Daara -J

Faada Freddy and Ndongo D began playing together while still at high school and went on to form the group Lion Klan in the 80s. Their musical tastes at the time were greatly influenced by the records Faada Freddy's uncle, Boubacar, passed onto them, namely the work of Africa Bambaata, Grand Master Flash and all the main acts of the then breaking American rap scene. In 1993 they meet Daara J’s ‘third man’, Lord Alaji Man at a 'free-style' party in Dakar organised at “Métropolis”.The three hit it off immediately, pooling their musical talents and exchanging ideas and they soon began playing local gigs in Médina, Colobane and Centenaire (the three Dakar neighbourhoods they come from). The trio made an instant impact with their hard-hitting lyrics tackling sensitive issues subjects such as religion.Daara J went on to bring out their first cassette album in 1994. The album, entitled simply Daara J, went on to sell over 15,000 copies and this success encouraged the trio to pursue their musical career and concentrate on hip hop. Daara J came to France for the first time in 1996 to promote their cassette album. In a concert in Paris they impressed a producer from the Déclic record label, who signed the trio on the spot and they found themselves in the studio, re-recording the songs from their first Dakar cassette album with Mad Professor and Bubbler.

more Daara J


Daara J 1997

the new incarnation Daara J Family in studioaction:

Daara J family

more promo videos-it's our family....

Philip Tabane And His Malombo Jazzman-The Indigenous Afro-Jazz Sounds

While we keep on working friendly for solutions for these "trivial matters" and still looking for answers on who
is the real pirate here-and please read the comments of the two previous posts,it is becoming extremely interesting and this is just the beginning,the very tip of the iceberg-and keep sending your opinions ,your questions or your informations-I thank you all for your contributions-
let us not be destructed from what we are here for: Music, Music and Music.I would like to dedicate this record
to Matt of matsuli-I know that he loves Philip Tabane as much as I do!
(but 2 men can love the same woman with different kind of love,don't you agree? )

from the record sleeve:

These are the indigenous Afro-Jazz Sounds of The Genius,Philip Tabane-the original Malombo Jazzman.
It started in 1964,at Orlando Stadium,when Philip went on stage,leading his group-The Malombo Jazzmen.
On that Saturday afternoon,South Africa was staging it's third Jazz Festival.Philip and his group
walked away with all the honours.
Malombo Jazz-music was introduced for the first time that year.This group,started up as a trio
and consisted of Flute,Guitar and Drums.
Philip has now parted company with the other two members,and today he plays
alongside a youmg drummer by the name of Gabriel "Sonnyboy" Thobejane.
This young man is tremendously versatile and plays the Thumb Piano known as "Dipela" in Northen Sotho,and Drums.
On this LP Philip plays Guitar, Penny Whistle and Drums.Listen to the way Philip plays
the Penny Whistle and Drums on "Dithaberg".
His inherent feel and the knowledge of the instuments can quite obviously be heard.
Mastery to say the least!He sings about his sister's child on "Ke Utilwile",meaning "I've had Enough".
Sit back ,relax and absorb the vocal and instrumental artistry of Philip Tabane.

Ray Nkwe-president of the Jazz Appreciation Society of South Africa.


Ke Utilwile


more Tabane on this blog-
as I'm a big fan myself of Philip Tabane you will have the chance to hear much more soon.
This is the first time that I don't separate the tracks of a record side.This music is made to be heard in one go.
Let it flow.


And a message to the non-English speaking visitors
Don't hesitate to drop your messages in your language.
Thank you.

Open democracy and the hype machine

Internet is open global democracy ,that how we dreamed of it back then and that's how many of us still operate.It's a mean to exchange information,knowledge,help.Open eyes ,ears and horizons.In this blog I always tried to share my
little experience on the cultures and arts and provide you,with a lot of hard work from my side, with the means and the background to judge freely for yourself whether you like and enjoy anything and support these efforts and the artists.Always with respect and admiration towards all the artists of the Motherland that practice their art in negative conditions in many cases.Always focused on the neglected and suffering continent .That's the primal direction of this blog and it will remain this as long as it stands.I have the impression that I have done well so far.You will be the ones to judge me.
After posting Hallelujah Chicken Run Band I received a message from matt of matsuli blog asking me to "do the right thing" ,this was the first time that this happens in this blog,and I can say that is unheard in the net chronicles,from a label yes but never from another blogger.You can read all the comments and the conversations thus far in the Chicken Run post's comments.So the links will be temporarily removed but they will be restored if I don't get satisfactory answers to my questions.I think it's time for us to know what the labels give in return to African artists-in plain words : how much of a record's benefits finally end up in the pockets of the recorded artists?

I will take some time to think the matter with myself.
Meanwhile I'm asking for your feedback ,as we said my friends Internet is power,it's open democracy,it's now.

