New release by Ali Farka Toure and Toumani Diabate

By Robert Fox

World Circuit Records has announced the release of a posthumous recording by guitar legend Ali Farka Toure, teaming up with kora master Toumani Diabate. Titled "Ali and Toumani," it's due out in February 2010.

The CD will be a follow up to their first collaboration, the 2005 Grammy Award-winning "In the Heart of the Moon." Issued just before Farka Toure's passing in 2006, it was celebrated for its deep, relaxing grooves, superb musicianship and cross-cultural vibe. Mojo magazine called it "the most beautiful music on Earth."

The Guardian on the first album:

The guitarist is from the north of Mali, one of the breakthrough world music artists of the 1980s and 1990s, whose "African blues" alerted a generation of guitar-loving rock fans to the treasures that lay outside the Anglo-American faultlines of rock'n'roll. And Diabaté is from the south - a Mandé griot schooled in a tradition that can be traced back to the 13th century.

...

We're used to world music hybrids between east and west; between electric and acoustic; and between the head and the heart. One of the distinctions of this album is that it is a hybrid of two Malian traditions that rarely meet. Though Diabaté and Touré have known and admired each other for many years, they have hardly ever played together. This gives their collaboration a special quality: it is simple yet richly detailed, spontaneous yet courteous.

Any new material from Ali Farka Toure is to be treasured, especially if it includes a collaboration with "Jimi Hendrix of the kora."

The sessions also feature Cuban bass genius Orlando "Cachaito" Lopez, who died earlier this year. Cachaito is famous around the world for his stellar performances on the Buena Vista Social Club recordings. But he also boasts decades of incredibly tasteful playing on his own solo recordings as well as on countless other seminal tracks with groups such as Orquesta Riverside and Irakere.

World Circuit has pre-released one of the tracks from the upcoming CD, "Kala Djoula," which you can listen to or purchase here. And check out this very cool video of the artists performing the song:

There's also a nice short film on the making the recording. Priceless footage: enjoy!

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.

Louis Armstrong: “Nothin’ happen I ain’t never seen before.”

By Robert Fox

On television once, I saw some amazing interviews where people describe seeing Louis Armstrong's band in the 1920s. Early in Armstrong's career, the band traveled by paddle boat up the Mississippi River from New Orleans, stopping in every town along the way to play in the boat's ballroom.

In the interviews, various witnesses recall the overwhelming power, volume and rhythmic sophistication of those concerts on the paddle boat. It was before instruments were amplified, before radio and records were widespread, before modern jazz had ever been heard before. The big band was the Marshall stack of the era.

Given how fluid music is across borders these days, it's hard to imagine the searing impact Armstrong's band must have had at the time, especially in rural America. Some of the people interviewed described it as a life-altering experience that changed them forever, and made them want to become musicians from that moment forward.

Yesterday, there was a great article about Louis Armstrong by Michiko Kakutani in The New York Times. The piece is a review of a new biography by Terry Teachout, titled "Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong." The review sums up nicely the musical tidal wave he created, a wave that still laps up on shores everywhere:

Louis Armstrong, a k a Satchmo, a k a Pops, was to music what Picasso was to painting, what Joyce was to fiction: an innovator who changed the face of his art form, a fecund and endlessly inventive pioneer whose discovery of his own voice helped remake 20th-century culture.

...

Mr. Teachout reminds us of Armstrong’s gifts: “the combination of hurtling momentum and expansive lyricism that propelled his playing and singing alike,” his revolutionary sense of rhythm, his “dazzling virtuosity and sensational brilliance of tone,” in another trumpeter’s words, which left listeners feeling as though they’d been staring into the sun.

...

“Even before his face became known to the readers of newspapers and illustrated magazines — and, later, to filmgoers and TV viewers,” Mr. Teachout writes, “Armstrong was the first jazz musician whose voice was heard by large numbers of people. In this way he emerged from behind the anonymity of the recording process and impressed his personality on all who heard him, even those who found most instrumental jazz to be unapproachably abstract. It was the secret of his appeal, and he knew it.

...

Although Armstrong’s life story has been told many times before, Mr. Teachout does a nimble job of reconjuring the trajectory of Armstrong’s experience, which coincided with — or was in the vanguard of — so many formative events in 20th-century Afro-American history, from the Great Migration that brought many Southern blacks North to cities like Chicago to the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and ’30s. He recounts the travails of touring that Armstrong experienced in a still segregated South, to his acclamation in Europe in the ’30s and ’40s and the mainstream American success he finally achieved in the ’50s.

The reader gets a dramatic snapshot in this volume of Armstrong’s life on the mean streets of New Orleans, where he grew up, the illegitimate son of a 15-year-old country girl, among gamblers, church people, prostitutes and hustlers; his adventures in gangland Chicago and Jazz Age New York; the rapid metamorphosis of this shy, “little frog-mouthed boy who played the cornet” into the most influential soloist in jazz; and the long, hard years on the road, crisscrossing the United States dozens of time, playing so many one-nighters that he often came off the stage, in his own words, “too tired to raise an eyelash.”

As Mr. Teachout astutely points out, Armstrong’s trumpet playing, like his singing and copious writings (including two published memoirs and countless letters, which he pecked out on a typewriter he brought with him on the road), was the means for Armstrong to reflect on all that he had witnessed. “I seen everythin’ from a child comin’ up,” he said once. “Nothin’ happen I ain’t never seen before.”

Boppers and avatars of the cool, in turn, rejected Armstrong’s desire to entertain the audience — to mug and clown on stage. And yet even Miles Davis, who in rejecting Satchmo’s crowd-pleasing ways went so far as to turn his back on the audience, acknowledged that the history of jazz radiated out from Louis Armstrong: “You can’t play nothing on trumpet,” Davis said, “that doesn’t come from him.”

In a companion piece also in the Times, music critic Ben Ratliff breaks down an astounding 1933 video clip of Armstrong playing "Dinah" in Denmark:

Ratliff:

This is a short and efficient answer for why he was and is important. You sense he’s building his brand — the stuff with the handkerchief, getting up in the viewer’s grill, popping his eyes at .55 — but it’s still pretty extreme, and exciting. Look at how he felt music, and moved to it. (Especially .10-.20, that davening kind of thing: James Brown did that too.) Listen to the way he chopped up rhythm, sailing his phrases over the beat. You want to say he’s imitating a trumpet when he sings, but then you want to say vice versa, so neither can be true. He’s continuous, playing or singing something nearly all the way through, making his body part of the performance. Also, watch the band’s feet.

