Farid El Atrache, c’est un peu l’équivalent masculin d’Oum Kalthoum, une légende de la musique égyptienne. Surnommé “le roi du oud”, l’auteur, compositeur et interprète (1910-1974), outre ses centaines de chansons, a également joué dans une trentaine de films, dont Nagham Fi Hayati, sorti l’année de sa mort et dont il signa la bande originale, composée de quatre longs morceaux.

(This post on my blog amf.didiermary.fr)

Normally existing between rap, downtempo and Brazilian influences, Anelis Assumpção samples Fela Kuti’s “Mr. Grammarticalogylisationalism Is the Boss” on this song featuring Karina Buhr.

From Anelis’ album “Sou Suspeita Estou Sujeita N​ã​o Sou Santa” in 2011.

Fela Kuti… is the Boss…

The original song appears in 1975 on the “Excuse​-​O” EP.
It was first re-issued in 2001 as part of a “compilation” with an other EP (“Monkey Banana) and in 2021 as part of Fela Kuti Box Set #5, curated by Chris Martin & Femi Kuti.

The deepest song here is the second track, “Mr Grammarticalogy­lisationalism Is The Boss,” which ridicules the notion that speaking “”proper”” English demonstrates superior intelligence, and bemoans the fact that doing so is, unfortunately, a requirement for upward mobility. As the chorus repeats the line “Him talk oyinbo pass English man” (“He talks English better than an Englishman”), Fela lays it down: “The better oyinbo you talk, the more bread you get, school start na grade four bread, B.A. na grade three bread, M.A. na grade two bread, Ph.D na grade one bread, the better oyinbo you talk, the more bread you get… Wey talk oyinbo well well to rule our land-o.”

(This post on my blog amf.didiermary.fr)

A family band based in the capital city of Niamey, Andal Sukabe is one of the few ethnically Wodaabe guitar groups. Merging traditional Wodaabe chant with elements of Tuareg guitar into novel creations, Andal Sukabe is historic as the first Wodaabe led modern music groups.

Andal Sukabe is a band of siblings from the Mojamani family; Ibounou and Ibrahim play guitar and vocals, and Tourou, Adama, Hadiza, and Haoua all sing. Hailing from the capital city of Niamey, Niger, Andal Sukabe’s music is rooted in the rich traditions of nomadic Wodaabe culture, with polyphonic choral singing and pentatonic desert scales. Unlike the Tuareg scene and style, whose guitar music has known more modern adaptations, Wodaabe culture has remained more on the fringes due to their predominantly nomadic lifestyle.

For the band, this was part of their motivation. “We wanted to create a modern sound for Wodaabe music and show the world that we too can have something culturally ours, but modernized,” Ibounu explains. Further developed in the studio, “Debbo” incorporates crashing drums and looping percussion to create an irresistible melange with strong dance appeal.

1. Kawle
2. Niger Leydi Main
3. Hay Malale
4. Toy Wadaabe
5. Rageley Am

• Ibounou Mojamani – Guitar/Vocals
• Ibrahim Mojamani – Guitar/Vocals
• Tourou Mojamani – Vocals
• Adama Mojamani – Vocals
• Hadiza Mojamani – Vocals
• Haoua Mojamani – Vocals

(This post on my blog amf.didiermary.fr)

After a huge success in Senegal and Gambia, Dieuf-Dieul de Thiès suddenly split up after 4 years in 1983. Re-formed in 2015, the group embarked on its first 2 European tours in 2017. Today, the story continues with the release of their first studio album, followed by a European tour in 2025.

The band waited 30+ years to finally have their work engraved for posterity (see here in 2013 and here in 2015). They are undoubtedly one of the last groups still active from the late 70s, from that great period of African amplified orchestras. On record and live, the tracks expand, the sounds of fuzz guitars blending with brass and percussion to produce an explosively psychedelic mix.

(This post on my blog amf.didiermary.fr)

Listen to Rajieen | راجعين

25 MENA artists collaborate in an Ode to Palestine, a musical anthem of solidarity and protest transcending borders and igniting a call for justice.

كاستجابة مباشرة للأزمة المستمرة في غزة ونضال الشعب الفلسطيني المستمر، اجتمع ٢٥ فنانًا من الشرق الاوسط ليقدموا “راجعين”، نشيد يتجاوز الحدود، مجسدًا الصمود والمقاومة.

As a direct response to the ongoing crisis in Gaza and the unwavering struggle of the Palestinian population, 25 exceptionally talented artists hailing from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region have united to present “Rajieen,” an anthem that transcends boundaries, embodying resilience and resistance.