As for the Columbus egg question,does mp3 ruin the industry,you can leave your opinion too.

nauma

Hallelujah Chicken Run Band-Take one

The first steps of the lion called Thomas Mapfumo, started somewhere here,let's follow them.
Zimbabwe was still called Rhodesia when the songs on this cracking compilation were recorded
between 1974 and 1979 by a seminal band, originally set up to entertain the workers
at the Mangura copper mine.The country was in a sort of limbo -between its British colonial past and full independence. It was a time when pride was swelling across the African continent.
Trumpet player Daram Karanga hired after the mines management request,four friends and colleagues,including singer and drummer Thomas Mapfumo.
The Hallelujah Chicken Run Band, or HCR,was born.
The record is a must for fans of southern African music, and a great insight into the early career of Thomas Mapfumo,
who was with them for most of their first year. He’s represented on four murky sounding but atmospheric cuts
written just as he and guitarist Joshua Hlomayi were beginning to move away from their mix of Afro-rock,
rumba, cha-cha-cha and ‘copyright’ soul material (covers),towards a more original neo-traditional sound.
“Ngoma Yarira” finds Mapfumo’s distinctive yodel-like vocal style almost fully formed,
along with the shuffling triple-time groove he would later coin ‘chimurenga’.
Another standout track from this period is the ghostly, throbbing “Alikulila”,
based on a Malawian traditional tune,in respect for the mineworkers in Mangura,
many of whom came to Rhodesia for work from neighboring Malawi.
The group's name has its own story:Taking care of poultry at the mine's chicken coop, was Thomas Mapfumo's day job. It would be one
of the last times Mapfumo would have to resort to manual labor.His Shona songs would soon
be his calling card.The band members in HCR worked hard for their living. But some in the management at the Mangura Copper Mine
felt they were overpaid and pushed to have the band's wages cut. Thomas Mapfumo was the first one to complain.
He was fired, and so began the slow demise of the Hallelujah Chicken Run band and the rise of chimurenga,the sound of struggle.

2 files:Removed

Daouda Dembele

...who will be the djely to sing these verses of Niyi Osundare?
Daouda Dembele was one of the first who sang the Mande epics into cassettes and among the ones that started in the 80's(out of necessity in a money-scarce country) the "trend" to replace
the traditional praises and genealogies of the patron and his family with those of his studio sponsors,or even their business advertisements!

....the epic continues as an active intervention into the community and the national life of present day Mali, reinvented on the cassette to maintain its presence.
If few Malians of today have ever seen a performance of the epics of Sunjata,Bakarijan,Da Monzon,or the other great heroes of the region's empires,many more have become familiar with them through the playing and replaying of recorded performances. But as these marketplace commodities extend further,the meanings embedded in the names , which are available only to the culturally competent of a particular region,begin to diminish.
The rich texture that results from the interweaving of narrative ,general commentary,personal reference and pointed advice is replaced with an emphasis on performance virtuosity which appeals to a wider audience of urbanized consumers. Changes in social relations
economic conditions and technology have altered the patron-performer and audience performer contracts as well as aesthetics. The resulting shifts in the performances themselves reflect the ongoing negotiations between the performers and the changing world in which they live and perform-and therefore constitutes both a rupture and a continuity of the form and spirit of jeliya.

source:in search of Sunjata:the Mande oral epic as history,literature and performance.
by Ralph A.Austen-Indiana University Press. 1999

Ngognekorotokan


more DD

A Tale of Two Summits by Niyi Osundare

A Tale of Two Summits
G-8, St Petersburg

Here the well-fed
Wonder (between thunderous belches)
What to do with their wanton surplus
Giant knives in their hands

They descend on the global cake
Their wine is red
Their meat chocolate-brown
And tenderly done

Here the well-armed
Wrangle over how fast/soon
To end the world
Gunboats on every sea

Killer-jets in every sky
Private eye in every land
They decide who to let die
They decide who to let live

(The nuclear option/imperative
Is still dancing in the nude)

Here the powerful
Haggle hard over conclaves and colonies:
The birds in every air
The fishes in every ocean

The minerals beneath the earth
Are theirs to have and to hold
Their thirst drains the lakes
Their fury un-fins the fishes

Here
The world’s Clever Creditors
Dangle debit chains
And IOU’s like terrorful writs

Mouthing mantras
About peace and progress
(Justice never makes it to the Grand Communiqué)
And promises made but never kept

Here in St. Petersburg
In their own image the Powerful Eight
Plot to shape the world
And History looks on, a Silent Witness…
---------------------------------------------------------------

Poor People’s summit; Gao

Batterings and bones
Sweat and tears
Here, a gathering
Of the Poor People’s Council

The Pundits brand them poor
But the streets insist they are "poored"
They who sow so much
And reap so little

The gold under their earth
The oil beneath their swamps
The trees in their forests
The peoples in their streets

All "raw material" for plants in other lands

Here, nights end on empty stomachs
Dawns arrive with a caravan of Want
The millet has lost its way to the mill
Rice fields cannot rise above the drought

Relentlessly fleeced for
The finery of colder climes
They survive from "aid" to AIDS
Their begging bowls ringing louder

Every passing seasons

Here in Gao
Irrigated by the lordly Niger
Empires once flourished
Timbuktu’s gold was plaything in royal households

Learning traded virtues with Commerce
The sun rose, robust, in the Mali sky…
Then came the Desert
Then came the Sea

Tragic chapters in History’s laughter

Here in Gao
Their skins so South
Their sighs so uncertain
The Paupered unleash a tune

That is loud
And harshly true
And all around are desert sands
And baobabs which defy the storm.

Mid-July 2006, two summits took place in different parts of the world: in St. Petersburg, Russia, the G-8 Summit of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful countries; in Gao, Mali, the Poor People’s Summit.

Niyi Osundare