Post-Colonial African Groove of the Week #5 – Sankaran ka – Guest post by Kane Mathis
Much of my interest in and knowledge of West African music is thanks to my good friend Kane Mathis, who plays kora in my kora band and is, I believe, one of our country’s experts on Mandinka music. I asked if he wanted to guest post, and so this week’s Post-Colonial African Groove is courtesy [...]
New Audio and Video
I’ve switched themes here, hoping that this will be a bit clearer of a layout and style. Hope you enjoy it. Earlier in the month, the Kora Band played a couple of very fun gigs in Portland and Seattle We’re gearing up for our big shows at Jimmy Maks in Portland on Oct. 9 and [...]
Post-Colonial African Groove of the Week #4 – Hwahwa
This week we move even farther south, to Zimbabwe, to feature one of my favorite tunes by “the Lion of Zimbabwe,” Thomas Mapfumo. Thomas has been a great innovator in Zimbabwean pop throughout his long career. He was one of the originators of “chimurenga” music, a style that transposed the original mbira music of the [...]
Post-Colonial African Groove of the Week #3 – Tantine
Well, I’m a day behind, though yesterday’s post generated enough attention that it was clearly worth it! Thanks Darcy! Moving along with the series, I have chosen for this week one of my favorite songs out of the D.R.C. (back when it was Zaire), by the “James Brown of Africa”, Francois Luambo Makaidi (known as [...]
Jazz Pioneers #1 – Jelly Roll Morton’s King Porter Stomp
[Update: The estimable Darcy James Argue, who kindly linked to this post, has noted that the 1926 recording link is broken. Now, it's finally fixed! Thanks for your patience and enjoy!] [I'm putting the "Post-Colonial West African Groove of the Week" on hold while I drive up to Seattle. I will post it later today [...]
Post-Colonial African Groove of the Week #2 – Djata
For the second Post-Colonial African Groove tune, I’ve selected a track from Les Ambassadeurs Internationaux. This was a fantastic band, really one of the finest electric bands to emerge in Post-Colonial West Africa, which was formed in 1969 to play at the government Motel in Bamako. This paralleled a slightly earlier band, also government sponsored, [...]