Chopteeth and Kinobe & Soul Beat Africa w/ Head-Roc

This is going to be a fantastic show!

On Saturday, November 28th, Chopteeth returns to the Black Cat in Washington, DC for a dynamic evening of African dance music. You can count on Chopteeth for explosive 1970s West African big band classics as well as critically-acclaimed original music inspired by afrobeat, highlife and African rhumba. Big horns, raging guitars and driving rhythms—there’s never a dull moment once the band's funk train starts rolling.

Kinobe and Soul Beat Africa will open the evening with its internationally-celebrated synthesis of African roots and world music. The BBC calls Kinobe "some of the most exquisite music coming out of Africa today." Traditional African instruments – koras, kalimbas, adungus, endongos, ngonis, drums – blend with guitars and keyboards, and draw on influences from around the globe. All Music Guide praises the group for its "effortless virtuosity." Kinobe and Soul Beat Africa present a scintillating new groove and an amazing performance.

Head-Roc, the Mayor of DC hip-hop, will join Chopteeth on stage for a special guest appearance, bringing his trademark blend of truth-telling and beats.

Saturday, November 28

The Black Cat

1811 14th St NW

Washington, DC 20009

(202) 667-4490

9PM - $15

Buy advance tickets

About Chopteeth

Chopteeth is a 14-piece Afrofunk orchestra exploring the common groove between the funkiest, most hip-shakin’ West African and American popular music. Chopteeth’s sound is a spicy stew of modern jazz, Yoruba tribal music and burning, James Brown-inspired rhythms, The band has electrified dance audiences in the Washington, DC and Baltimore region since 2004. The Washington Post described Chopteeth “a sensation” and “one of DC’s funkiest bands.” Chopteeth was featured on National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition for its “afrofunk with lunatic energy,” while Baltimore Magazine raved about Chopteeth’s “epic live shows.” The band’s debut CD was released in September 2008 and met with international critical acclaim: “thunderous and potent” (Billboard Magazine); “wonderfully fresh” (All Music Guide); “socially conscious and raucous” (All About Jazz). In February 2009, the Washington Area Music Association awarded Chopteeth its Artist of the Year Wammie Award as well as Wammie Awards for Best World Music Group, Best World Music CD and Best Debut CD. Chopteeth appears regularly at many of the top area music venues including The Kennedy Center, Strathmore, The 9:30 Club, The Black Cat and many others.

About Kinobe & Soul Beat Africa

Kinobe (pronounced “Chi-No-Bé”) is an accomplished musician from Uganda whose early abilities in traditional African music quickly garnered acclaim on the world stage. Kinobe has toured the African continent for more than a decade performing with such figures in African roots music as Toumani Diabate, Youssou N’dour, Salif Keita, Angelique Kidjo, Oliver Mtukudzi, Baaba Maal, Ismael Lo, and many others. His band Soul Beat Africa is the new voice of Ugandan music. They have been bringing their energetic and highly visual show to audiences across Europe and Africa for years. These musicians represent the new vanguard of Ugandan performers, gifted instrumentalists steeped in the music of their homeland, but with ears opened to the sounds of the world at large. Driving poly-rhythms underlay transcendent melodies, touching audiences throughout the world.

About Head-Roc

For over the past 15 years Head-Roc has come to embody the passions, hopes and dreams of a wonderfully talented and all too often overlooked DC music scene. Head-Roc’s honest and relevant lyrics are a refreshing change in this current era of corporate Hip-Hop exploitation. His music has inspired many in the progressive movement to rethink Hip Hop’s potential for achieving social change and he is widely regarded as one of the key voices in this movement!

Dubwise: U-Roy The Originator

By Robert Fox

U-Roy has been a major presence in my sonic landscape over the last few months. The godfather of toasting and hip-hop pioneer, he created some of the most memorable tracks in the history of reggae. Collaborating with an incredible list of musicians over the years, U-Roy virtually invented a whole new genre of music. It's still as fresh today as ever. Once these songs get into your head, they never come out. 

Background from All Music Guide:

"Known as the Originator, U-Roy wasn't the first DJ, nor even the first to cut a record, but he was the first to shake the nation and he originated a style so distinctly unique that he single-handedly changed his homeland's music scene forever...His toasts were utterly relaxed and conversational, yet always in perfect synchronicity with the rhythms."

And from Trouser Press:

"Just as dub reggae anticipated funk and rock remixes, toasters — chanting reggae DJs — prefigured rap. U-Roy (Ewart Beckford) was one of Jamaica's first DJs to graduate from sound systems to chart success in the late '60s. (Indeed, for several weeks early in 1970, he had three records — "Wear You to the Ball," "Wake the Town" and "Rule the Nation" — atop the charts on Jamaica's two radio stations.) His signature style is plain and direct: he shrieks and chants over the instrumental tracks of other hits, interrupting and talking back to the vocals. When he first appeared, such musical antics were unprecedented on record, and he became an immediate sensation. While it can't be said that U-Roy invented toasting, he's considered the style's godfather, and an inarguable reggae pioneer."

Behold this priceless footage of U-Roy toasting "Versions Galore," which was originally recorded for the 1973 Trojan release of the same name, produced by Duke Reid ("Versions galore, you can hear them by the score, I could give you some more for sure..."). Amazing--this is what the invention of rap looks like!:

And how about this gem from the Heartland Reggae documentary--U-Roy at the peak of his powers (and dig the threads!):

Fela Musical Moves to Broadway

By Robert Fox

Great review of Bill T. Jones's Broadway musical "Fela!" in today's New York Times.

I know that's an unexpected combination of words in a single sentence. However the critically-acclaimed show features serious music performed and arranged by key members of Brooklyn's Antibalas, and it provides a new platform to expand Fela's message and tell his story. This week the show moved to a major Broadway venue--the Eugene O’Neill Theater--following a highly successful Off-Broadway run. David McDavitt wrote a very positive review of the performance last year on this blog.

The New York Times piece gives a valuable stamp of approval to the show (Broadway shows are known to close immediately after a negative review in the Times). Here are some higlights:

Fela who? On Broadway?

