Afrika

This week’s show features all music recorded by me during my trip to Nigeria this summer. I studied the Yoruba language and culture, so all of the tracks feature Yoruba musical styling. Starts off with a journey to the Alaafin of Oyo ’s palace where we saw one of the biggest egungun festivals in all of Yorubaland.

7-10-10 Egungun festival in Oyo

This features the use of the dundun or talking drum. Then we travel to the small town of Erin-Osun to hear another type of drum, the bata drum, during one of their egungun festivals. Then to Osogbo where we visit the annual Ifa Festival honoring Ifa, the orisa of divinity. Ifa is also the name of the traditional religion in Yorubaland. You hear the interlocking rhythmic techniques of 4 upright stick-beaten drums called Agbamale, as well as a agogo bell ensemble. Then to Ibadan, where we experience a typical Ifa religious service, happening every Saturday. As a interesting comparison, we hear a couple songs heard at a typical Protestant Nigerian Church, Ebenezer Baptist Church in Ile-Ife, blending Southern Baptist hymnals with Yoruba rhythms and drums. Then we go into vocal styles. The first is chanting and repetitive rhythmic ostinado of an elderly woman’s chanting group, performing at Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife.

7-26-10 Chanting Group

Then a trip our YGPA classroom and we hear various folk songs and songs of the orisas sung by teacher Adeola Faleye and our class. We end the program with master drummer and lecturer at Obafemi Awolowo University, Akintunde Gbeminiyi, demonstrating well known dundun (talking drum) proverbs. Also a big thank you to Jesse Ruskin for the recording of Akintunde Gbeminiyi demonstrating the call and response vocal styles of the dundun. To finish of the segment of the talking drum, Mr. Gbeminiyi vocally says a well-known drum poem “Woru O” then plays it on the drum while saying it, and then just plays it with no verbalizing. I hope this was as much fun to listen to as it was to record and experience!

Thanks so much to my good friend Olusanu for providing the insight into Yoruba music and for the WUOG live ID!

If ou have any questions, send them on over to afrika@wuog.org

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Playlist

date and occasion – place

6-28-10 Dundun ensemble performance      @ Obafemi Awolowo University
7-10-10 Oyo egungun festival – Alaafin entrance     @ Oyo palace
7-10-10 Oyo egungun festival – masqueraders come out     @ Oyo palace
6-20-10 Erin-Osun egungun festival – bata drums     @ Erin Osun
7-23-10 Ifa Festival – Agbamale drums and chanting     @ Osogbo
7-23-10 Ifa Festival – agogo ensemble     @ Osogbo
7-24-10 Ifa Temple – fast drum track     @ Ibadan
8-8-10 Ebenezer Babtist Church – hymn     @ Ile-Ife
8-8-10 Ebenezer Babtist Church – spiritual     @ Ile-Ife
7-26-10 Elderly women’s drumming and chanting     @ Obafemi Awolowo University
7-23-10 Mrs. Faleye and class -Mo Foju Bodu     @ Obafemi Awolowo University
7-23-10 Mrs. Faleye and class – Oya     @ Obafemi Awolowo University
7-23-10 Mrs. Faleye and class – Ogun     @ Obafemi Awolowo University
7-23-10 Mrs. Faleye and class – Sango     @ Obafemi Awolowo University
7-2-10 Akintunde Gbeminiyi – Iwo Ko Lo Da Mi + proverbs     @ Obafemi Awolowo University
Akintunde Gbeminiyi – Ayanwale
Akintunde Gbeminiyi     Woru O breakdown (words and drums)     @ Obafemi Awolowo University
7-19-10 Cultural Drum Dance performance     @ Obafemi Awolowo Universit

Its all back to school time… Welcome back!

This summer I went to Nigeria to study the Yoruba language with a program called YGPA (Yoruba Group Project Abroad). It was an amazing experience and I gathered much amazing music there which I showcase on this show! Most of the music played on this show is vinyl I acquired in my journeys.  I did a lot of field recording while I was there, and you here some on this show, but next week I will focus on the field recordings.

I also got the amazing chance to extend Miliki Soundsystem to Nigeria! I actually DJed this exact program on Great FM, the college radio station of Obafemi Awolowo University in the town of Ile-Ife,  where I studied. So now this show is officially internationally broadcast on African soil!

Get ready for an amazing new year of Miliki Soundsystem with my newly acquired knowledge of African music, straight from the source!

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Playlist

artist – song – album – (label/comments)

Sunny Otis & the Yahweh Light      Eje ka tan imole      Bearer of Illorin
Gbogan dundun ensemble     live at Obafemi Awolowo University 6-28-10     msld field recordings
I.K. Dairo     I Remember My Darling     I Remember My Darling
Tunde Nightingale and his Highlife Boys     Kendy Ma Ma     ”The Bird That Sings All the Night”
Akeem Anigilaje Omowura and his Apala Modernizer     Omo Egbe Akeem Anigilaje     Second Tier
African Spiritual Singers of the University of Ife led by Rev. Fr. Dr. T. M. Ilesanmi     Keke reeke     s/t
break
Tunji Oyelana & his Benders     Unlimited Liability Company     Unlimited Liability Company
Olapade Agoro and the Singing Stars     Agbara wo lo dabi Agbara Jesu     Jesu Loba
Jahblez Leofadaka and his 21st Generation     Ochaikolikpo     Izoka Sounds
Fela Ransome-Kuti and the Africa 70     Monday Morning in Lagos     Fela’s Budget Special

All Vinyl Set for Miliki Soundsystem, the record players got fixed!!

