African Music

The Daktaris - Soul Explosion (Desco) Recorded in Nigeria, this record by New York label Desco is dedicated to great nigerian musician Fela Kuti (+1997), whom I had the great pleasure to see perform sometime mid-eighties. The Daktaris go full-out wild with their extremely massive hornsection! This is jazzy, this is way funky, this shakes butt bigtime and has a hundred naked elephants running through your house! Dance to it, groove to it, drive your car to it. Tribal, admitted, but not worldmusic. Rootsy, perhaps.

Wasn't Daktari a character on "Johnny Quest"? Or am I thinking of something else? (Wer?)

hmmm...don't recognize it right off, but that don't mean nothing...

There was a tv show called "Daktari" in the 60ies or 70ies (american? british?). Placed somewhere in Africa, this was - for that time - pretty exotic stuff for western audiences. It was all based on this station in the wilderness, lots of animal-saving-plots, and the like. I don't remember much more. Best known character: lion Clarence, whose eyes looked into diferent directions.

Yes!! Now I can sleep at night.

You wouldn't, though, if you had this wonderful, all-healing record! Trust me on this one... Get it NOW! You'll love it, I thwear! Lots of brass, a bit off-key sometimes, it reminds of many wild things, and is a true wild thing, naked rhinos on rampage! Very soulful, very moving... Your daughters might even like it and dance to it, and so might you! AND: You can get it in the USA, because DESCO is a New York Label!

It sounds EXACTLY like what my daughters would like.

that was the live record. your daughters, I'm sure, wouldn't like the studio record the Daktaris did, though. it included clothed rhinos performing a Sunday stroll around the block and the elephants wore suits that fit so perfectly because they were pleated and tailored (they still wear those same clothes to this day).

much like I do...

I have two words: MANGO GROOVE Really really cool band. Discovered them during the painting sabbatical in Africa. BABY!

DETAILS! What label, what country, what style, what instruments, what style! MORE! Are they like a thousand shaved leopards, or are they like a hundred naked elephant bulls?

A thousand naked leophants, I'd say. Okay, so it's a South African group. They sing a kind of funky African jazz. Great rhythms, LOADS of instruments. Acccordion, every kind of brass, drums, guitar, marimbas, strings, penny whistles, you name it. Some of the songs are in zulu, but mostly they sing in English. What makes it special, is that it's an essentially black group who formed during the apartheid era - with a white woman as lead singer. AND, most importantly, they managed to become popular during those first years. Pretty unhear of in a place like South AFrica. THey are the first group who didn't get banned out of the country for consisting of mixed races. Cool, eh? And their music is just brilliant. Imagine a layed-back, less political sounding Glegg &Savuka type band - that's them.

OooooooooooOOOOOOOH Riette! Don't drive me insane! Puuuuuleeeeeeeeeze! Let me in on this: Do you know of any releases? What label? (Thanks you! ;=} )

ha-ha!!! sorry! Didn't know you were going to BUY the stuff. (Do you collect music?) Anyway, the label is 'TUSK' music co. My favourite albums are 'Hometalk', which is their 1st album, and 'The hits so far'. On both cd's there is not a single song that I like less than the others. There are other albums as well, but these are the only 2 I could find in Namibia. Perhaps they'll have it on Amazon.com as well, because a few of their songs were recorded by EMI as well. Where do you know african music from? Are you a german German, or an American born German? Another favourite AFrican singer: Miriam Makeba. If I had a nice voice, it would sound just like that....

Pleased to meet you, Ri�tte! I'm living in Rhein-Main-Area in Germany - and possibly your continental neighbour as far as the Spring is concerned. We haven't met yet, as I was hustled into joining the fray after you went on that painting binge. How do you like Fela Kuti from Nigeria? I think he was one of the great chiefs of african jazz of all time (helps that I don't know many others, but still - he was great. Great live performer, too!). MUSIC IS THE WEAPON OF THE FUTURE! More on what I do in the superstar topic in this Conference. Other places I visit here are Collecting, Media, InternationalConflicts (new Conference), Travel,...

You're a close neighbour indeed! How nice - now I don't have to wait 7 hours for the others to wake up anymore. From your response I gather that your a traveller who collects stuff on his jouneys in order to take part in International conflicts covered by the media worldwide. Is that correct? Or do I really have to go read through 40 responses to find out who/what your are? Oh, sheesh, OKAY then!!

I'm a professional military expert specialising in soft target elimination and infowar countermeasures. Most of the time, I operate in subsaharan Africa, you might call that freelancing. To relax, I listen to all my Furtw�ngler records of Wagner operas. Or go to a bar, get drunk and pick a fight. I'm also boring as university lectures.

