Back to Africa Pt 7: Diggin' Jozi

On Saturday after arriving late into OR Tambo ariport and with precious little time on my hands I got downtown to Rashi Valli's Kohinoor store on Market Street. Back in the '80s this store was a regular stop-off on any trip to Johannesburg. (In fact the other store downstairs from Kapiteins Restaurant sometimes had better stock). Anyway I was vainly hoping that stocked away in the basement there may just be a pile of precious vinyl from the seventies period of jazz produced on Valli's As Shams label, including Dick Khoza's Chapita and other items. But it was not to be as the vinyl stock held few surprises. The original artwork that appears on many of the As Shams releases is framed and displayed on the walls and behind glass are eight tracks in original packaging. I got a few interesting things and got Rashid's number from the cashier. Today I spoke to Rashid about the fact that Dick Khoza's LP had sold for $360 on ebay last week and he was amazed. So I'm cooking a plan. On Sunday morning I had the fortune to pick up the Hal Singer LP that was recorded for As Shams at the Rosebank collectors market. Its very mashed up so I'm hoping I get a workable digital transfer when I get back to the UK. Time has been short with business meetings and hooking up with family and old friends. Tomorrow night into Tekwini. Peace

Back to Africa Pt 6: Leaving Lagos

Diesel resupply for the generators in the neighbourhood

The water pipeline...now you know where Fela's song title comes from.

Mantra of sorts

The biggest market I've ever seen

Parting glances from Lagos on Friday as we made a frantic 2 1/2 hour dash to the airport almost missing our connection to Accra.

Back to Africa Pt 5: Street Corner Taxation

In the picture you can see one of the "area boys" attempting to extract a tax from one of the Okada (motorcycle taxi) drivers. I quizzed my work colleague on this yesterday and he laughed. The "area boys" as he called them are basically chancers trying to extort cash from the Okada drivers trying to make an honest living.

Back to Africa Pt 4: Hits from the Lagos streets

Today I picked up two of the biggest selling Nigerian CDs from a street vendor between meetings in Lagos. The first from Asa (pronounced Asha) and the second from 9ice. At a total cost of 400 naira (less than £2) I'm not sure who is making the money here. I first heard 9ice on my way to Abuja city centre when the hit tune Gongo Asa had been playing. Asa (not sure if there is a connection?) I got on the recommendation of my Nigerian work colleague.

ASA MYSPACE
9ICE MYSPACE


9ice at the MTN Campus show

Back to Africa Pt 3: Lagos

Back to Africa Pt 2: Abuja

Lots to tell but not enough time. Enjoy the pictures.

Back to Africa Pt. 1

Its Easter Monday bank holiday in the UK with snow falling and temperatures hovering at around freezing. On top of that I've come down with a nasty sore throat and nasal drip. Not a good start for my journey to Africa which kicks off tonight when I fly directly to Abuja, capital of Nigeria. The trip is a combination of work (and some pleasure) plus a chance to see my dad before he gets put into a nursing home. A little disappointed that I won't be doing any record digging in Lagos or Accra but lets see where the wind takes me. I've packed my malaria tabs, plus some medication for the cold as well as a camera. So all things working well I should be able to post some pictures and reflections here every couple of days. Stay tuned.

You Rub Up You Push Up

From Adam Deeves:
"London in the 1950’s was a cold place in more ways than the obvious. Or so it appeared if you were one of the thousands of newly arrived Jamaicans. Many were overqualified for their menial jobs. Thousands of others quite simply could not get work. Discrimination and racial tensions culminated in fierce riots in both Nottingham and Notting Hill Gate.

It was in this environment that the Jamaican soundmen; Duke Vin and Count Suckle arrived in the UK. They both stowed away on a boat from Kingston and brought with them a sound that was sweeping across the small Caribbean island and would later change the face of music in the UK.

This was the sound of ska! Duke Vin was the main deejay on Tom The Great Sebastian’s Beat Street system in Jamaica and he built the first sound system in the UK in 1956. Count Suckle started the famous Roaring Twenties club on Carnaby Street in 1962 and Daddy Vego was its first deejay.

Daddy Vego would later set up People’s Sound Record Store, a bustling red, green and gold-painted reggae emporium that is the only non-gentrified business on All Saint’s Rd. Forty years ago that same street was rapidly evolving into one of London’s frontlines and a virtual no-go area for the police.

Count Suckle’s Roaring 20’s club was the first club that welcomed black people in London and its electric mix of rhythm and blues, soul and ska made it the busiest clubs in London for years, attracting all the leading musicians of the day.