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artist – song – album

King Sunny Ade      Samba/E Falabe Lewe      Juju Music
Shirati Jazz     Augustin Opiya     Benga Beat
Mahotella Queens     Zibuyile Nonyake     Izibani Zomgqashiyo
break
The Bhundu Boys     Viva Chinhoyi     Pamberi!
Prince Nico Mbarga     Sweet Mother     s/t
Hi Life International     Wish You Were Here     s/t
Segun Adewale     Yo-Pop Music     Adewale Play For Me
Konono No. 1      Paradiso     Congotronics
Mahmoud Ahmed     Bemin Sebeb Litlash     Ere Mela Mela

Senegal gained its independence from France on April 6th, 1960!

We celebrate this week with classic Senegalese musicians.

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Fist little bit features King Sunny Ade, then we get into Sierra Leone Palmwine music!

Palm Wine music, or as it’s know in Sierra Leone, Maringa, dates back to the days when Portuguese sailors introduced guitars to West Africa. Early African guitarists played at gatherings where revelers drank palm wine,  the naturally fermented sap juice of the oil palm. The music with it’s origins in the Kru-speaking people of Liberia combined elements from Trinidadian calypso with local melodies and rhythms. The music was first made internationally famous by Ebenezer Calender and his Maringar Band. He recorded dozens of records in the 1950 and early 1960’s sadly none of which are available on CD. Palm wine guitarists had a tremendous impact on most of the West African music and their influence can be heard in both High Life and Soukous guitar players. The songs were were mainly sung in Krio, the creole English spoken in Freetown. Unfortunately, Palm wine music is on the decline, the last well known exponent Sooliman (S. E.) Roogie died in 1994. The music has been kept alive by Ghanian Daniel “Koo Nimo” Amponsah and a number of expatriate musicians living in London (where S.E. Rogie  died), such as Super Combo and Abdul T-Jay, although the excellent music they have recorded is not specifically maringa. – Alisdar Birch

Local Athenian Adam Klein, known for rustic Americana music in town, goes to Mali to record a rustic Mande album. He talks about his upcoming album “The Mande Sessions,” his African influences, the change from Americana to African music, plays some tracks from the upcoming album, and talks of his show with Habib Koité on Friday. Listen!!!!

Good friend DJ Willennium 2k10 subs.  Thanks so much!

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(fast forward until 4:23, sorry!)

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No specific theme today. Had a crazy week and just wanted to play some classics.

Everything everything,

Mister Senor Love Daddy

This week, Gnawa music from Morocco! The VERY FIRST episode dealing solely with musics of North Africa! Sit back and let this hypnotic trance music take you for a ride.

Hassan Hakmoun

From Afropop.org:

Not a people as such, Gnawa trace their ancestries to various parts of sub-Saharan Africa, and claim as their patron saint Sidi Bilal, the Prophet Mohammed’s first muezzin, or caller to prayer. Morocco captured the Malian city of Timbuktu in the 16th century, and brought Bambara-speaking slaves across the Sahara. The fact that the Gnawa’s main string instrument–the sintir or gimbri–resembles a large version of the Bambara ngoni, suggests that many of the Gnawa came from there. Gnawa play deeply hypnotic trance music, marked by low-toned, rhythmic sintir melodies, call-and-response singing, hand clapping and cymbals called qaraqish. Gnawa dardeba ceremonies use music and dance to evoke ancestral saints who can drive out evil, cure psychological ills, or remedy scorpion stings.

We start off with more traditional type Gnawa and then move into fusions.

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// // //

The crack of polyrhythmic drumming, the feathery, off-beat strum of an electric guitar, a groove that pounces and then charges ahead panting, egged on by punchy keyboard or brass section hits, and a voice so strong and clear that it rides serenely above the musical tempest—that’s mbalax, the most popular modern genre of music in Senegal.

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Love,

Mister Senor Love Daddy

This week,  music from Ethiopia! A trip all around this East African country thuogh space in time. Styles vary from jazz, to funk, to dance music, to soul, to traditional musics. Since Ethiopia is the only African country to not be colonized it has a very interesting musical past. Traditional music remained and still remains prevalent to Ethiopia, but there have inevitable been Western influences in their music and culture, and you hear many of those in the music of this show.

Mahmoud Ahmed’s  super groovy album Ere Mela Mela really brought Ethiopian music to the world, and sparked great interest into what kind of music Ethiopians were making.  The series Ethiopiques compiles awesome Ethiopian music and is now into its 23rd compiliation. You will hear a couple cuts from this series.

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Mahmoud Ahmed