Those are basic questions that “Fela!” faces when it opens on Monday. The show has moved from a widely praised Off Broadway production, last year at 37 Arts, to the larger and more mainstream realm of the Broadway musical — from 299 seats to 1,050. Amid theaters filled with more recognizable fare — movie adaptations, revivals, jukebox musicals — “Fela!” seems downright quixotic. Although the music that Fela invented, Afrobeat, and the central events of “Fela!” are familiar to Africans, in the United States Fela (as Kuti is usually called) is largely unknown except by African-music devotees and fans of political music.

...

The goal “Fela!” has set for itself is to be true to his music and his impact while reaching a Broadway musical audience. It is, inevitably, a translation, but one governed more by respect and ambition than by show-business routine. “Fela!” juggles the conflicting demands of Mr. Jones’s own artistic leanings — in a celebrated career that has often pondered history, race and sexuality — and the commercial imperatives of Broadway, where theatergoers’ idea of African music might begin and end with “The Lion King.”

...

“Fela!” shakes up its environment, making a Broadway theater look like a club.

The chronology of the show, set in 1978 but including events from the 1980s isn’t fully accurate, Mr. Jones allowed. Like Fela it prefers the mythic to the mundane and presents its story not through linear narrative but in songs, explosive dances, recollections and flashbacks loosely woven through a performance that Fela gave at the Shrine, his club in Lagos, Nigeria’s capital. It relies on the simmering beat of his music and the indefatigable dancing of an ensemble that regularly spills offstage and into the audience.

The article also includes a nice summary of why Afrobeat inspires so many:

In Africa, Fela, who died at 58 of complications from AIDS, is a figure to rival Bob Marley as both a musical innovator and a symbol of resistance. Afrobeat, the style he forged in the early ’70s, combined African rhythms and messages with the jazz and funk that Fela absorbed during his education in Britain and the United States. Ghanaian highlife, Nigerian Yoruba rhythms, Afro-Cuban mambos, James Brown, John Coltrane, Nina Simone and, yes, Frank Sinatra all flowed into his music, which sounds exactly like none of them.

Afrobeat is insinuating but hard-headed, with stubbornness encoded in its sound and its lyrics. Its grooves are unhurried and hypnotic, with guitar, bass and drums locked into repetitive patterns while voices and horns leap freely. On Fela’s albums songs stretch 10 to 20 minutes, in long, tension-and-release forms. Each track is an excursion through verses, choruses, jagged horn-section lines, call-and-response vocals with Fela’s backup singers and dancers (who were his wives), individual solos and bruising full-band attacks.

It’s music of steadfastness and endurance, of uncompromising determination. It’s also, of course, dance music, made for long nights in clubs. Within the grooves Fela’s lyrics denounce corruption and injustice, call for African values and challenge authority.

Check out these cool video and music samples from the show (and dig the Halliburton reference for a reminder of how some things never seem to change).

It's great to see Antibalas getting the credit they deserve for their superb musicianship and vision. The band is hosting a residency at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn over the next few weeks for those lucky enough to get tickets to see them in their true element.

PS--There will be a special performance of the show on December 10th to support Amnesty International's Global Write-a-Thon as part of worldwide Human Rights Day. Use the code FEL4AMS to receive discounted tickets for the show that day. Amnesty International's prisoner of conscience campaign in the 1970's was instrumental in freeing Fela from prison and torture in Nigeria. Thanks to Nadine Bloch for the heads up on this opportunity to do the right thing!

"Fondo" by Vieux Farka Toure

By Robert Fox

I've spent much of the last few months listening to Vieux Farka Toure's 2009 album Fondo nearly every day. It's one of my favorite recordings in years, featuring an innovative mix of traditional Malian rhythms, an up-to-date sound, great supporting musicians, and (of course) blistering, very special guitar playing. I really like this recording.

Vieux makes waves now wherever he goes, as Marc Bruner noted recently here. Vieux came through Washington, DC not long ago for an impressive evening with Elikeh, the roots afropop group, and heads were spinning.

I had listened to Vieux's first solo album and was impressed, but the new CD breaks ground with its synthesis of different sounds. And did I mention the blistering guitar? Wow.

I'm not the only one taking notice--the CD has received great reviews around the world: "firmly establishes young Toure as a bona fide African guitar hero" (Banning Eyre, NPR); "his finest work to date" (The BBC); "dazzling" (The Guardian); "glistening, reverb-drenched tone recalls Eric Clapton's in the original 'Layla' " (The Boston Phoenix).

And our friends at Modiba Productions have a pretty amazing video of Vieux casually playing acoustic guitar--can he make it look any easier?

Septeto Nacional de Ignacio Piñeiro: "The Inventors of Salsa"

By Robert Fox

After a brief hiatus, the Afrofunk Forum is back! We're looking forward to sharing some new features, including streaming music files from Grooveshark as well as other goodies, so please stay tuned.

Since our last post in March, this site has had visitors from 146 different countries around the world. That's a pretty amazing testament to how the internet is breaking down borders and facilitating communication across national boundaries (in case you were wondering, we're big in Greece apparently, and Athens is the 4th on the list of the 2,800 cities around the world where people are tuning in to this site).

Readers in other countries may not realize, however, that here in the United States, we're largely prevented from meaningful travel to or communication with one of the greatest hotbeds of music in the world: Cuba. Thanks to the United States economic embargo of Cuba, it is illegal under US law for US citizens to travel to Cuba, with few exceptions, or to even purchase anything from a long list of goods produced in Cuba (like CDs). In recent years, the US Government has also largely blocked Cuban musicians from performing in the United States. And of course the Cuban Government has its own harsh travel and communication restrictions--sometimes relaxed for musicians who don't talk about politics.

Therefore it's big news here that salsa giants Septeto Nacional de Ignacio Piñeiro were granted visas by the US Government, and they are now touring in the US. Yesterday's New York Times had a great article about the history and impact of the group, now in its fourth generation of musicians. Here are some highlights:

The Cuban band Septeto Nacional de Ignacio Piñeiro can legitimately claim to be inventors of salsa. But it last played in the United States when Franklin D. Roosevelt was president, and there was no telling when it might be able to return — until the very slightest hint of a thaw in cultural relations between the United States and Cuba quietly brought the band to New York early this month.

...

Founded in 1927 by the bass player and songwriter Ignacio Piñeiro, Septeto Nacional performed at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair and is now composed of a fourth generation of musicians. The word salsa as a name for music from the Spanish-speaking Caribbean derives from a song that Mr. Piñeiro wrote in the 1930s and that the group still uses to open many of its shows: “Échale Salsita,” which means “Throw a little sauce on it” or “Spice it up a bit.”