Now in their 70’s, Vego and Vin, both continue to do as they have always done, promoting and pushing Jamaican music. Daddy Vego is still running his record store and plays a vital role in the Ladbroke Grove community with his youth projects and street fairs. Duke Vin is still a deejay, playing on sound systems at the Notting Hill Carnival and to packed clubs such as Gaz’s Rocking Blues in Soho.

These three men are the last surviving members of a small group of Jamaicans who played an instrumental role in bringing the sound and musical culture of Jamaica to the UK. This is their story and the story of their sound."

West Coast Express

In preparation for my trip to Abuja, Lagos and Accra I've been spinning Disco Funk Special, the next installment in Soundway's Nigeria Special extravaganza. To quote label boss Miles Cleret:

"it is impossible to squeeze the afro scene from Nigeria into one album, you could do twenty albums and still not have covered much of it. There are literally thousands and thousands of records made there, and the vast majority of non Nigerians have never heard it."

Thanks to the good work of Miles, Samy and others we are getting to hear some of what was rocking, grooving and funking Lagos. There's a great podcast with tunes and words from Miles available for download here. More details and other stuff from the Nigeria Special mini-site.

Out now.

Dreaming is free

It's been so long since I really enjoyed a John Zorn album. I lost my way after Naked City and never returned although there have been a number of incredible albums put out by his Tzadik label over the years. My idea of a single desert island disc could easily be Tom Cora's Hallelujah Anyway. I was delighted when I heard about - and then heard - Dreamers, Zorn's new project which combines multiple influences played out by members of Electric Masada. It fucking swings. Take note.

Heres the label's hype: "...The Dreamers is a project of breathtaking variety and will attract listeners of all backgrounds and ages...Seductive lyricism, hypnotic grooves, catchy hooks and romantic moods from this genre-bashing master of surprise.

MYSPACEJUKEBOXLINK

Magic from Mali

My journey back to vinyl was kickstarted whilst living in Sydney during 1999-2004. I met Tony aka Muvimi, compiler of Harare Hits and was blown away by his African music selection that he had pieced together at stores in Melbourne, Sydney and during his travels in Zimbabwe and further afield. This led to regular visits to Red Eye Records, Egg Records and to the Glebe Record Fair. On the first few visits to the fair there were bits and pieces but on the last journey I came across a table and a box of records that were packed with rare, high quality LPs. I did a quick flip through and pulled out the two LPs I'm sharing today. There were a whole lot more that I ould have loved to buy but the seller knew what he was selling and there were no real bargains. For me just finding these records was more than I expected.

Graeme Counsel at the Radio Africa website has this to say about the L'Orchestre National "A" de la République du Mali LP:
"Modibo Keita was Mali's first President, ruling the nation from 1960 to 1968. Inspired by Guinea's Sékou Touré, his government enacted a radical cultural policy which saw the formation of regional and national orchestras. L'Orchestre National "A" de la République du Mali were the first of these bands, and were formed the day after Mali's independence. In accordance with the cultural policies of the new government, the orchestra consisted of "musicians sworn to serve their country by contributing with all their genius to the protection and revalorization of Malian musical art". The orchestra contained some of the best musicians in the land, though not all could fit into one band, hence the existence in later years of the National "B" and "C" orchestras. The National "A" orchestra was led by Keletigui Diabaté, a multi-instrumentalist who played lead guitar in the group. The connection between Guinean and Malian cultural policy is enshrined in the group, for Keletigui was a former member of Guinea's Orchestré de la Garde Républicaine (Première Formation). The National "A' Orchestra's only LP (pictured above) was released in circa 1970 on the Bärenreiter-Musicaphon label. It contains two songs from the epic narrative tradition of the griots, "Taara" and "Duga", the latter on par with the best performances recorded in Mali. The exceptional number on the LP, however, is "Janfa", a song concerning a lover's betrayal (also performed by the Tjiwarra Band, among others). It's a superb number with a mesmerizing guitar solo by Keletigui Diabaté, and it was surely an inspiration for many of the nation's musicians. It's criminal that this LP, along with the other Bärenreiter's, has never been re-released."
25 Downloads ONLY


The second LP comes from the Orchestre Regional de Segou and was also originally released in 1970 on the Bärenreiter-Musicaphon label. The band later morphed into Super Biton de Segou.
25 Downloads ONLY


The only time someone has tried to re-issued these materials was in the late 80s when Sterns put out the Mali Music - Legendary Bands of Mali release featuring the following tracks:
1. Mali Cebalenw- Orchestre Rail Band de Bamako
2. Batumanbe-Orchestre Regional de Segou
3. Janfa-Orchestre National A de la Republique du Mali
4. Recital-Orchestre Regional de Mopti
5. Nanyuman-Orchestre Regional de Kayes
6. Mali Senekelaw-Orchestre Regional de Sikasso
7. Kayi-Orchestre Regional de Kayes
8. Duga-Orchestre National A de la Republique du Mali

So enjoy this limited access to these treasures and ask Sterns to reissue that compilation.

