when his parents returned there, but came back aged 11. During this period, he struggled at first to fit in, imbibing high-life groups from his mum and dad’s heritage at home, while hearing So Solid Crew on the radio and getting into US hip-hop. “[I was] constantly hearing [African music] being played in the house by my parents,” he explains. “I grew up on hip-hop so that’s had a huge impact on me and still does today. But also just being in the UK and listening to the radio and music here like garage, grime and synth-driven dance music.”


t was a trip to Ghana in 2011 that set him on the path he follows today. There, he hooked up with a performer from an earlier generation. Reggie Rockstone, also UK-born and of Ghanaian heritage. In the mid-Nineties, he had helped found an earlier Afro-rap fusion – hip-life – that continues to thrive with Reggie himself still a respected player. “Azonto” was inspired by this stay, forging Abiona’s current sound – “a fusion of African percussion and western dance sounds”.

A London-based DJ, Capital Xtra host Abrantee, has given the name Afrobeats to a melange that owes as much to funky house, R&B and dancehall as it does to hip-hop. On his show you can hear anything from the raw sound of hip-life duo R2Bees to the smoother R&B delivery of P-Square, identical twins Peter and Paul Okoye who are signed to Akon’s Konvict Music label. They have yet to push their recordings in the UK, though have played major live shows at such venues as Hammersmith Apollo.

Another key difference nowadays is that African heritage is becoming as accepted or even as cool as, Afro-Caribbean, so British rapper Giggs can be found collaborating with British-Nigerian vocalist Moelogo. A figure without need of that support is D’Banj, a major star across Africa, whose new single “Bother You” shows a writer progressing lyrically. While his previous hit, released via Kanye West’s Good Music, used wit to highlight his ambition, this single was apparently inspired by best-selling novel Half of a Yellow Sun (the video features exerpts from the movie).

That film, made and mostly funded in Nigeria – reportedly the local movie industry’s most expensive – reminds us Afrobeats has arrived on a wave of increasing confidence in parts of the continent. That nation, Africa’s most populous, has recently overtaken South Africa as the region’s largest economy. This is a story Abiona is keen to promote himself, even appearing on Newsnight to rail against continuing media depictions of Africa as a source of bad news. There, as in many media opportunities, he wore a cap bearing the acronym Tina, which stands for his guiding phrase, “This Is New Africa”.

A thoughtful interviewee, he drops the statistic that seven of the top 10 fastest growing economies are in Africa. “There are a lot of amazing developments in technology, fashion, business, etc., taking place on the African continent that the world could learn from. Also, when I go to Ghana, there is just a general spirit of happiness, music everywhere and people always dancing. Maybe the weather helps but they know how to have fun – and I think that comes across in the music.” This is not to detract from the enormity of the Boko Haram abductions, but, as Abiona says, “there needs to be a balance.”

For the music-makers seeking a wider audience, another concern might be Afrobeats’ immediate future in the UK. Take a sound from an exotic locale, make global waves and tempt huge US names to get on board. Now it starts to sound like the short-lived reggaeton craze or past interest in Brazil’s favela funk. Abiona, though, sees that as looking through the wrong end of the telescope. After all, Africa is a whole continent – everyone else should take notice.

“You have to remember over there it’s not a niche genre,” he says. “African music has a mainstream home in Africa. So I think that the genre will continue to develop and thrive as the continent does – it’s one of many growing exports.”

African beats are back, under new management

 

[BigMan]

Caribbean populating breeding themselves out in the U.K.

 

[IllmaticDelta]

Caribbean populating breeding themselves out in the U.K.