جميع عوائد الأغنية والفيديو سيتم التبرع بها لصندوق إغاثة أطفال فلسطين. يمكنكم أيضًا التبرع مباشرة للصندوق من خلال الرابط أدناه:

All proceeds from the song and video will be donated to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. You can also directly donate to the PCRF through the link below:

Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (Rajieen’s Fundraising Page)

Participating artists contributing their voices to “Rajieen” include Saif Safadi, Dana Salah, Ghalia Chaker, Afroto, Nordo, Saif Shroof, Akhras, Issam AlNajjar, Amir Eid, Balti, Wessam Qutub, Dina Wideidi, Bataineh, Omar Rammal, AlYung, Randar, Vortex, Small X, ALA, Fuad Gritli, Donia Wael, Zeyne, Marwan Moussa, Dafencii and Marwan Pablo.

(This post on my blog amf.didiermary.fr)

The multi-talented Nigerian-French singer, and songwriter releases a sensual song “ODO“, her most recent release after two years.

“Money don’t impress me, I just want somebody who complements me“

“Odo” follows Aṣa‘s fifth studio album, V, which was released in 2022.

(This post on my blog amf.didiermary.fr)

“Pim Pom” by Wganda Kenya is taken from “Palenque Palenque: Champeta Criolla & Afro Roots in Colombia 1975 – 91”, a compilation released in 2009.

Boasting 21 pulsating tracks drawn from the northern coasts of Colombia, ‘Palenque Palenque!’ reveals a unique and fascinating story of how Afro Colombian music developed from the 1970s onwards and how the local sound-systems in Cartagena and Barranquilla played such an important role in shaping the sound of the Colombian champeta.

[…] the album highlights the long relationship that the Caribbean coast of Colombia has with Africa stretching back to the 17th century. Specifically, the rise of the percussion heavy champeta sound, born out of a wave of popularity for psychedelic Afro, Latin & Caribbean music inspired by the DJs of the time.

The influence of the sound-systems spread to local artists as well as re-energising traditional African folk songs and rhythms that had survived since the days of slavery. Record labels recognized the major change in direction from the days when cumbia and porro ruled the hearts of the ghettoes and began employing bands that began experimenting and tapping into these new cultural and musical movements. Disco Fuentes were one of the first labels to recognize this sudden swing and duly signed Wganda Kenya who went onto record some of the first Afrobeat records in Colombia. The trend in recording African music continued at pace with labels like Machuca, Discos Tropical, Orbe & Costeño quickly adapting to the newly adopted sound of the Palenques and bands like Son Palenque, Cumbia Siglo XX and La Cumbia Moderna de Soledad went onto readapt Afrobeat rhythms with a Caribbean slant.

(This post on my blog amf.didiermary.fr)

Alma Afrobeat Ensemble has always made a conscious decision to avoid being just another Afro-funk band masquerading under the banner of Afrobeat. Their sound has been constantly and consciously evolving, starting with Latin influences of cumbia (on the album Toubab Soul), moving on to a hip-hop and m’balax influence (on Life No Get Dublicate), a more soul influence (It’s Time), then a slightly more Americana roots influence mixed with electronic touches (Monkey See, Monkey Do).

“Toubab Resouled” (remixed)

(This post on my blog amf.didiermary.fr)

A kind of musical UFO? Not really. Malik Adouane set dancefloors on fire when mixing Soul and Funk with Algerian Raï. Listen to “After Raï Party, 1992-2008“.

Except from Rachid Taha, who allowed himself a few forays into the teeming, vibrant heaths of techno, no raï singer other than Cheb Malik has ever ventured into this terrain known for its abundance of sound. If you know about Malik Adouane’s ancestry, this is hardly surprising. Born in Librecourt, near Lens, he comes from a union between an Italo-Celtic mother who instilled Western sounds into his ears and a father, a former miner born in Biskra (north-east Algeria), a palm grove near the desert, musically renowned for its lively diwan that could be called Saharan opera. In addition, the town is renowned for its chakhchouka, a dish called after its rich blend of various ingredients and spices. Just like Malik’s music, as he was a fan of James Brown, Barry White, classical Arabic and raï music. He had been thinking about it from the beginning, but the dream took a long time to materialize.

