The World Beat desk has been inundated with new releases in the past few weeks as record labels begin to get back on track. Three outstanding albums from Africa have been playing regularly on the World Beat sound system: Pape Nziengui's Kadi Yombo (Awesome Tapes From Africa); Rokia Kone and Jacknife Lee's Bamanan (Real World); and the Ano Nobo Quartet's The Strings Of Sao Domingos (Ostinato).
Pape Nziengui is a Bwiti harp master from Gabon. The Bwiti harp is used in rituals by the Tsogho people, who live in the heavily forested central region of Gabon. In Libraville, the capital, Nziengui was renowned for his playing. He performed with local stars and foreign musicians like Papa Wemba and Manu Dibango. In 1988, he became the first harpist to release an album, a cassette produced by the French Cultural Center, and he formed a band, Bovenga, with the aim of creating modern versions of his traditional music.
In 1989, he released Kadi Yombo on CD, which became an instant national hit. His band combined traditional music (harp, musical bows, jaw harp, drums and percussion) and choral vocals with electric bass, guitars and keyboards. He toured Gabon in the late 1980s and began to take his music to international audiences. Gabon's music is little known outside the region it comes from and Nziengui is one of the few Gabonese musicians on the international circuit.
Kadi Yombo quickly sold out and is hard to find, even in Libreville. However, thanks to the sterling work of Awesome Tapes this unique music is now available again after a gap of 33 years.
The 10 tracks on the album feature an irresistible trance-like groove, powered by Nziengui's harp, buzzing rattles, jaw harp and soaring vocals; some of the music reminded me of Thomas Mapfumo's early work. There are many standouts, but Bossogho Aketi Na Missingui is my favourite track. The album will be released on April 8. Highly recommended.
Malian singer Rokia Kone, a member of supergroup Les Amazones d'Afrique, has teamed up with producer Jacknife Lee (U2, Taylor Swift) for her new release Bamanan. The album is a tribute to the Bambara people of southern Mali. Lee provides the sweeping synths that complement traditional percussion and Malian strings.
Kone took inspiration from hereditary praise singers -- called jalis or griots -- and the importance of ancestral history, as featured on a trilogy of songs, Anw Tile, Bambougou N'tji and Soyo N'galanba. These songs praise the great kings of the Segou region and Kone adds to that with a song she composed to praise Malian female heroines like singers Ramata Diakite and Fanta Damba.
The album is worth it just for the first single to be released, N'yanyan, which features Kone's soaring voice accompanied only by electric piano -- it's a haunting song that was recorded in a single take on the night a coup d'etat was launched in Mali. The album will be released on Feb 18.
Ostinato Records has released several excellent compilations from the 11 islands that form Cape Verde, an archipelago 600km off the west African coast: Synthesize The Soul, Quente Funana and Pour Me A Grog. The latest chapter in the record label's journey into the heart of Cape Verdean music is a departure as it features contemporary musicians.
The story, like the Gabonese release, goes back to the late 1980s when a burly soldier called Pascoal was stationed in East Germany. He was there when the Berlin wall came tumbling down in 1989. His nickname "El Bruto" (The Brute) refers to his prowess as a guitarist and his stint as a Cold War era soldier (part of the Cape Verde independence movement) took him to Cuba, the Caribbean and even Crimea, and he absorbed the music in each of these places.
Eventually he returned to his home on Santiago Island and he set up the Ano Nobo Quartet (named after Cape Verde's most famous composer) with fellow guitar maestros Fany, Nono and Afrikanu -- the new release was recorded in different locations on the island. The quartet's take on the popular Koladera genre is a little different to that international audiences know from the work of the late legend Cesaria Evora. It has influences from many sources, from Brazilian samba to Jamaican reggae to tango, Mozambican marrabenta and even some US blues (each time I listen I discover new influences). And the mixing of different musical influences seems to reflect the creole nature of the archipelago.
The overall feeling of the album is one of the lushness of the quartet's sound, the soft lilting swing of the groove and the haunting and sometimes sad vocals. This is music that quietly attaches itself to your heart. Check out the first single, Sociedad Di Mocindadi, to begin your Cape Verde journey. The album will be released on Feb 25.
John Clewley can be contacted at clewley.john@gmail.com.