 

[IllmaticDelta]

Ethio-Jazz

One of Ethiopia’s greatest innovations, Ethiopian Jazz, termed “Ethio-jazz,” is a unique fusion of traditional Ethiopian music with jazz, Afro-funk, soul, and Latin rhythms. Marked by eerie and ancient-sounding tones, typical of traditional Ethiopian music, Ethio-jazz also displays the sensual undertones of soulful jazz

Revered Ethiopian jazz musician Mulatu Astatke has become an icon to music lovers of all stripes based on the appeal of his musical hybrid "Ethio-Jazz." For his first solo album in over 20 years, Astatke carefully refined his formula, delivering a sublime set of sounds. Here he explains the influences and process for the tracks on the album. Mulatu Steps Ahead is out March 30th on Strut.

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A Conversation With Mulatu Astatke: On Heliocentrics, Ethio-Jazz and Ellington

Rivaling Fela Kuti, King Sunny Ade, Franco, Tabu Ley Rochereau, and a handful of others, Mulatu Astatke ranks among the most influential African musicians of all-time.

The father of Ethio-Jazz, the Berklee-trained Mulatu was the first of his countryman to fuse American jazz and funk, with native folk and Coptic Chuch melodies. The leading light of the "Swingin' Addis-"era, Astatke is often acknowledged as the star of the epic Ethiopiques Series, At least, according to filmmaker Jim Jarmusch, who included songs from the Mulatu-arranged and composed, Vol. 4, in his ode to midlife melancholia, Broken Flowers.

His latest album, Mulatu Astatke & The Heliocentrics-Inspiration Information 3, finds him collaborating with the titular UK-based jazz-funk eight-piece. Born out of a serendipitous turn that led to the band backing Mulatu's first UK gig in 15 years, Mulatu and the Stones Throw-signed outfit decided to record a new album composed of originals and re-worked older compositions. Released yesterday on Strut, the finished product ranks among the year's finest, and adds another succesful chapter to Mulatu's unimpeachable legacy.


During the 1970s, Ethiopia was ruled by a fairly repressive government. How did the political situation affect your music?

It didn't. I've always said, 'leave the politics to the politicians.' It takes all kinds of professional people to build a country--my role is to develop the culture and introduce the whole world to Ethio-jazz.

You've spoken in the past about meeting Duke Ellington in the early 1970s. What was the experience like? Did you play together? Talk about music? Exchange tips?

I was assigned by the Embassy to be Ellington's escort while he was in Addis. We both stayed at the Hilton in Addis and, whatever he needs or wants to know about Ethiopia, I was his guide. I had always admired him as an arranger, composer and bandleader. During my music studies, I had analyzed his work in detail. During his visit, I showed him some of the cultural musical instruments, which he found really interesting. Some of our cultural musical players jammed with Ellington's guys - we went to the U.S. Information Centre in Addis and played together. I then took him to the King's palace and he was given a medal by Emperor Heile Selassie. It was a big ceremony.

We were due to play an evening concert so I discussed with him if he would consider playing one of my arrangements. I wrote an arrangement of 'Dewel' for his band, a different version which included some beautiful voicings on the horns. He found the structures so interesting and I remember him saying, 'This is good. I never expected this from an African'. He made my day. His visit to Ethiopia remains one of the greatest moments in my life.

What was the inspiration to create Ethio-jazz. In addition to your American counterparts' jazz fusion styles, what native influences and past Ethiopian composers helped inspire the new sound?

During the mid-'60s, no one was really fusing Ethiopian music with jazz. There was Heile Selassie's First National Theatre Orchestra and the police and the army had orchestras. Then there were bands like the Echoes and the Ras Band. The musicians at the time were playing melodies around the four Ethiopian modes using techniques like 'cannon' forms, with melody lines echoing each other. With Ethio jazz, I consciously wanted to expand and explore the modes. My music brought in quite different harmonic structures and a different kind of soloing.



Does it feel rewarding that American culture has finally discovered the music from Ethopia in recent years. If so, why do you think it took so long?