Septeto Nacional arrived in the United States on Nov. 7, played a concert at Hostos Community College in the Bronx that same evening; did a show the next night at a club in Nyack, N.Y.; spent most of last week performing in Puerto Rico; and then returned to New York on Monday. On Thursday night the band is scheduled to play at S.O.B.’s in the South Village, and then will travel to Miami, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles for additional engagements.

...

The genesis of the current tour dates to 2003, when Cuban performers dominated nominations for the Latin Grammy in the traditional tropical album category. Some of Septeto Nacional’s members wanted to attend that awards ceremony, but were refused visas for reasons they said they still did not understand.

“Maybe they thought we were terrorists and not musicians,” said Frank Oropesa, the band’s bongo player and an arranger. “You know, Ignacio Piñeiro played at the Apollo and recorded at Columbia Studios in the 1920s, and we have always been eager to see those places. So we were disappointed when we couldn’t come.”

For both fans and performers of Latin music in the United States, Septeto Nacional’s return after 76 years has been treated as a historic event and extraordinary opportunity. Contemporary stars like Eddie Palmieri, Cheo Feliciano, Gilberto Santa Rosa and El Gran Combo have attended the band’s shows, and Septeto Nacional’s seven musicians were invited to give a master class at a conservatory in Puerto Rico.

“It’s good for them to know us, and good for us to know them,” Mr. Oropesa said of American musicians. “We hope this kind of exchange can continue, because if you want to be a good musician, it is important to be exposed to as many styles and genres as possible.”

...

Members of Septeto Nacional said that they knew that they were breaking ground on their current tour, and added that they were glad to at last be able to “follow the trail of Ignacio Piñeiro.” But when Ricardo Oropesa, their tour manager, was asked if the group was also here as ambassadors, he seemed eager to steer clear of any political entanglement.

“We are representatives of a people and a style of music, not of a system,” he said. “We have represented Cuban culture in the world for 82 years, and we play Cuban music anywhere that there are Cubans or other people who like our sound, even those who think differently.”

The Timeless Magic of Winston Rodney

By Marc Bruner

Burning Spear's latest release, Jah is Real, shows that the man hasn't lost any of his enormous talent.  It's his first album on his own label, Burning Spear Music, and a testament to what has made him one of the leading figures in reggae music for nearly four decades.  

Producing on his own label is a watershed moment, since the business of reggae has not been kind to the musicians, and Mr. Rodney aka Burning Spear is no exception to this sad history.  As he sings in Wickedness, "they been robbing reggae artist," "our royalties feeding their family," "wickedness since 1969."  His other songs also have a clear, simple moral message:  In People in High Places, he insists that it's "time for you to speak up now"; in One Africa, he urges that "only if you come together now can you gain more than what you lost;" in Stick to the Plan, he calls on reggae singers and musicians to stick to the original vibe, "no worry yourself about big radio, no worry yourself about who they might know"; and in No Compromise, he proclaims, "my music no compromise," "I will pay no one on the side," "take me or leave me, "love me or hate me." As one reviewer describes, Burning Spear's work has always been "serious, defiant and historically aware."

For decades, he's used his music to preach for peace and human rights, serving as the elder statesman of reggae and a cultural ambassador.  In 2007, he traveled to Kenya at the United Nations' request, following widespread violence triggered by a fixed election, and performed for over 60,000 people in Nairobi, bringing people together in extremely difficult times.

The music on Jah is Real has a powerful message, but it is also a joyous celebration of roots reggae, filled with layers of horns, backup vocals, organ, and guitar - all laid over a sweet dub beat. It's a lush sound that recalls Burning Spear's seminal work of the 1970s, but the music is also fresh and current - with some unexpected, but very welcome touches, like gospel backup vocals on "One Africa" and "Grandfather," and Bernie Worrel and Bootsy Collins (of Funkadelic and Parliament fame) on keyboards and bass on some of the tracks.  

The result is yet another must-have from a musical giant and the king of roots reggae.  One of my favorite recent releases, from one of my favorite artists of all time.  From 1969 to 2009 - the spear continues to burn...

Fela Kuti Lyrics

By David McDavitt 

Check out the dedicated Fela lyrics page on the Afrofunk Music Forum here:
http://afrofunkforum.blogspot.com/p/fela-kuti-lyrics.html

This page includes lyrics for the following songs:

1. Authority Stealing
2. Beasts Of No Nation
3. Black Man's Cry
4. Coffin For Head Of State
5. Colomentality
6. Confusion Break Bone
7. Expensive Shit
8. Fear Not For Man
9. Fogo Fogo
10. Go Slow
11. J’ehin J’ehin
12. International Thief Thief
13. Kalakuta Show
14. Lady
15. Monday Morning In Lagos
16. Monkey Banana
17. Mr. Follow Follow
18. Mr. Grammarticalogylisationalism Is The Boss
19. No Agreement
20. Opposite People
21. Original Sufferhead
22. Power Show
23. Question Jam Answer
24. Shakara
25. Shuffering and Shmiling
26. Sorrow, Tears, and Blood
27. Teacher Don’t Teach Me Nonsense
28. Trouble Sleep, Yanga Wake Am
29. Upside Down
30. Water No Get Enemy
31. Yellow Fever
32. Zombie

"AFRICAN REGGAE" by Putumayo

By David McDavitt

Music’s universal language is often most interesting with an accent. Thus lies the brilliance of Putumayo’s latest release: “African Reggae.” This collection is in part an homage to Bob Marley, marking the anniversary of his 64th birthday (Feb. 6th). This is fitting given the boomeranging influence of the music of the African Diaspora.

Just as the Congo powers the world’s cell phones with tantalite metal, precious bits of Africa energize most popular Western music. Even reggae evolved as a fusion of jazz & R&B (both inventions of Africans in the Americas), with roots Afro-Jamaican folkloric music. Fittingly, the roots rock reggae of Marley’s era resonated strongly back in the motherland, inspiring a reggae renaissance in Africa.

At its best, fusion music’s sum is greater than its addends. Fortunately this is the case with “African Reggae.” Like early African reggae artists Lucky Dube, Alpha Blondy, & Toure Kunda, the artists on Putumayo’s, “African Reggae” tantalize with catchy songwriting, and seamlessly integrating African elements into a neo-Afro-roots reggae stylee. This is a enrapturing album brimming with soul-stirring reggae representing many diverse influences. This CD powerfully augments the body of reggae with inspiring new sounds. Rockers mon!

