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Congolese rap group Bisso Na Bisso came to prominence just over a decade ago with an internationally acclaimed debut, ‘Racines’, that successfully fused Congolese rumba harmonies with the influences of American rap, but sung in French and Lingala. Their lastest recording aims at expanding their repertoire with a whole host of guest artists from Africa and beyond. They include Angélique Kidjo, Khaled and Manu Dibango among others. A potential contender for a single to promote the album is the soulful groove of ‘Pas de différence’ featuring Christophe Maé on lead vocals which briefly samples Queen’s ‘We are the champions’.The song pleads for greater tolerance in an increasingly diverse multi-ethnic society. Several singers contribute to ‘We are Africa’, the first single off the album, which, as it’s title might suggest, is very much an attempt at repeating the success of the ‘We are the world’ formula. Among the singers involved are Cape Verdean star Mayra Andrade, Papa Wemba, Algerian rai singer Cheba Fadela, Les Nubians and Angélique Kidjo. Perhaps where conscious lyrics work best with musical melodies is on ‘Même combat’ which displays a wider awareness of the larger struggle for the African diaspora outside the African continent. This is reinforced by the guest appearance of Jamaican reggae singer Sizzla on the song.  Overall it has to be said that elsewhere on the album’s songs the lyrics verge on the overly sentimental with a heavy influence on American rap and ideally the group would have benefited from some Congolese instrumentation. Nonetheless the album is aimed at a relatively young crossover audience rather than a world roots one and will probably find favour with the former who will be enticed by the French lyrics and Cobgolese approach to the rap genre.  Tim Stenhouse

South Africa’s Skylark – double CD
Compiled by Phil Meadley

Released by Nascente on 21st June

“South Africa’s Skylark” shows that Miriam Makeba was not only arguably the first world music superstar but also a socially-conscious artist on a par with the likes of Nina Simone & Marvin Gaye. CD1 features her classic traditional performances – folk ballads and swinging South African jazz - whilst the potent funk, jazz & soul on CD2 reflects her pivotal involvement in, and commitment to, the civil rights, anti-apartheid & Black Power movements.

Miriam Makeba was a remarkable woman: a civil rights activist, mother and grandmother but above all a musician – becoming the first black African woman to win a Grammy Award (which she shared with Harry Belafonte in 1965).  She had five husbands, survived health scares and family tragedies, was exiled from her beloved South African homeland, courted controversy in the US by marrying Black Panther leader Stokely Carmichael (after divorcing fellow South African legend, Hugh Masekela) and made a string of hugely popular singles and albums from the fifties right through to the nineties.

“South Africa’s Skylark” takes the listener through the musical journey of Miriam’s life. With timeless traditional numbers and classic standards such as ‘ Pata Pata’ and‘ The Click Song’ Miriam’s Afro-pop edge has been represented alongside her edgier, funkier side with poignant and extremely soulful civil rights songs such as ‘Soweto Blues’, ‘Murtala’, and ‘Talking & Dialoging’. There are also several tracks from her years as an exile in Guinea, when she was recording for the government-sponsored, but pretty damned cool, Syliphone label.

With English language tracks and excellent covers of Jorge Ben’s ‘Mas Que Nada’ and Buffalo Springfield’s ‘For What It’s Worth’, as well as songs from the Guinea years and back-to-roots albums, ‘Sangoma’ (1990) and ‘Homeland’ (2000), her sheer versatility and open-mindedness is highlighted. 

Scratch the surface and you quickly discover that there was far more to her than ‘Pata Pata’ and ‘The Naughty Little Flea’. As she said in a later interview for an American publication: “I love to watch other artists. I learnt a lot from watching the microphone enunciations of artists such Carmen McRae, Dinah Washington and Frank Sinatra. I think you never stop learning until the day you die.”

Although suffering from health problems including osteoarthritis, Miriam continued to perform wherever she was wanted. “Everyone keeps calling me and saying ‘you have not said goodbye to us!’” - she said at the time. And it was that on stage in Naples that she died. She was there singing at a concert in memory of six immigrants from Ghana that had been shot dead, allegedly by one of the city’s mafia-style syndicates. She suffered a heart attack after singing her biggest hit ‘Pata Pata’, and the outpouring of emotion around the world as news spread as palpable. She was 76 years old. She was, and will forever be, a much-loved entertainer. Not for nothing was she known throughout the world and across generations as “Mama Africa”. 