It's been so nice, yes. America is a country of privileges for people. To have access to that privilege and have the opportunity to record Ethio-jazz all those years ago is something I always appreciate. I'm not sure why it took so long. I personally was never discouraged, I always just kept on playing. It needed people to find the original music and make it available in the right way. The 'Ethiopiques' series and film director Jim Jarmusch ('Broken Flowers') gave it a great chance to be heard and Karen P, Strut Records and the Heliocentrics are carrying the flame forward. The live shows I do now have shown me how this music is now accepted all over the world. It gives me great encouragement and I love to do this for Ethiopia and for Ethiopian culture. Ethiopia itself is slowly waking up to the music too. Africa is emerging and Ethio-jazz is in the best position to fly the flag for the future of Africa. I really believe that.

Are there any young and notable Ethiopian musicians that you've worked with, whom you think may not have yet crossed over but should?

I play with a number of different musicians at my club in Addis, the African Jazz Village. There's one kid who plays there on Saturdays called Bebesha, a guitarist. He has a good future and he is a great fan of Ethio-jazz.

You recently completed a Radcliffe Fellowship at Harvard. Can you talk about what led you to pursue that, and your work on the project?

This has been great for Ethio jazz. The idea was to write a book of what Ethiopia has contributed to development of music and arts. During my time there, I made a lot of talks to 30 fellows of Harvard, with three other composers, some from Japan. We had great researchers and professors. As a team we gave presentations and discussed at length the development of classical music and jazz and the music, customs and instrumentations happening in Ethiopia that pre-date all of this by many centuries. I had written an opera based on music from the Ethiopian Coptic church, which was analyzed. My time there finished with a great evening of Ethio-jazz and a performance of the opera with Either/Orchestra.

After Harvard, I later won an Abrowsie Grant to go to M.I.T. We did a lot of experimental work there. Most Ethio musicians tend to pick up the guitar as a starting point and, at M.I.T., I was looking to upgrade the krar (Ethiopian stringed instrument) to be able to play Western 12-tone music. For me, this is an essential step in encouraging Ethiopian musicians to stick to our culture.

Are you working on any new music currently? If so, what sorts of things?

Yes, I have recorded a group of tracks for a new album, which I have called 'Mulatu Steps Ahead'. It's more reflective and jazz-based than the album with Heliocentrics but I'm really pleased with it. It takes Ethio-jazz into another new direction.

How has the creative process evolved for you as you've gotten older?

I suppose I have learned to place Ethio-jazz into different situations. From essentially experimenting with the first recordings during the '60s, I have since adapted the music to write operas and soundtracks for a lot of Ethiopian plays, including a major piece for the National Black Arts Festival in Nigeria. I have tried to keep an open mind with my music and have been lucky enough to play with a lot of wonderful artists in many different situations. It has all helped to keep the music fresh, I hope.

What achievements are you most proud of?

The Ellington visit to Ethiopia and accompanying concert will always be a highlight. For my own music, just to see the interest today and the way it still excites people all over the world is very special.

You've worked tirelessly to teach younger generations between your work at the African Jazz Village and Harvard. What do you think it is that draws you to teaching?

I do try and be a kind of ambassador for Ethiopian music and culture and to dispel the myths that have become accepted as fact in the West. In my research around Ethiopian music, I have found people like the Darasha tribespeople who have used a diminishing scale in their music for centuries. In Western music history, this is a technique attributed to Be Bop, to the music of Charlie Parker. It has made me determined to tell the facts as they are to the wider world. We have to find out who came first, how things really happened.

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A Conversation With Mulatu Astatke: On Heliocentrics, Ethio-Jazz and Ellington

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Ambassador of Ethio-Jazz

Mulatu Astatke at 67, is an extraordinary multi-instrumentalist, arranger and composer, who uses his incredible talent as a tool to elevate social consciousness in the little-known neighborhood of Addis Ababa. Among tight circles of the well informed — i.e., the beatmakers, musicians, and vinylphiles — Mulatu’s oeuvre, which spans four decades, has earned him a dedicated cult following. However, only as recently as the late 90’s did people finally take notice in the U.S., underpinned by Francis Falceto’s distribution of the Ethiopiques series, Buda_Musique . He single-handedly chronicled a wealth of 70’s Ethiopian soul & pop music that survived the Derg’s bloody military regime (1977-‘91), whose draconian laws repressed the cultural expression of the neighborhood.

