the endless groove of africa

[sonny]

i'm just gonna dive into this and do my best to crash your browser with good music

[sonny]

whoops!
move this to ot plz

[sonny]

back atcha

[maunahaole]

Orchestra Baobab from Senegal

[sonny]

Orchestra Baobab from Senegal

i saw these guys a few years back and they blew me away/
really tight band

[chasea]

I was fortunate enough to meet/ host this guy for a few days this summer. He and his band filmed a music video in my apartment. 50 people dancing for hours in 105 degree heat. They filmed his shots over three days. We were often both the only two awake in the early morning hours and I really got to know him. Endlessly kind. He was tired from all of the work, but never anything less than grateful for all the work being done to promote his music.

A change in record labels means the vieo shot in my apartment won't be out til later this year.

Here's another:

Janka


He's living in the DC area now. I would suggest that you go see him perform if the opportunity arrises.

[ZenNMotion]

These guys are all awesome! And they are just the ones talented lucky and connected enough to get known outside the continent. If you ever get the chance to travel to Africa, especially West Africa, you'll find amazing bands in every major city on any night of the week. There are some, like Fela Kuti of Nigeria, Thomas Mapfuno of Zimbabwe, and Hugh Masakela of South Africa who are much more than pop stars- they were major agents of change, national heroes who were sometimes thrown in prison for speaking out against oppression.

Link to Hugh- Coal Train- BTW he's on tour in CA, IL, VT and MA in February http://www.songkick.com/artists/1402...ekela/calendar

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[ZenNMotion]

Grrr... here is the URL for a youtube vid of Hugh Masakela playing coal train. Someday I'll figure out embedding

Hugh Masekela - Coal Train Live - YouTube

[maunahaole]

Gotta include Thomas Mapfuno. Caught his show here a few years back.

[j44ke]

Africa has a lot of great music. Way more than any of us will ever be able to consume.

Konono No.1 - Congotronics. All handmade instruments, including the electrical pickups to amplify the sounds of the kalimbas. Great album, especially played loud.



Buraka Som Sistema - band out of Angola with Portuguese collaboration. Super popular.



Getachew Mekuria, the greatest Ethiopian sax player you've never heard. Here he is appearing with The Ex, a great punk band of yore, but they are all playing Mekuria's music from the late 1960's early 1970's. Sound sucks, but I was at that concert and it was the best I've seen in NYC. Rockin' is an understatement.



Here is better sound from an archival recording.



And this is Teddy Afro, one of the current pop stars in Ethiopia. This song became the theme song of the opposition, which resulted in the government throwing Teddy Afro in jail for two years on trumped up charges of hit and run.



Rokia Traore, one of the best voices. She's from Mali.



And Oumou Sangare also from Mali and also with a great voice. She is also very political, singing in her songs about rights for women and children, specifically that they should be free from abuse and control by men.

[maunahaole]

We need some King Sunny Ade on here as well. If you like African music, you need to get on the Soundway records feed. They are a good source for African, Caribbean and Latin, both current and historic. The frequently put out really good free podcasts as well.

[sonny]

re: chase

[Jacques]

good listenin'

[Freddy Salgado]

Strong African influence in Latin music from around the caribean.

[chasea]

re: chase

And also this:

[sonny]

[....]

[randonneur]

thanks for the ebo taylor - had to go and pick that up...

some classic 70s sounds as thanks.

[Derek Raymond]

Love this album:

[dooktruck]

there is a plethora of good stuff on this blog
go on and download it and get blown away

Awesome Tapes from Africa

this one is real good especially sida the first song on side b

Awesome Tapes from Africa

[anon.]

Awesome tapes from africa is crucial. One of my favorite jams: