2010 Year End Favorites

By Marc Bruner

Here's some of my favorite world music releases for the year:

Orchestra Poly Rythmo de Contonou, Analog Africa No. 6, Echos Hypnotiques. More great vintage stuff from the people at Analog Africa. This is fantastic funky music.

Legends of Benin, Analog Africa No. 5.

Yet more awesome funky vintage shit. Let's hope they keep digging this stuff up for us.

Daby Balde, Le Marigot Club Dakar.

Beautiful folk music from Senegal.

Orchestra Baobab, La Belle Epoque.

Early live recordings from Dakar and Paris. I love pretty much everything they do (or have done).

Justin Adams and Juldeh Camarah, Tell No Lies.

Searing desert blues. Drink plenty of water.

Oumou Sangare, Seya.

Fantastic album that mixes modern and traditional to just the right effect.

Rail Band, Belle Epoque Vol. 3 - Dioba.

You need the whole three volume set, because you need six full discs of the Rail Band! Well, that's at least how I think about it. But seriously, this is timeless Malian jam-band rock at its very best.

Vieux Farka Toure, Fondo.

I think guitar playing runs in his family. The album is great, but the live show is truly awesome.

Zap Mama, Recreation.

I must admit I don't listen to this as much as the others, but the sound is quite diverse and very innovative.

Abdoulaye "Djoss" Diabate, Sara.

One of the best new releases for traditional West African singing and instrumentation.

Gangbe Brass Band: "What Goes Around Comes Around"

By Robert Fox

The Gangbe Brass Band has begun to achieve some well-deserved recognition for their amazing and unique sound, which combines the traditional drumming and rhythms of their native Benin with modern jazz and marching band arrangements. Listeners will recognize their sounds from New Orleans second line street music, and Gangbe Brass Band captures a similar carnival flavor with its groovy flair and biting horns. Formed by 8 young jazz musicians from Cotonou, Gangbe has created an unusual mix of music that will make you move in any language.

The Calabash Music website has a sampling of all the songs off their most recent album, “Whendo,” which they describe as “an extraordinary blend of voodoo rituals, with songs sung in a variety of African dialects backed up by dazzlingly electric performances.” The BBC’s Africa On Your Street website adds this:

While the voices and sometimes tonal percussion leave you in no doubt about their West African roots, the horns echo African military bands and European/American brass bands. The loping interplay of euphonium, trumpet, sax and trombone on "Segala", and the glorious swagger of "Oblemou" wouldn't sound out of place at a Mardi Gras in New Orleans (a city that has its own "voodoo" roots, which arose from its historical connection to Haitian "vodou"). And of course, that tradition began in very much the same part of West Africa that Gangbé Brass band hail from. What goes around comes around, as they say.

All Music Guide also provides a perspective on “Whendo”, highlighting Gangbe's tribute to Fela Kuti:

For their third outing, Benin's Gangbé Brass Band cast their net ever wider. Of course, there's the traditional sound, mixed with jazz, but this time it's from the music of New Orleans through to be bop, all played with consummate skill and fun, all grounded by some wonderful percussion, including plenty of stuttering talking drum. It's also a political record, lyrically concerned with Africa, its poverty and wars. But they also find much to celebrate, delving into an interesting take on Afro-beat with "Remember Fela," which also shows good familiarity with high-life music and the juju style of King Sunny Ade. More than ever before, this is where the pieces, both African and American, come together. The soloing is more confident, and everything crisper, while the percussion has become a more important factor. This is a band that's really found itself, with gusto and pleasure.

Readers of The Afrofunk Forum will definitely want to check these guys out if you haven't already. You can purchase downloads of Gangbe Brass Band from Calabash Music, or buy any of their first three CDs. I would love to see them live---any concert reports out there?

DJ Thick: Aluja/Shushtari

by David Font-Navarrete

Here's another exclusive mashup for the AfroFunk people by DJ Thick: "Aluja/Shushtari". Click on the link for "new MP3 mixes".

This track is a mix of two amazing recordings from Smithsonian Folkways with my own minimal electronic beats and effects.

"Aluja" is a bata rhythm for Shango, the Yoruba orisha (divinity) of thunder, dance, and drumming, recorded on "The World's Musical Traditions, Vol. 8: Yoruba Drums from Benin, West Africa". "Shushtari" is a ney (flute) improvisation by the legendary Iranian musician Hassan Kasa'i, recorded on "The Silk Road: A Musical Caravan". The track was arranged in Ableton Live.

Close your eyes, nod your head, shake your ass ... and stay tuned.

Gangbe Brass Band – Music From Benin, With A Touch Of New Orleans

By Marc Bruner

What does Benin (formerly Dahomey), a small West African nation, have in common with New Orleans? Perhaps more than you’d think. Just listen to Whendo, the latest release from Gangbe Brass Band, a ten-piece band that blends traditional African percussion and call and response vocals with a jazzy big brass sound. The result is music that is fresh, playful, joyous, and soulful. Many of the songs would fit right in on a New Orleans street corner.

The connection goes a long way back and is perhaps not all that surprising. Slaves from Dahomey brought with them to Haiti their voodoo traditions, including ritual dancing and singing, which ultimately made their way to New Orleans.

There are other connections and influences as well. Various songs on Whendo recall Afrobeat, Juju music, Afro-Cuban jazz, and even bebop. Check out the Gangbe Brass Band, and see (and hear) just how small a place the world really is.

Smithsonian Global Sound

By David Font-Navarrete

Every lover of roots music with an internet connection should visit Smithsonian Folkways and Smithsonian Global Sound. You can browse an enormous, one-of-a-kind collection of essential music and information from around the world, download individual tracks in high-quality MP3 format and archival-quality FLAC format ... all without "security" algorithms that prevent you from transferring or sharing your purchases. From the Global Sound website:

"Smithsonian Global Sound delivers the world's diverse cultural expressions via the Internet in an informative way for a reasonable price. It also helps encourage local musicians and traditions around the planet through international recognition, the payment of royalties, and support for regional archives ... Launched in February 2005, SGS initially offers almost the entire Folkways and Smithsonian Folkways Recordings collections and the holdings of two regional archives: the International Library of African Music (ILAM), in Grahamstown, South Africa, and the Archives and Research Center for Ethnomusicology (ARCE), in New Delhi, India."

Some personal favorites from the Global Sound catalog:

Conga de Los Hoyos de Santiago de Cuba: "Conga de Santiago" on "Carnaval in Cuba" (FW04065): A tour through the mighty carnival music of my mother's hometown, complete with corneta china (double reed flute) and one of the most ass-shaking grooves known to humanity.

Tiroro: "Best Drummer in Haiti" on "Tiroro (Haitian Drums)" (COOK05004): A legend of Haitian drumming and singing solo. This is not hi-fi recording, but it is absolutely one of the most powerful percussion displays I've ever heard. Unbelieveable.

Bata ensemble of Sakete, Benin: "The Bata Repertoire for Shango in Sakete: Omenega" on "The World's Musical Traditions, Vol. 8: Yoruba Drums from Benin, West Africa" (SFW40440): Yoruba traditional music is an essential ingredient in Afrobeat, and the Bata drums are the supreme musical symbol of Yoruba tradition. Listen to this smoldering hot rhythm for the Yoruba deity of thunder and dance. Kaabiyesi o!

Also, check out Radio Global Sound and Radio Africa. Hours of gourgeous, rare music, streaming for FREE. Enjoy!