[…] with his head full of sounds warmly recommended by the best DJs, he set out, a little provocatively, to position himself at the cutting edge of music with a new concept called “After raï”. It combined the sweet and precious past with an almost uncontrollable creative audacity. It’s a balm made in a test-tube-studio from a mix of Arabic melodies and lyrics – a kind of “Arabeat”, and the arrogant modernity produced by samplers, electronic spinning, roaring bass and guitars made for house music. The pinnacle of the record is a masterful cover of Isaac Hayes’ Shaft, which set dancefloors on fire in Paris, London, Ibiza and New York […]

(This post on my blog amf.didiermary.fr)

Valimbilo, released in 2018, is an album by Damily, the Tsapiky Masters from Madagascar.

“Bilo” is a disease which strikes one’s mental health. Depression is what western societies call it.

When one is diagnosed with “voany bilo”, a precise medical treatment is engaged and performed without doctors, nor medicine. To vanquish bilo, one has to use music. The sorcerer solely decides upon the “good” day (the day which gathers the most positive aspects of the astrological conjuncture) to operate. The extended family hosts a ceremony ruled by many taboos, which can last up to a few days, and in which only one remedy is applied in high dosage: Tsapiky.

They are “doctor” musicians whom talent is source of the cure. They play for the patient, who has to be facing the orchestra. All of their attention is focused on the bilo, dancing in the sick person’s body. It has to be awaken, seduced, surprised and attacked from every angle before it is pressured, pressured until KO, until it can’t take it anymore, stuffed with music. Then the patient is relieved, discharged, and the ceremony is over.
During the entirety of the ceremony, the patient picks a person who helps him/her get the bilo out of his/her system. This is what’s called “valimbilo”, literally “husband/wife of the bilo”.

(This post on my blog amf.didiermary.fr)

Promising South African guitarist and composer Vuma Levin mixes styles from his home country with Jazz, Pop and Electronics. Antique Spoons: Chapters on Love, Loss and The Politics of Memory (Spotify), his 4th album, was released in 2020.

His latest album: The Past Is Unpredictable, Only the Future Is Certain

(This post on my blog amf.didiermary.fr)

Cape Town-based guitar player Reza Khota is Artist in Residence in the Centre for Humanities Research at the University of the Western Cape. Reza Khota Quartet released “Liminal” in 2018.

• Reza Khota – Guitar
• Buddy Wells – Tenor Sax and Flute
• Shane Cooper – Upright Bass, Electric Bass, Fender Rhodes and Synths
• Jonno Sweetman – Drums

(This post on my blog amf.didiermary.fr)

Inspiré par le travail de grands musiciens comme Jonas Gwangwa et son Amandla Cultural Ensemble, qui a accompli un travail politique important pendant la longue lutte pour l’autodétermination qu’a connue l’Afrique du Sud, l’Amandla Freedom Ensemble est un jalon important pour la tradition du jazz sud-africain. L’album “Oratorio of a Forgotten Youth” a été lancé lors d’un grand concert mêlant musique et arts visuels.

L’album offre six titres fusionnant influences jazz, classiques et indigènes, la performance étant un reflet musical des manifestations étudiantes de 1976 et du mouvement “Fees Must Fall” commencé en 2015.

(This post on my blog amf.didiermary.fr)

“Souvenirs” is the first vocal album by the beloved, sublime, recently departed and much-missed Ethiopian nun, composer, and pianist Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou. The release contains profound and deeply moving home cassette recordings made amidst political upheaval and turmoil.

These are songs of wisdom, loss, mourning, and exile, sung directly into a boombox and accompanied by Emahoy’s unmistakable piano. Though written and recorded while still living at her family’s home in Addis Ababa, Emahoy sings of the heartache of leaving her beloved Ethiopia, a reflection on the 1974 revolution and ensuing Red Terror in her homeland, and a presentiment of her future exile in Jerusalem.

“Emahoy” is a nun’s honorific, like “Sister.”

(This post on my blog amf.didiermary.fr)

Negarit Band: The Indigenous Jazz Project – Album “Origins” – Site officiel

“Sabo” is another example of the rich musical heritage of the Gamo people, which each member of the community partakes from at a very early age. “Sabo” is performed by adolescent girls who taunt other girls from their neighborhood to join them in an annual music and dance competition with girls from other neighborhoods. If a neighborhood girl does not join them, the girls at her gate will shame her by singing “Sabo” song.

Tigriyans have a rich cultural heritage, which incorporates many of the traditional Northern and Central Ethiopia musical instruments such as the traditional flute (washint). The “Guwayla” single is based upon the unique Tigriyan rhythm (“Guwayla”) played with the ancient “embilta” wind musical instrument and traditional drums, Negarit Band also uses the traditional Ethiopian washint (or flute) and keyboards in order to imitate the sounds of the embilta. The single ends with polyrhythmic sounds of multiple musical instruments and a drum solo.