Bottom lines:
* This album is hot- buy it now. It’ll get feet on the dance floor.
* Best fusion of Africa/Jamaica: “Krebo Cheo,” “Magno Mako,” “Vision”
* Best Jamaican style reggae: “Steppin' into Zion,” “Bo Ten Qu'Luta',” “Congo Natty”
* Best non reggae: “Jabulani,”
* Artists whose CD’s you will seek out: Ismael Isaac, Mo'Kalamity, Zoro, Nino Galissa, One Love Family

Track details :

“Magno Mako,” by Cote d’Ivoire’s Ismael Isaac is a catchy roots rock song pleasantly reminiscent of Lucky Dube’s tenor voice, whistling keyboards, and instrumental melodic responses to vocals calls. Melodic elements also suggest Cote d’Ivoire’s Meiway [Zoblazo music]. Isaac grew up in the “Treichtown” (named after Trenchtown) neighborhood of Abidjan, and has polio like Jamaica’s beloved Israel Vibration. A massive 15 piece band, creates tremendous energy. Crucial.

TRY to walk away not humming Mo'Kalamity & the Wizards’ “Vision.” Hailing from France (but born on the Cape Verde Islands, off of Senegal), Mo'Kalamity has a unique , vaguely Cameroonian sound (think Ras Sally Nyolo), mixing afropop & reggae. The band is killer! Mo'Kalamity sings of the irony of human spiritual isolation despite urban overcrowding.

“Congo Natty,” by Burkina Faso’s Bingui Jaa Jammy is a heavy rasta roots song with tasty horns, dub arrangement, and nyahbinghi repeata drum.

“Jabulani,” by Zoro (South Africa) is more R&B soul than reggae, but definitely a stand-out tune! The groove ebbs & flows like the tide, the bass, keys, and African finger-picked guitars weave beautifully around each other. Gorgeous- masterfully played by a crack outfit. Melodic runs by a melodica (blown keyboard) are rootsy & attention grabbing. "Don’t let the problems get you down." Yes I.

I love “Krebo Cheo,” by kora player/griot Nino Galissa (Guinea-Bissau). Sparse heavy reggae bass, a two drop rockers beat, growling organ, timbale, tight Francophone horn arrangements, and sparkling kora ornamental responses. In praise of women who lend support in times of need. Eloquent. Fusion at its height.

“Bo Ten Qu'Luta',” by One Love Family (Cape Verde) is wicked straight up rockers reggae. The band has some of the best reggae rhythm sections out there. Period. Cho! Catchy as the flu & expertly arranged, this is a track you’ll definitely repeat. I bet this family rocks live.

Kwame Bediako’s [Ghana], “Steppin' into Zion,” sounds most like Bob Marley. It has very sophisticated rhythm section & arrangement, built upon one of Carlton Barrett’s (Marley’s drummer) skipping polyrhythmic beats. “Steppin into Zion” has a Rasta theme, and a wonderful low raspy vocal style. Expect to seek Bediako’s CD.

Ba Cissoko never disappoints. And “On Veut Se Marier,”(with reggae artist Tiken Jah Fakoly) is no exception. While not really reggae (save for the upbeat guitar skanks), this track is compelling Afro-fusion. A tight electric Mande griot sound bubbles at several polyrhythmic layers, with call & response vocals & rolling kora flourishes floating atop. Simultaneously foreign & embraceable.

“Jah Libile,” by Serges Kassy (Cote d’Ivoire) is a funky big-band horn reggae tune. Hints of Alpha Blondy & Jamaica’s Burning Spear shine through.

Raw live drumming & masterful horn soloing crown “Man of Sorrow,” by Nigeria’s Majek Fashek. As much afrobeat as reggae, “Man of Sorrow,”is an anthem for hoping for better times ahead. It is catchy but does not reach the heights of Fashek’s earlier, “Beware,” or “I Come from the Ghetto.”

This is a generously diverse collection, offering entertainment, education, and inspiration. Unsparing in tooth & generous of claw, this is a mean release sure to delight fans of African music & proponents of reggae. 1% of all CD sales go to HOPEHIV, benefiting orphans of Aids in Africa. Music’s universal language is often most interesting with an accent.

Douga Mansa - Magnificent Melodies from a Malian Master

By Marc Bruner

Mamadou Diabate is a virtuoso kora player from Mali and his 2008 release "Douga Mansa" is a beautiful work of art. This extremely satisfying solo album preserves the venerable traditions of Mandinka culture while also infusing those traditions with new energy and creativity, creating a sound that is profound and original. But most importantly, the songs are a delight to listen to, with gorgeous, soaring melodies that soothe and invigorate at the same time. It's amazing to think that the only sounds are from Mamadou's kora, as it often seems like there's several musicians playing at once. And the spiritual potency of the music is as compelling as Mamadou's dizzying mastery of his instrument.

Mamadou's musical lineage goes back seven centuries to the time of Sunjata Keita, founder and hero of the Malian Empire. As a teenager in Bamako, Mamadou worked under the tutelage of his famous cousin and relentless innovator, Toumani Diabate, but he quickly gained his own reputation as a brilliant kora player with a unique, fiery style. He then settled in the United States after touring with a group of Malian musicians in 1996, and he continues to awaken new audiences to the magic of his music.

Mamadou says that his father told him to listen to all of the best kora players and to learn from each one. Well, now it's time for young kora players, and anyone interested in the ethereal sounds of this beautiful instrument, to listen to Mamadou.

Water Is Life, Milk Is Survival

By Marc Bruner

If you like Tinariwen (which is one of my very favorite bands these days), you'll definitely dig Akh Issudar, the stunning 2008 album from a band called Terakaft on the World Village label. "Terakaft" means "Caravan" in Tamashek (the language spoken by the Tuareg people of the Sahara desert) and "Akh Issudar" is the second part of a Tamashek proverb, "Water Is Life, Milk Is Survival."

The first part of the proverb, "Aman Iman," is the title of Tinariwen's outstanding 2007 World Village release. As suggested by their linked album titles, the two bands are closely related. One of Terakaft's founding members, Kedou, was part of Tinariwen when they performed at the first Festival of the Desert in 2001, and he also played on Tinariwen's first album, The Radio Tisdas Sessions.