For casual listeners, the discovering of Mulatu’s music has been largely fortuitous. Some caught its tail end as it dissipated into the club atmosphere like the diaphanous trails of a cigarette. Others have stumbled upon it through Jim Jarmusch’s film, Broken Flowers (2005). The movie’s soundtrack, composed principally by Mulatu, plays the alluring melodic counterpoint to Bill Murray‘s errant, rather stoic ‘Don Juan’ character, a man past his prime and internally grappling with mid-life crisis. Mulatu’s music provides emotional balm to an otherwise nerve-wracked road trip Murray takes in search of his estranged nineteen-year-old son.

Through a variety of platforms like these, Ethio-jazz reemerged onto the American scene, and Mulatu was regarded the hip innovator of jazz and Latin grooves. Yet when all was said and done, would his music gradually be obscured on dust-gathered shelves; relegated to the fate of esoteric legends? It would seem that his story could have ended there. Instead, Mulatu chose to redefine the musician’s role. Rolling up his sleeves, he engaged himself in the two-pronged process of actively building the community within his hometown and raising public awareness in the global arena.

In 1958, Mulatu began his musical odyssey as the first African student to enroll at the prestigious Berklee College of Music. When asked to recall his experience, he responded that it was a rather “painful memory” due to feelings of isolation; he quickly countered, though, that “the teachers were amazing” and their “ways of teaching music so beautifully worked out that [students] were able to naturally understand jazz music.” Despite the emotional difficulties, his resilient spirit and top-notch education nurtured in him the desire to contribute to the vast lexicon of American jazz. What humbly started off as a student experiment forty years later became an internationally recognized form of music called Ethio-jazz: a syncretic style comprised of seductive Ethiopian melodies intertwined with American jazz and peppered with distant strains of reggae and funk backbeats.

Also around that time came President Kennedy’s landmark inauguration of a program that would forever change the cultural course of Ethiopians. His Peace Corps initiative led a large influx of American college students into the region of Addis Ababa. By virtue of the distinctly modern character it acquired through such intermingling, the neighborhood assumed the new identity of “Swinging Addis”, a hip and progressive community where music reigned supreme. The youth touted the latest fashion, decked out in bell-bottoms and miniskirts and sporting huge ‘fros and beehives. Motown records were the hottest commodity, and the Addis youth quickly befriended Americans who helped import their musical fix. Soon after, Ethiopian youths inspired by such Stax legends as Marvyn Gaye and James Brown concocted their own special brew of Ethiopian pop and soul.

 

[BigMan]

Half of them sre mixed anyway

 

[The Odum of Ala Igbo]

Ethio-Jazz











Revered Ethiopian jazz musician Mulatu Astatke has become an icon to music lovers of all stripes based on the appeal of his musical hybrid "Ethio-Jazz." For his first solo album in over 20 years, Astatke carefully refined his formula, delivering a sublime set of sounds. Here he explains the influences and process for the tracks on the album. Mulatu Steps Ahead is out March 30th on Strut.

.
.

A Conversation With Mulatu Astatke: On Heliocentrics, Ethio-Jazz and Ellington

Rivaling Fela Kuti, King Sunny Ade, Franco, Tabu Ley Rochereau, and a handful of others, Mulatu Astatke ranks among the most influential African musicians of all-time.



A Conversation With Mulatu Astatke: On Heliocentrics, Ethio-Jazz and Ellington

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Can't see but is Tilahun (?) Gessese mentioned there?

 

[ski]

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Will check him out later


Don't want to hijack the thread but this is a good article . African music is becoming very popular in the Caribbean especially afrobeat and kizomba

https://www.google.com/amp/www.thef...-trinidad-carnival-olatunji/amp?client=safari

Can't stand the Timaya, Olatunji version of Soca.

 

[Bawon Samedi]

Damn the Root is picking up steam...