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Music's Motherland

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Music's Motherland: Still Birthing


By ERIC FEBER

Africa is not only the "cradle of civilization"but the "mother of music."

With centuries of insidious world-wide slave trades (Trans-Atlantic and Indian Ocean) that lasted well into the early 20th century, indigenous African music was spread across the world, especially to the Americas.  These traditional music styles came from Africa's myriad ethnic groups.  Their rhythms laid the foundations for jazz, blues, salsa, samba, reggae, ska, soca and calypso, to name a few.

But Africa continues to birth modern rhythms from its soil.  And with a trio of new releases - two from established stars and one from a relative newcomer - its sound continues forth on its own terms - a fresh, vibrant music that melds long revered traditional modes and deep lyrical content with abouncy contemporary arrangements that celebrate and incorporate indigenous genres.

Habib Koité & Bambada

The latest from Habib Koité, generally known as "Mali's biggest pop star," is the singer/guitarist/songwriter's first album of new material since 2001's lauded "Baro."  Koité has been celebrated around the world for his expert guitar prowess - blues singer Bonnie Raitt once compared him to Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn - and his expertly crafted songs, landing him in publications from Rolling Stone to Entertainment Weekly.

After enduring what seemed to be an unending world tour that took him and his crack band, Bamada, to the four corners of the planet, Koité brought a slew of new songs composed on the road into recording sessions.  He worked at studios in Mali's capital of Bamako, Vermont and Belgium, home of his longtime management company, Contre-Jour.

Always on duty to celebrate the culture and wisdom of his homeland, Koité renders all tunes on "Afriki" in his native Bambara, one of Mali's many languages.  But the album, as its title suggests, not only showcases his own country but the culture and shared problems of Africans.  Sung in his trademark raspy voice, Koité's compositions celebrate the core of Malian society.  Subjects include compassionate love songs, reverence of family and effective stewardship of Malian art and culture.  He sings to all Africans, encouraging young people to not abandon the continent, but to stay in their own homelands to make a difference by working for justice and prosperity.

Weaving throughout each song are Koité's picked and plucked sinewy, jumpy acoustic guitar riffs which pair wonderfully with Bamada's gentle African rhythms and sweet arrangements rendered on both Western and indigenous Malian instruments.  A cross-cultural treat is found in the song "Africa," which uses subtle Latin rhythms and horns led by former James Brown brass man Pee Wee Ellis.

Dobet Gnahoré

Also assiciated with Koité's Euro-based Contre-Jour management, is the new singer/composer Dobet Gnahoré.  On her debut recording, "Na Afriki" ("To Africa"), the Ivory Coast native offers an album that's truly pan-African.

The daughter of famous Ivory Coast drummer/singer/actor Boni Gnagoré, Dobet spent her formative years living in Village Ki-Yi M'Bock, an artist's cooperative founded by Cameroonian artist Wérewére Liking at the Ivory Coast port city of Abidjan.  This exposure to musicians, artists and actors from all over the continent shaped her artistic views and music along with her political and social outlook.

The result is Gnahoré's total musical celebration of the continent with songs rendered in Guéré and Dida (Ivory Coast), Wolof (Senegal), Malinké (Mali), Xhosa (South Africa), Lingala (Congo) and Arabic.  Each composition showcases many of the problems plaguing modern Africa including the exploitation of children, tribal warfare, the struggles of women and the fracturing of the traditional family.  Songs work under such sobering titles as "Incest," "My Tears," "Pillage," "Massacre" and "Polygamy."

But as somber as the titles seem, each tune is charged with life-affirming energy, attitudes and a blending of African rhythms with European pop arrangements, thanks to Gnahoré's partner, French guitarist Colin Laroche de Féline.  Throughout, she sings of brotherhood, family and artistic creativity as the panacea to the continent's troubles, while Feline's arrangements dance to a Euro-African beat.

Each tune is rendered in Gnahoré's expressive, wide-ranging vocals that can soar one moment and whisper a sigh the next.  She manipulates her voice to produce yodels, ululations, whoops, hollers, moans and scats.  Even if one doesn't understand any of the album's seven languages, each song's intent is clear thanks to those expressive, powerful pipes and the empathetic backing of her band.  If her debut "Na Afriki" is any indictor, Gnahoré's future as an important African artist who can create contemporary sounds out of traditional languages and music styles is assured.

Oliver "Tuku" Mtukudzi

An African singer/songwriter who has already established a place on the international music scene is Zimbabwe's Oliver "Tuku" Mtukudzi.

His latest release "Tsimba Itsoka" ("No Foot, No Footprint") was recorded at Pakare Paye Arts Centre, located at his home base of Norton, Zimbabwe.  But merely the action of Tuku establishing such a center and releasing an album that exhorts all Zimbabweans to think for themselves puts this famed international artist in political hot water.

The same way the late Nigerian Afrobeat lagend Fela Kuti ran afoul of his country's oppressive government, so Tuku's music is fast earning the wrath of Robert Mugabe's corrupt iron-fisted rule.

Tuku's weapon against government crackdowns and strong-arm tactics is an album that fuses Western pop and rock modes with his country's own indigenous music including Shona proverbs that teach lessons in compassion and communication while bouncing along vigorous Katekwe beats.  In songs that teach, render wisdom and counsel in life's lessons, Tuku plies his virile, commanding vocals to great effect, inhabiting each composition with a world-weary yet hopeful attitude.

The music, always suited for spirited dancing, is powered by Never Mpofu's rippling bass lines and Cliver Mono Mukundu's lyrical bird-like lilting guitar lines that groove to rhythms mixing '70s American funk and pop.  Each cut is allowed to develop its own deep inexorable groove.

The songs are so infectious that an understanding of Tuku's native Shona language seems unimportant.  These tunes affect the feet as well as the heart.

All three new releases showcase the relevance of contemporary African music.  Each album is an affirmation of life, traditional cultures and arts while facing down the many problems that plague African nations.  And throughout each one, the listener will be dancing, always dancing. 11/01/07
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