As you might expect, Terakaft's music shares a lot in common with the guitar-driven bluesy desert vibes of Tinariwen. Like the music of Tinariwen, the songs on Akh Issudar are haunting, hypnotic, and beautiful - and the band's minimalist approach powerfully evokes the expanse and solitude of the Sahara. But Terakaft also adds its unique flavor to the mix, creating a distinctive and alluring sound all its own. Some of the songs seem to have a softer, more folksy feel to them, adding a melancholy to the music that balances perfectly with the driving blues-rock numbers.

As one reviewer explains, Terakaft is well-steeped in the poetry of its ancestors, but the band "also knows its way around a Fender guitar" and the music is a "marvelous by-product of globalization." As another reviewer explains, the term "desert blues" or "desert rock" no longer adequately captures the diversity of the music of the Sahara, but whatever you call it, the album is "another reminder that this corner of the world is producing some of the best and most rewarding music out there." So check out Akh Issudar, which is is easily one of my favorite new releases - in any musical genre.

Then and Now

Then:



Now:

Grupo Fantasma at The Black Cat in DC: Friday, Jan 9

By Robert Fox:

One of my favorite bands anywhere is coming to the Black Cat in Washington, DC on Friday, January 9th: the epic Grupo Fantasma. Longtime readers of The Afrofunk Forum know that we're big fans of Grupo Fantasma's devastating cumbia and salsa. Their live shows split atoms and crumble boulders with head-spinning latin funk.

The band is touring in support of their outstanding new album, Sonidos Gold. Grupo Fantasma was at the Black Cat in June with another favorite band of mine Bio Ritmo. Grupo Fantasma put on a clinic and I can promise you that this time will be no different.

Don't believe me? Then check out the rave press reviews for their recent shows, which, if anything, understate the band's impact: "one of the sickest live bands ever" (Philadelphia Weekly); "they blast off in their own funkified, genre-breaking direction" (Billboard); "this freight train of a Latin band will knock you down with the grooves" (The Village Voice); "the decade's most important artist in the Latin genre" (Allmusic Guide). Heard enough? Then get advance tickets here and don't miss the opportunity to see them in Washington, DC, or on another stop of their current tour.

Marc Powers from MN8 provides some background on the band and on the Friday show in DC:

On Friday January 9th a sonic heatwave is set to sizzle DC as Austin's
Grammy-nominated Latin funk orchestra, Grupo Fantasma, performs live at the
Black Cat. The eleven piece unit of Grupo Fantasma is best known for their
exuberant live shows and their recent association with Prince, having backed him
on numerous occasions, including his performance on the ALMA Awards in
2007.

Grupo Fantasma, who just received a Grammy Nomination for Best Latin
Alternative Album for "Sonidos Gold," is currently touring the east-coast for a
string of winter dates. Their DC show will be set off by 2 hometown acts,
namely, Batala, a 14-piece stellar band of female drummers who will be followed
by Nayas, whose Tropical Rock always heats up the crowd. And to top things off,
VIVA 900's DJ Rockactivo will keep the party going between sets with his frentic
mix of Latin jams.

Tickets are $15 and are On Sale Now at all Ticketmaster and Ritmo Latino
Outlets. Doors Open @ 9PM for this All Ages Show.

Chopteeth CD Release Party: Sat, Sept 20!

Washington, DC-based afrofunk group Chopteeth is releasing its debut CD on Saturday, September 20 at a special CD release show at DC club The Black Cat. If you're in the region, come to the party and be the first to own the new recording, which highlights original Chopteeth music on 9 tracks!

The Washington Post highlights Chopteeth’s new CD and the Saturday show with a recommendation from Post music reviewer David Malitz:

The band has become a local sensation—the dozen-plus member outfit cooks up a scintillating stew of Afrofunk, rumba, salsa, ska and funk. The group's live shows have been known to make even the most motionless of concert-watchers flail their limbs and do something that resembles dancing. There's no other band in the area with as funky and wide-reaching sound as Chopteeth... Saturday at the Black Cat, Chopteeth celebrates the release of its self-titled, debut album which does a fantastic job capturing the sweaty energy of the band's live show—not an easy task.

The evening will open with the massive West African percussion and dance orchestra Farafina Kan. Joining Chopteeth onstage will be Grammy-nominated griot Cheick Hamala Diabate, as well as the Mayor of DC hip-hop, Head-Roc. DJ Nitekrawler will spin funk rarities between sets.

Saturday, September 20
The Black Cat
1811 14th St. NW, Washington, DC 20009
202-667-7960All ages—$15—9PM

You can hear samples of the new CD on Chopteeth's MySpace page! The CD will be publicly available on September 23.

FELA ! A New Musical

By David McDavitt

Fela on Broadway? Sounds like a disaster, right? I entered the theater fearing the worst, “Fela, Get Your Gun,” or “West Side Story, Lagos.” Fortunately what unfolded instead was a gritty, hyper-realistic biography of Fela Kuti told in an interview style, bejeweled with Fela’s own afrobeat music! Let’s break this masterpiece down!

Written by Jim Lewis and Bill T. Jones, the story relies heavily upon the best source on Fela: the transcribed interviews by Carlos Moore, “Fela Fela This Bitch of a Life.” Much of the story is biographical FELA 101, including his revolutionary civil rights ideologies, attacks suffered by the Nigerian government, relationship with his activist mother, and development of a novel musical genre, “afrobeat.” For those unfamiliar with Fela and Nigerian pidgin English, the producers thoughtfully include lyric subtitles, and a dictionary in the program. "Fela!" covers much ground, childhood to 1980-ish. Included in the play are some absolute gems of Fela trivia, indicating some serious research. Even I, a pretty diehard Fela fan, learned new facts! Also impressive was a section that deconstructed and then reconstructed “afrobeat” music, describing and demonstrating the sources and evolution of this fusion music in narrative form. Crucial.

The actors are phenomenal! Fela is brilliantly portrayed by Sierra Leone’s Sahr Ngaujah. It is obvious Sahr engaged in considerable scrutiny of the scant available Fela interviews and performances, as he has mastered Fela’s sly charm, fiery tirades, speech patterns and movements. And what isn’t Fela is real West African, filling in the gaps with palpable authenticity. There were a few moments when I found myself more thrilled than normally play-worthy, as if I was witnessing Fela himself at the Shrine nightclub in Lagos, Nigeria! The “Expensive Shit” scene was especially eerily Fela-esque.