“Tight drumming featuring extensive rhythmic variations and surprising twists, polyphonic vocal pieces, and exquisite wind arrangements, coupled with dynamic solos and occasional modal elements—all enveloped in the enchanting, almost mystical Ethiopian backdrop.”
Mattie Poels – Music Frames

#Ethiopia #Jazz #Spotify

(This post on my blog amf.didiermary.fr)

“Franck Biyong‘s 9th album “Ki I Ye Yi” (2012), “The one who doesn’t know knows” in Basaa language, is a rare treat in Afro revival, blending the lost big band Central Africa tradition of the church choirs, national orchestras or military bands, with the urban 70s funk & afrobeat sound of the Paris Djs production powerhouse.

You’ll hear in this album a true anthology of Central Africa’s polyrhythms and melodies blessed with a solid and sophisticated production, a celebration of diverse influences, driven by a heavyweight spatial sound, the missing link between the bold roughness of Fela Kuti and the melodic sophistication of Manu Dibango.”

Franck Biyong is a Cameroonian musician, composer and singer, creator of the Afrolectric sound fusing Afrobeat, Electro-Funk, Avant-garde Jazz and rock sounds. The band Massak that Franck had formed in 1997, and toured with extensively for at least a decade, ended shortly after the release of the “Visions of Kamerun” album in 2010.
“It was the end of a cycle. We had done everything we had to do together so, it was time to move on. Moreover, going to Africa to record and learn opened my eyes to new possibilities. I knew something in the music had to change”, says Franck about the new directions showcased in this new album, undoubtedly the best endeavor of his already prolific catalog.

Recorded in Paris, “Ki I Ye Ye” is a dazzling feat of musical chops leaning towards the concise and hummable, presenting for the first time The Diamane Bantu Messengers, a brand new band formed with young Cameroonian musicians living in Paris. This is the beginning of a new adventure for Franck Biyong, and maybe the most accomplished ensemble playing of his career.

The core of this album’s appeal is its effervescent interplay between roots driven beats and arrangement overdrive. Pride in roots, culture and color infuse tracks such as the Afrobeat groove of “Ndjoke”, a vibrant tribute to Manu Dibango, and the Bikutsi Ewondo rhythms of “Jerry Malekani”. Hectic horns enhance a description of the gritty chaos of his home on “C.F.A Music”, a criticism of the neo colonial realities of our times, still ruling all over Africa today.

Numerous guests are also featured on “Ki I Ye Yi”: the grainy voices of Désiré Nkouandou, Soraya Ebelle, Emilio Bissaya and Oloo Bwemba enlivens the delicate interplay on the lengthiest songs. Subtle playing by musicians such as tenor saxophone player Ben Abarbanel-Wolff (Ebo Taylor, Afrobeat Academy) and Paris-based Les Frères Smith’s horn section spotlights some rich and thumping harmonic options.

(This post on my blog amf.didiermary.fr)

“Water from an Ancient Well” is the newest single by the legendary Abdullah Ibrahim. This version can be found on his forthcoming live trio album, “3” (out 1/26/2024).

See original album here.

“People don’t like Abdullah Ibrahim, they adore him, bestowing on him the devotion normally reserved for Nina Simone. When he plays, melodies tumble out effortlessly, as he slides from theme to theme like a laid-back South African reincarnation of Thelonious Monk.”

– The Guardian

Taken from Abdullah Ibrahim’s summer 2023 sold-out headline date at London’s Barbican Centre, the new album “3” is spread across two performances – the first is recorded without an audience ahead of the concert straight to analogue on a 1” Scully tape machine, which had previously been used by Elvis at the famous Memphis-based Sun Studios.

The second recording is taken from the evening’s performance itself with Ibrahim performing in a unique trio which includes Cleave Guyton (flute, piccolo, saxophone) who has performed alongside the likes of Aretha Franklin, Dizzy Gillespie, and Joe Henderson, as well as lauded bassist and cellist Noah Jackson, both of which are members of EKAYA and featured on Ibrahim’s Top 3 Billboard Jazz album “The Balance”.

