Showing posts with label African. Show all posts
Showing posts with label African. Show all posts

19.2.15

Jalikebba Kuyateh and the Toubabs - Jalikebba and the Toubabs


Band / Artist: Jalikebba Kuyateh and the Toubabs
Year: 2005
Genre: World, Spoken Word., African, Indian, Folk

My Review:
Swedish folk, Classical violin, Indian tabla, and African kora. All together. God. Damn. I like it a whole lot.

Here's a breakdown of the members
Two members of the group, Jalikebba and Haruna were born into griot families. Griots [ /grēˈō/ ] are a social caste who perform traditional music and poetry, jaliyaa, carrying on the oral tradition from antiquity.

Tommy is an Austrian performer and composer who specializes in the Indian tabla and other percussive instruments. Violinist Sandra and vocalist Kasja are both Swedes.

Jalikebba Kuyateh was born and raised in Gambia, and is a skilled kora player who has performed with many groups in Africa. He is in demand for festivals, weddings, and ceremonies. He also teaches music workshops both at the museum and abroad.

Currently, Jalikebba is the lead performer at the Tanji Village Museum in Tanji, Gambia.  The museum presents and preserves the traditional culture and the natural history of Gambia. These tunes were recorded live at the Tanji Village Museum, January 29, 2005.
So they make this neat melded sound, that seems like a much more melodic version of Bjork's weirder music, just infused with a ton of African influences. Listen to a track or two, and I'll bet it grows on you.

Jalikebba Kuyateh and the Toubabs - Jalikebba and the Toubabs

14.7.12

Raw Music International - Kisumu Mixtape



Band / Artist: Raw Music International (Various Artists)
Year: 2011
Genre:  International, Blues, Soul-RnB, Folk, Hip-Hop, Field Recordings, African, Alternative Hip-Hop, Dance, Reggae - Dancehall, Hip-Hop Beats

My Review:
A "mixtape" of tracks from Kisumu, Kenya. It has a pretty wide range of sounds, from traditional Kenyan folk, to pop and rap, and some instrumental pieces.  I played through it a few times and found probably 2 tracks that rubbed me the wrong way and I didn't keep. 

If you want to know a little about each track, go check out the bandcamp page and click through each track.  this is the excerpt for the first song

Olima is an 83 year old blind Luo blues guitarist. We recorded this song at his home on December 31, 2010. He sings in memory of a deceased lover.
http://rawmusicinternational.bandcamp.com/

This one is a good one for a mix, and adds a nice dimension of flavor into a playlist. It would be nice in a mix for at a summery BBQ or a dinner party.

Raw Music International - Kisumu Mixtape