Fela’s “Queens” were impressively portrayed by an international ensemble from Haiti, Zimbabwe, Central African Republic, the Netherlands, and the USA. Each conveyed an appropriate air of fierce pride & rebellious Lagos ghetto refinement. Character commitment even carried over to the way they looked at audience members as the queens passed through the aisles- a nod of solidarity to fellow women of African descent, a disdainful glance at oyinbo. The queens’ singing was dead-on, perfectly capturing the haunting shrill lax unison of Fela’s backing vocals.

Their African dancing was expertly choreographed by Bill T. Jones, and masterfully executed. It was so authentically African as to be absolutely natural and transparent.

The music was perfect, performed by members of Antibalas and Akoya afrobeat bands, as well as NYC mercenaries. The band is on stage and visible throughout the performance, lending a “live at the Shrine” feel to the performance. A brilliant decision to use a real afrobeat band! It was lovely to hear them play some Fela hits often avoided by bands because they are so well known. Like a real Fela performance, the band played long before Fela himself appeared (while the audience entered). Though out of chronological order, themed Fela tunes named and punctuated the scenes. And some obscure cuts- not only greatest hits! As the band dropped the first song, the wicked grooved, seldom heard “Everything Scatter,” the hair stood on the back of our necks, and we the audience knew we were in for some serious funking.

ACT 1 Everything Scatter, Yellow Fever, Trouble Sleep, Teacher Don’t Teach Me Nonsense, Lover, Upside Down (with a Sandra Izsadore sound-alike Sparla Swa!), Expensive Shit, ITT/Pipeline.

ACT 2 Water No Get Enemy/Egbe Mi O, Shuffering and Shmiling, Zombie (great choreography), Na Poi, Sorrow Tears and Blood, Dance of the Orishas (trad. bata), Shine (by Johnson, McLean, Lewis), Coffin for Head of State


ANTIBALAS
Conductor/Tromb/Keys: Aaron Johnson
Director: Jordan McLean
Bass: Nick Movshon
Guitar: Marcos Garcia (wow!)
Tenor Sax: Stuart Bogie
Sticks/Shekere: Dylan Fusillo (displaying impressive discipline)

AKOYA

Congas: Yoshihiro Takemasa (yosh!)

INDEPENDENT
Guitar/Keys: Jeremy Wilms (yeah brother)

Drums: Greg Gonzales (most accurate "Water" groove I've heard!)
Bari Sax: Alex Harding (ya mon!)

While all band members are masters of Afrobeat, verbatim sax solos by Antibalas’ Stuart Bogie stole the show despite Fela’s (Sahr’s) lip-synching the sax solos on stage.

Some songs were sung a-cappella to haunting effect (like “Shuffering and Shmiling,” and “Trouble Sleep”). Other songs were spoken as narrative, like parts of “Sorrow Tears, and Blood.” Musically, the only detraction I noticed, was the altering of song lyrics to “translate” them for non-Fela fans. The new lyrics lacked the poetic power and cadence of Fela’s originals. Given the projected subtitles of lyrics, I wish they had “translated” them via projection, and left the songs untouched. The Anglicized lyrics were silly, distracting, and disrupted the rhythm of the vocals. "Coffin for Head of State” and “Trouble Sleep” suffered the most for lyric tampering.

Costuming was accurate down to the smallest details. Those of the queens (Act 1) were especially noteworthy, evoking specific wives of Fela in splendorous stage attire.

The performance was enhanced with projected real and simulated video footage of Fela, the police, soldiers, Lagos, Fela’s mother, etc. It added a captivating dimension. Set change was achieved via sophisticated manipulation of lighting and paint. The sets also employed black light paint (invisible otherwise) that made the set burst into a mystical veve mosaic for a stunning vodou scene. One moment we're in the ruby atmopsphere of the Shrine in Lagos, the next we're dancing with Shango in the magical realm of the Ifa.

The night ended with a generous encore of “Gentleman” with none other than Bill T. Jones dancing up a storm wearing only gray suit pants (very Lagos).

Bottom line, this musical sets a new standard for realism and power. This play is a vehicle for the ultimate Fela tribute band, and likely as close to a live Fela show possible. It would be a crime for "Fela!" not to win a Tony.

King Soul: The Memphis Sound Returns!

By Robert Fox


There's a cool new band currently making waves in the Washington, DC area: King Soul. They've assembled an All-Star lineup of funk, soul and New Orleans-style pros, and these guys can really bring it, resurrecting the old-school Stax sounds with a groovy modern twist.
I saw King Soul recently in Hyattsville, MD, and had a great time with their tight rhythms, powerful horns and clever hooks. I was especially impressed with Tom Clifford's sweaty, grit-filled vocals and high-energy performance. This band keeps the audience on its feet--big fun.


Afrofunk fans who may know Stax best because of Isaac Hayes and The Bar-Kays will find a lot to love here, celebrating the classic early Memphis soul sound. From the King Soul My Space page, in the "sounds like" section:

The way it should be. The sound in your mind. The Truth. Fried Chicken. The sound in your feet. Didn't know I needed it so bad. Red Beans & Rice. That 45 you love. Today as another place, another time.!

If you live in the DC area, definitely don't miss King Soul on Friday, August 29 at Iota in Arlington, VA, which is located at 2832 Wilson Blvd. Thousand $ Car, from New Orleans, will also be joining the bill. The show starts at 9 and cover is $10. See you there

Searching for 'Authenticity' in World Music

By Kenny Eaton


Searching for ‘authenticity’ in music and art creates an uproar of debate amongst those involved. As an American, how can I ever truly experience ‘authentic’ foreign culture, especially music? Experiencing Moroccan music as an American is undeniably different from experiencing it as a native Moroccan, right? For those involved in the quest for 'authenticity', questions like these are commonplace.

I was shown an intriguing article in the Guardian that addresses these issues by our good friend and music supporter, Joe Uehlein. His band, Joe Uehlein and the U-Liners, plays a variety of music in the roots-rock genre and is heavily active on the American East Coast. Check it out:

“Brian Jones had a miserable trip to Morocco. After Keith Richards stole his girlfriend, he followed Paul Bowles's advice to head into the hills above Tangier, to record pre-Islamic Berber trance music in the village of Jajouka. He made the recordings, but during a night of hashish hallucinations saw himself as a sacrificial goat ready for slaughter. On his return to Britain, he was kicked out of the Rolling Stones, then drowned in suspicious circumstances. As a memorial, the Stones issued his Moroccan recordings on their label; in my view, it was the first "world music" recording.