John Armstrong Presents South African Funk Experience

Released 14th June

ALBUM LAUNCH - 16th June:
LIVE! The South African Funk Experience Band feat celebrated Capetonian tenor Frank Williams and Incognito’s Richard Bailey plus DJ John Armstrong
+
South Africa vs Uruguay (match to be shown on giant 15x10ft screen)
9.30pm - Midnight. Admission free
35-47 Bethnal Green Road
London E1 6LA
020 7613 7498 / http://www.richmix.org.uk

With the eyes of the world focussed on South Africa for the 2010 World Cup along comes a timely taste of South Africa’s respected musical culture, put together by a man who knows his Zulu Jive from his Mbube.

John Armstrong Presents South African Funk Experience’ is a blistering snapshot of the richness and diversity of black South African dance music in the late 70s and 80s. Club and BBC Radio 2 DJ John Armstrong was one of the first outside South Africa to play this music, at his Saturday night sessions at the legendary Bass Clef club, Hoxton, throughout the 80s and into the 90s - so all cuts have been extensively tried and tested over the years (by 80s regulars Mr and Mrs Hugh Masekela among many others).

John’s selection is culled partly from the Gallo catalogue and its many subsidiaries and associate labels, and also from the many small independent labels that sprang up in Europe and elsewhere in the wake of the waves of expatriate SA musicians and producers. Quite a few of the tracks have had to be carved afresh from original vinyl sources because of long-lost masters so many are appearing on CD for the first time!

These songs tell the forgotten story of the music that rocked the shebeens, brothels and bars of Soweto and the notorious migrant camps – Zulu, Shangaan, Mbqanga, deep funk, spiritual jazz workouts and more.

It may not be Funk as we know it. But funky it sure enough was, is, and will always remain so…

Senegal Celebrates 50th Anniversary of Independence, Launching of Statue of the African Renaissance.

I was honored to be included in a delegation of 100 mainly African-American leaders in civil rights, the arts, scholarship, business, Africa-focused NGO’s and the media on a trip to Senegal to attend the celebration of the country’s 50th anniversary of independence and the public launching of the monumental statue of the African Renaissance. We flew by chartered plane from New York City on Thursday, April 1st, and returned that Sunday night. Our delegation included civil rights leaders Julian Bond and Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr. (whom everyone in Senegal seemed to know by first name and want their picture taken with), the leadership of the NAACP, and many others. Jazz pianist, composer and legend Randy Weston and multi-platinum Senegalese-American R&B singer and rapper AKON, represented the performing arts. This visit was the brainchild of Senegal’s Djibril Diallo who wears many hats, including Senior Advisor to the Executive Director of UNAIDS and Chair of the U.S. Leadership Committee for the World Festival of Black Arts (FESMAN) to be held in Dakar in December 2010.  Story by Sean Barlow at AFROPOP

May 13th, 15th, 16th, 28th-31st
Walter Reade Theater, Columbia University, Creative Time,
New Museum, BAMCINEMATEK
WEBSITE

Analog Africa on MySpace

By kind permission - © Analog Africa

Pictured: 1st Bike from L to R:
Melome Clement, Sharpp Make (Nigerian trompet player)
2nd bike - Theo Blaise Kounkou + unknown

By kind permission - © Analog Africa

Pictured: Melome Clement, Tidiani Koné, Koutouan Ossey Theodore, Vignere Lucien

By kind permission - © Analog Africa

Pictured: Loko Pierre, Tidiani Koné, Koutouan Ossey Theodore, Melome Clement

Getty ImagesFIFA and Control Room, a leading producer of global music events, today announced the first performing artists for the inaugural FIFA World Cup™ Kick-Off Celebration Concert. Alicia Keys, Amadou & Mariam, Angélique Kidjo, Black Eyed Peas, BLK JKS, John Legend, Juanes, Shakira, The Parlotones, Tinariwen, Vieux Farka Touré and Vusi Mahlasela will take to the stage at Orlando Stadium in Soweto/Johannesburg on the eve of the opening match of the first FIFA World Cup™ on African soil. Further talent announcements will follow.
Billed as the greatest entertainment show to date in Africa, it will feature performances from major international musicians and African artists, as well as appearances by football legends past and present and celebrities from other fields. This historic music event will take place in front of a capacity stadium audience of 30,000 will be broadcast to hundreds of millions more worldwide. It is scheduled to begin at 20.00 local time (GMT+2) on 10 June.