Tracklist

1. Barakat
2. Tsakwe
3. Krotoa – Crystal Clear
4. Maraba
5. Ishmael
6. Mindif
7. In a Sentimental Mood
8. Giant Steps
9. Reprise 1
10. Water from an Ancient Well
11. Nisa
12. The Wedding
13. Tuang Guru
14. Reprise 2
15. Dreamtime
16. Skippy
17. Blue Bolero
18. Mindif
19. Trance-mission
20. Mindif [Digital Single Edit] 04:16
21. Water from an Ancient Well [Digital Single Edit] 04:04

(This post on my blog amf.didiermary.fr)

“5 units forming one solid hand… when the hand is clenched into a fist, it conveys heat, power and might – the attributes of a warrior. ‘Walk with Us’ is an invitation to the warriors in each of us to rally on the path to justice, freedom and peace. The song summons our inner resolve to cherish a noble cause that can serve humanity’s best interests. As such, you should never give up and keep the faith in who you are and can become. And the band members remind you: they will never let you down. The brutal sound of the wild guitar riff saddling a thunderous bass line… the incantation of the untamed percussions and drums, all rooted in ancestral spirituality and the chants and growls of the hailer are a clear invitation to headbang with the warriors of Arka’n Asrafokor with your fist up in the air. An invitation to ‘Walk With Us’!

“The band’s originality stems from their music, “Asrafo-core” which is a fusion of hard rock/metal and African mystic and warrior music.
Since 2010, ARKA’N ASRAFOKOR has paved its way on the Togolese music scene as an impressive hard rock metal band which creates, records and performs its own songs deriving their particular sound from the intense African character of their compositions.”

See previous album.

(This post on my blog amf.didiermary.fr)

An unfortunately popular myth is that Rock music, such as Metal or HardRock, is un-African, a genre for white people in which Africans are under represented. This myth needs to be debunked.

The African continent has birthed several diverse and thriving rock scenes throughout the years, from Zamrock to Nigerian psychedelic rock. One of the most overlooked is the African (heavy) metal scene.

Listen to more Rock, AltRock or Metal music from the whole African continent on the AMF!

Header image: Edward Banchs is the author of Heavy Metal Africa: Life, Passion and Heavy Metal in the Forgotten Continent (Word Association, 2016) and Scream for Me Africa: Heavy Metal Identities in Post-Colonial Africa (Intellect, 2022).

What draws them to this music, known for its screeching vocals, distorted guitars and nasty drum and bass rhythms, he adds, is that “metal bands are quick to hold a mirror right back to society — and [listeners] are responsive to the raw, human emotion.”
While many African metal bands are heavily influenced by these early pioneers — they put their own spin on the music, writing lyrics that call for social justice and celebrate African heritage and traditions.

Un-African? Absolutely not…

Update 01/2024: How heavy metal took me all the way to Africa — and deeper into Pittsburgh – Heavy metal electrified him. And Edward Banchs was pursuing an MA in African studies. Friends asked him: Is there a metal scene in Africa? He had little to say, but the question changed his life.

“I have also seen how metal bands in Madagascar and Togo celebrate their pre-colonial histories and cultures by incorporating pre-Francophone languages and traditions. I met a band from Ghana that uses their music to address widening economic disparities and highlight how poverty is cleaving their county. I have seen how South Africans use metal to build a post-apartheid future, and a band in Zimbabwe that uses heavy metal to spread a message of unity and hope in the midst of authoritarian rule.”

See also: The Heavy Metal Subculture of Botswana (photos)

(This post on my blog amf.didiermary.fr)

A political force since 2010, the activist group Bixiga 70, in reference to Fela Kuti’s Africa 70, almost didn’t survive Covid and Bolsonaro’s mandate. Resurrected, they have a new album, Vapor (10/2023).

Vapor – Playlist

São Paulo’s Afro-Brazilian groove visionaries Bixiga 70 return with an ecstatic 5th album – Vapor – their first in four years. The sound is joyful, a series of potent horn driven melodies and infectious polyrhythms. More than a return, Vapor is a rebirth. An exuberant, full-tilt party.

“We knew we needed to make a new album. But could we do it?”
That was the question Daniel Nogueira and other members of Brazil’s Bixiga 70 asked themselves as they gathered to record. An entire age had passed since their last album in 2018; the whole world had changed. The Covid pandemic had hit Brazil especially hard, leaving the entire country shuttered for far too long. On top of that, after more than a decade together, some old members of the ten-piece instrumental band had left and new ones arrived. It was time to take a deep breath and see if they could still make magic.

“It’s not just the next album,” baritone sax player Cuca Ferreira points out, “it’s really different. It’s a reset, like re-founding the band. With new people, we had to get to know them and create music together. They brought different colours and ideas.”

See also: Afrobeat Brazil

(This post on my blog amf.didiermary.fr)