Recordings of "foreign" music had, until then, been sanitised exotica such as the "Banana Boat Song" and "Wimoweh", or exportable indigenous commercial LPs of Latin dance music, or academic field recordings. Jones was the first to take an exotic music on its own authentic terms for no other reason than that he thought it would be entertaining for outsiders.

His motives foreshadowed our own: he felt the Stones had lost their early R&B edge and gone soft with pop success. In Jajouka, he sought a return to the raw energy of the blues records that had maddened his parents back in Cheltenham. The rise of world music in the 1980s was triggered in part by our own disillusion with pop and a search for the kind of energy we once found in Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, Otis Redding, Bob Dylan or even the Stones.

World music festivals today fall into two groups. A quest for authenticity leads audiences to experience "local culture" at events in the Sahara desert, Zanzibar, Essaouira, the Spanish and Colombian Cartagenas, Rajasthan, Siberia, Hungary, Salento, Jamaica and Brazil. Then there are the various Womad and other festivals throughout the European summer that present as wide a variety as possible. The first Womad festival, held in1983 at the ICA in London's Pall Mall, included a concert that captured the range of the world's music. The opening "act" was an Aboriginal group from Arnhem Land who chanted while banging stones together. The second half was a set by the Frank Chickens, a pair of Japanese women who sang themes from monster movies to backing-track cassettes...

In Fez, I got to know a young Moroccan who restores houses - and loves traditional music. Most of his neighbours in the medina, he says, long to move to a modern apartment in the Nouvelle Ville outside the walls. But many who have moved there now tell him they want to come back. He, meanwhile, trains young craftsmen in the techniques that built this magical city, where the urban clamour includes everything imaginable save the sound of the engine. It may not change the world, but I can recommend sitting under an ancient oak listening to even older vocal and instrumental techniques as a way to gather inspiration for the struggles to come.”

Afrofunk Forum Interview with Justin Adams!

By Kenny Eaton

This installment of the Afrofunk Forum holds a special treat. I got the chance to conduct an interview with Justin Adams and discuss his new album, the state of world music and what it means to be a culturally eclectic musician. Justin Adams’ career has been extremely successful- playing alongside former Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant and many of the finest musicians in Africa and Europe for decades.

Justin Adams’ latest release, Soul Science, is an exhilarating look at this intrepid artist. Working alongside Juldeh Camara and Salah Dawson Miller, the group creates a sound blending Europe, Africa, and America into a provocative, wholly unique style.


KE: Where would you place Soul Science in the scope of your personal career and development as a musician?

JA: The past five or six years I 've been working with Robert Plant, studying Delta blues and developing strength and a Rock and Roll edge in my playing, and also with Tinariwen, really getting deep into that Sahara groove- so this was a perfect project to go further in those directions.

KE: What was it like working with Juldeh Camara and Salah Dawson Miller? How did the three of you end up collaborating on this album?

JA: To work with a West African Griot and Master Musician with deep roots and effortless creativity like Juldeh is to play with a force of Nature. Salah is like a brother, we have been playing together on and off for 20 years he has taught me a lot.

KE: Soul Science sounds like it was the product of a more raw, roots-oriented approach to the recording process. Was this a conscious decision to achieve a certain sound, and if so, why? Did this factor into the title of the album?

JA: I get really bored with pristine, clean recordings. I'm a big fan of raw African cassettes, of distorted Sun Blues, Studio One Dub, the Clash, and of the sound when you hear African musicians playing in the street or in nightclubs with PA systems under stress. I find it more exciting . The title of the album refers to the ancient Science of rhythm and melody that we dip into- only the outward forms of our music are new, the architecture was figured out thousand years ago by unnamed minstrels , who knew how to get under your skin.

KE: What sort of audience do you envision for this sort of music collaboration? European? African? Both? How do you see “world music” evolving in this regard?

JA: I'm ridiculously optimistic each time I start a project- I imagine everyone likes what I like. People with similar backgrounds will understand my reference points, but hopefully the music stands on its own,and I know a lot of Africans who are into it. As far as lyrics are concerned, only Fulani speakers are getting the full picture, and I know Juldeh takes that communication very seriously.

KE: The Internet and the proliferation of digital information allow people to gain unprecedented access to new music. Consequently, musicians are blending genres and infusing styles at an ever-expanding rate. As a European musician that incorporates such a diverse range of influences (many of which are non-European), have you run into any particular challenges or obstacles along the way to developing Soul Science?

JA: I've been blending things for such a long time that it would be much harder to try to play anything, including "rock", in a "pure " way. As I play , I play what sounds good to my ears, rather than analysing where each stylistic influence comes from first. It wouldn't work to try to fit Juldeh's music to Western structures or rhythms, although what I play might sometimes sound Western, it fits the African building blocks of the music.

KE: As previously mentioned, the world music market is changing rapidly. With this ever-expanding access to new music, how do you see “world music” evolving in terms of production and performance? Have world music audiences changed in the last decade? Has your musical approach changed as a result?

JA: I think access to really wide forms of music is fantastic, when I was first searching out African and Arabic music in London it was quite hard to find things out, now it's easy and audiences are more informed, which maybe means there is less need to "sugar the pill" for western audiences, not that has ever really been my concern. If I was to campaign for anything in world music production, it would be to keep things raw and untamed, it's so easy to tidy music up with computers and kill it's spirit. And I'm for ultra-traditionalism to survive alongside far out innovation, not interested in the middle of the road much.

KE: You have written and performed your music in both Africa and Europe. Do you approach these audiences differently? How do these listeners affect you as a musician? Do you see global differences in music tastes?

JA: I pretty much just do my thing. When I first played in Africa I was a bit shy, thinking, who am I , a white boy who knows nothing, to play my crude music in front of these people who really know their tradition. But I've found that people all over the world are touched by the spirit of music first and foremost, and really respond to things that touch on their own culture , even if they are a bit different. I've had some beautiful affirmations from African
musicians that I respect so much. Of course there are differences in taste everywhere, sometimes I find raw street music despised in its country of origin, and I am sometimes surprised at peoples tolerance for prog/jazz/metal/jazz guitar solos and cheesy keyboards.

KE: What comes next in the journey of Justin Adams and Soul Science? Can we expect more recordings from this lineup of musicians?

JA:We are currently playing lots of festivals around the UK, Mexico City, Morocco and Siberia, and we may get to another record in the Autumn, and try to take the whole thing to another level- wilder!