“We are thrilled to have a concert of such magnitude and performing talent raise the curtain on the first FIFA World Cup in Africa. It is testament to the universal and unifying power of football and music, and will start the competition off on the right note – of celebration,” said FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke.

FIFA has selected Emmy Award-winning producer Kevin Wall and his company Control Room to organise and produce the concert. Control Room has masterminded some of the world’s biggest and most complex events, such as Live Earth 2007, which featured 150 artists performing on seven continents over the course of 24 hours to raise awareness of climate change.
“We believe sports and music transcend cultural, language and geographic barriers, and through the official FIFA World Cup Kick-Off Celebration Concert, we will present the sights and sounds of unity and celebration for an unforgettable, must-see experience,” said Wall.

All net proceeds from the concert will be donated to 20 Centres for 2010, the Official Campaign of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™, whose aim is to achieve positive social change through football by building 20 centres across Africa offering education and healthcare services as well as football training to disadvantaged communities.

Ticket information
Tickets for this once-in-a-lifetime concert can be purchased as of today, either online at http://www.computicket.com or by telephone on (27) 083 915 8000. Tickets are priced at ZAR 450 (Outer Circle standing), ZAR 650 (Inner Circle standing), ZAR 850 and 950 (Upper Level seated), and ZAR 1,150 (Lower Level seated). Ticket prices include VAT, Computicket charges and Park & Ride for all

The vinyl hits the shops...http://www.juno.co.uk/artists/Ig+Culture/

It was some thirty-five years ago that one of the most loved groups in South Africa was formed, the Soul Brothers. Originally a four piece outfit in 1974, there are now two of the original members, singer David Masondo and keyboardist Moses Ngwenya, who continue to maintain the high standard of quality material. The formula is simple, but irresistible. Fuse the hammond organ of Booker T. Jones and Jimmy Smith with soulful harmonies in Zulu and mix this with the local mbaqanga grooves on bass, drum and guitar. Add in some Stax-inspired brass from time to time and you have a winner of a product. It should come as little suprise, then, that the Soul Brothers have become one of the best selling artists in South Africa and are especially famed for their live performances where the tight, enthralling sound they produce recalls the classic 1960s tour of the Stax label and more specifically the dynamic duo that was Sam and Dave. For an overview of the band, consult the top tens, but for their latest take on the tried and tested sound, you should check out this brand new album. Immediately compulsive are the opener and title track with pumping bassline and distinctive hammond organ and the mid-tempo percussive groove of ‘Intonat Enjani?’. For seasoned listener, this song will be reminiscent in part at least of the instrumentation of the Bhundu Boys albeit with a beefed up percussion here. All songs are in Zulu and this release, like most on the Gallo label, is aimed fairly and squarely at a South African audience and as such makes no concessions whatsoever. You are getting the authentic sounds that a knowledgable South African music aficionado would listen to. Glorious harmonies abound on ‘Ishay Izule’ and there are call and response vocals on the excellent ‘Mzala’ which features the catchiest of grooves and the band in full swing. An excellent album that confirms the premier status of the Soul Brothers in the pantheon of South African music.  Tim Stenhouse

http://www.knittingfactoryrecords.com/artists/fela-kuti

Africa Oye Festival to be held on 19th/20th June in Liverpool’s Sefton Park

Saturday 19th June
Boukman Eksperyans – Haiti
Les EspoirsDe Coronthie – Guinea Conakry
TheGangbe Brass Band – Benin
Ti Coca – Haiti
VictorDeme – Burkina Faso

Sunday 20th June
AndrewTosh – Jamaica
CarlouD– Senegal
Les FreressGuisse – Senegal
Michael Rose – Jamaica
The Rasites – UK
To’Mezclao – Cuba

Africa Oyé is the UK’s largest free celebration of Africanmusic and culture and takes place annually in Liverpool. Beginning in 1992 as a series of small gigs in the city centre, the event has gone from strength-to-strength, moving to its present Sefton Park home in 2002 to cope with demand. Now in its nineteenth year, Africa Oyé continues to grow.

In 2009 the event attracted an audience of over 20,000 people and even more are expected to attend Oyé 2010.

Special thanks to Dick Jewell - for more on the man please head over to our Interviews page…

Circa 1993 Randy Weston toured the UK performing with The Master Gnawa Musicians, and what a gig it was in Birmingham.

Featuring the marvelous Stafford James on bass, we managed to track down a broadcast from Birmingham and now you can listen to the concert on UK Vibe in all its glory.

Listen here