London - Texas - Worldwide :: CHECK IT!

Two heavyweight afrofunk LPs that I've just added to the afrodub and juju funk record box:


"Exploding out of the rich cultural mix in the melting-pot of London’s underground music scene, comes the exciting and original sound of SARAVAH SOUL. This half-brazilian, half-british outfit has drawn upon unashamedly old-school flavours to create a new genre of RAW AFRO-BRAZILIAN FUNK! Fronted by fiery break dancer Otto Nascarella, the intensity of their live shows has earned them a reputation for wild performances and a rapidly expanding fan base. Now their ground breaking first album (self-titled Saravah Soul) has caused an international stir amongst record labels eager to sign them, and the band seems set on an unstoppable rise to even wider acclaim."MORE/SOUNDSAMPLES


""Homenaje," Spanish for homage, is the debut album release from the Grupo Fantasma side-project (who recently supported none other than Prince on his recent UK tour) and gives more than a mere nod to late '70s Latin-funk acts like Joe Bataan and Santana. From the Fela Kuti style Afro-beat of "Con El Brownout" and "Chema's Contraband" to the smoldering neo-soul of "You Already Are" and the incendiary cover of Manu Dibango’s “African Battle”, the nearly all-instrumental album avoids stagnation by switching gears rapidly between tracks." MORE/SOUNDSAMPLES

Hedzoleh Soundz featuring Hugh Masekela

African classic and long out of print except for the track Languta that appeared on the recent Still Grazin greatest hits compilation. Uploaded by El Reza

David McDavitt at Afrofunkforum had this to say:
The 1973 album “Introducing Hedzoleh Soundz,” by Ghana’s Hedzoleh Soundz with South African trumpetist, Hugh Masekela is simply stunning- arguably the greatest African-Jazz fusion album of all time, and certainly Masekela’s most outstanding release. The musicianship & creativity on these precious cuts are matchless. All but 2 of 8 tunes are written by Hedzoleh (one is by Masekela in HS style, one is traditional)- and therein lies the album’s brilliance. So don’t be fooled by the title, this is Hedzoleh’s album with guest Masekela.

DOWNLOAD

The meter reader, Duncan Brooker and the security man

An absolutely amazing story about the gas meter reader, finding the leader of the band and the security man at the local supermarket. Kona Records label boss Duncan Brooker is interviewed as part of the Legends of Afrobeat film proposal

Postcards from Stonetown

The pictures I took on a visit to Zanzibar in late 1994 are deceptive - the camera appears to work very hard at protecting a romantic image of Zanzibar. Missing are the cows grazing on the rubbish dump, the delapidated remnants of East German architecture, the disused funfair, the scuba tourists and the mangey cats.

Whilst staying in Stonetown we enquired endlessly about taraab ensembles but I don't think we tried hard enough and clearly no-one had "commercialised" this need back then. When finally a message was passed to us that an ensemble was appearing it was too late.

But things have changed. These days its worth organising your trip for February when the Sauti za Busara (Sounds of Wisdom) festival takes place. And if you don't travel to Zanzibar but are still interested then you should pick up the following Festival highlights CD/DVD package:

This features musical treats from the festival and is presented by the festival’s founder Yusuf Mahmoud (aka DJ Yusuf). The CD features 13 tracks from artists that have previously performed at the festival, whilst the DVD, produced by Head of Fourth World Dennis Tapfuma, international filmmaker Tamara Gordon and film editor Tomas Brickhil, visually encompasses the broad spectrum of Sauti za Busara and brings to life the musical diversity and culture experienced.

Yusuf Mahmoud, director of Busara Promotions (who organise the festival) first arrived in Zanzibar from the United Kingdom in 1998 to help organise the first edition of Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF). This later evolved into the annual Festival of the Dhow Countries, taking place in Zanzibar around the beginning of July each year. Whilst spending five years organising the music and performing arts programme of ZIFF, he realised that there was room on the island for another annual festival, and the need for an event which would focus in particular on showcasing the broad spectrum of music that is created in East Africa. Hence the birth of Sauti za Busara.

Pitch Black Afro

Been listening to the new Gnarls Barkley and it reminded me in a strange way of these guys. Enjoy this fun video from Jozi.