(Oh God, Alexander isn't really Tim, is he?!)

Alexander, don't you DARE! (AUTUMN!!! Is he???) But Furtw�ngler, eh? What do you think about Furtw�ngler, Alexander? What do the Germans think of him? I mean in the context of history. Did he REALLY have no idea about politics?

Another thing about me. I have no idea about politics, either. Don't need to, I just get a task to do and that's it. I deliver. I used to to physics, too, but structure hits and other deconstruction events started to bore me over the years. I like to work with people, that's why I've specialized on soft targets. So, now I do what might be called applied anthropolopgy. Furtw�ngler is great. No better Wagner than that.

Damn. I love hearing all the different fights about Furtw�nglers political inclinations during the 2nd World War. As to him doing the best Wagner, I say he's bloody good. But I have a name for you in return: Klemperer.

Me, too: A handful of Sempex and a detonator! Plus a rocket launcher, for good measure...

You don't LIKE Klemperer? Are you serious??

*** Fela Anikulapo Kuti *** I've mentioned the name before. The Daktaris' absolutely smashing LP is dedicated to him, with all respect, and respect him any serious music-lover must. Fela (1938-1997) was a Nigerian bandleader and saxophonist, very much rooted in extremely traditional african beliefs. One of the greatest performers I have ever seen, too. "Music is the weapon of the future" - he was the Black President of Afro Beat, very outspoken and involved in politics. He tried to run for president, but they didn't let him register as candidate. I think he is a very important musician and extremely fascinating (his marrying 28 women on one day should make him a natural favorite with some people on the Spring...), and his legacy ought to get more respect. Let's put it this way: if his work had been always readily available and been constantly reissue and promoted by a major label, "Fela" would be a household name with anybody who's into jazz / soul / funk, all over the world. Admitted, there's no field of music where you can fight more heated debates than jazz, but he is as great and important as Miles. There, I said it. In early 1970ies, his best phase from 1972 to '76, Fela released 26 records. Yes, that's right, about 5 (!!!) per year. Right now, there is a wonderful reissue-project, offering 2 boxes of vinyl LPs (5 each) from French label Barclay (haven't seen them yet, but Universal Jazz seems to distribute them). Very limited, very pricey. (If there is anybody in the world, who has money to burn, or who wants to curry his or her favors with me: This is your opportunity!) More down-to-earth could be the CDs Universal or Universal Jazz (or Verve? After all the take-overing and re-structuring, nobody really knows how they are called - but they do it nevertheless) put on the market. Each offers two original releases from the 70ies. Haven't seen these yet, either, but I'll get them as soon as they are available. (Fela Kuti will also be featured on the cover of superstar #13, and there'll be an article on him. See also: http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/music/59.41 ; for any further questions, contact me: Alexander_Schuth@gmx.net )

Yes! I got the first CD of the Fela-reissue series (Barclay/Universal), and it's great! He performed live with his ensemble, al together 70 people, at a festival in Berlin, where the first CD was recorded. Has his 28 women double as dancers and singers, so there's a massive band, heavy singing, and lots of attitude. Did I mention he was very political? This CD oozes his ideas, while presenting really exciting Afro-Beat, played by THE MAN!

For those who are interested, the West African Dahomean Vodoun page has been updated to include several songs of the Water Spirits of the ATR (African Traditional Religions) diaspora. You may access these songs http://www.mamiwata.com/mamichild.html#music Also, to listen to these songs, you will need to download (or upgrade) your Realplayer. The link is also available on the site.

Maggie ! Thanks for posting this...but your email had more links that just that one. Post the rest, please!

Btw, upgrading your RealPlayer is really worth it and it is free and takes only a few moments.

The other link was the same but with <> which this programme didn't like.

I'll check that out! superstar 1/2000 also features a short interview with Tony Allen, who was Fela Kutis (+ 1997) band leader in the 70ies, and is one of Nigerias finest musicians. He is the "Beat" behind Afro Beat, as he is a drummer... He is still working and releasing stuff, which is a good thing at the moment, as Afro Beat is currently in people's focus again.

For all those Afrobeat lovers, (Fela Kuti, Daktaris, Tony Allen) I suggest you check Antibalas. Several of the Daktaris also play in this band. They play live in NY and are about to tour the west coast and Europe this year. http://www.antibalas.com Now as for those beans... :) fff

Do you listen to Afropop USA, bugaloo? It's the show with Jacques Colineaux (sp?) on PBS.