Youth Africa Music Experience
Sample from this book:
Active listening to African music
When Alan first started as a full time as a youth worker a group
of 14 to 17 year olds asked if they could have a room where they
could hang out in the club and play their favourite albums. This
idea was turned into reality in the form of a room that group
came to have a real sense of ‘ownership’ over. They
decorated it themselves coming into the youth centre over two
weekends to paint the walls a deep, rich blue. On top of this
they then designed a series of murals of rock musicians using
a device called an epidiascope, which enlarged the pictures onto
the wall, allowing the young artists to accurately paint the images
onto the wall. It was back in the time of Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix,
Marc Bolan and a very youthful David Bowie and large images of
these stars dominated the room that became known at the Blue Room.
About 20-50 young people regularly brought their favourite albums
into the room, which boasted two pairs of sizable loudspeakers,
twin turntables and a fairly powerful amplifier complete with
as a microphone for the budding DJs. Alan and the other full time
staff provided small amounts of money from centre funds so that
they could buy a couple of new albums each month which were then
owned communally by the club. Over the next year, the young people
brought in hundreds of different albums, swapped views on who
they liked best, and started to organise trips out to see concerts
and to organise gigs of their own. The centre was an extremely
large one and included rooms where young bands could practice,
a room that was used by a guitar tutor and a large hall that could
hold over 1,000 people for dances. Music was enthusiastically
enjoyed by many of the members, and Alan as a youth worker with
a passion for different types of music, was able to introduce
some different albums into the lives of those young people growing
up in quite a tough environment in an Essex new town.
Active listening
This example shows how ‘active listening’ can spill
over into a range of participation in:
- Going to see live gigs.
- Playing and performing music.
- DJ-ing and mixing
- Booking and promoting live music in the youth club and other
venues.
- Choosing and listening to a diverse range of music.
In relation to the themes in this book, introducing African
music to young people can be an imaginative two-way exchange.
For instance, try bringing in a variety of examples of music from
different countries, cultures and traditions, and encourage the
young people you are working with to share their music with you
too. That way the listening experience really is a ‘shared’
one and a much more natural experience.
Some of the earliest African music that Alan himself heard was
as a result of listening with friends to a wide variety of different
musical styles and types ranging from rock, jazz, folk through
to blues, reggae and later what has became known as ‘world’
and ‘roots’ music. Back then in the 1960s and early
70s music from other countries was thought to be rather ‘exotic’
and not readily obtainable. Today, it is much easier to find music
from all around the globe, including most African countries either
at music retailers or from the Internet. As Baaba Maal, from Senegal,
and one of the most influential African performers on the world
stage has said:
‘Then I discovered jazz and blues. This
music went to America and then came back to us.’
It is out of the fusions, the cross cultural influences and
experimentation with different rhythms, instruments and combinations
of musicians that many of the most exciting albums have been recorded.
In Africa, music has always been at the core of daily life, being
played at births, funerals, almost all ceremonies and a whole
range of life affirming moments in between. It is where it is
at its most ‘authentic’ and deserves to be preserved.
However, what is ‘traditional’ and what is ‘modern’
is increasingly a blurred distinction as traditional instruments
such as the djembe drum, the Africa xylophone – the balafon
and the single string guitar – the njarka (that Malian blues
legend, Ali Farke Toure learned to play on) are used to play modern
tunes, while electric guitars and other ‘western’
instruments are used to play the traditional songs and rhythms
from across the African continent.
Alan remembers how he came across some of the earliest African
albums in his extensive collection,
‘Well before the Sanctus track from the ‘Missa
Luba’ album was used as the powerful and at times harrowing
theme for Lindsay Anderson’s film ‘If’, I had
bought the 1963 album of the Congolese mass. I think that it got
on my mum’s nerves, especially played loudly from my bedroom
with the door locked! It’s still a ground breaking record.
Next up was the strange ‘Pipes of pan at Joujouka’,
recorded and then overdubbed by Rolling Stones’ Brian Jones
and Bill Wyman in a kif (cannabis) induced trance-like state in
the Rif mountains of Morocco. With a population of only about
500 this area has produced some of the master musicians of North
Africa. They mix Sufi mysticism with a pagan sound that actually
does make the hairs rise on the back of your neck
Fela and Ginger
I think next up was when Ginger Baker of Cream,
Blind Faith and Airforce fame became obsessed with Africa and
after the Baker Gurvitz Army band imploded, he joined as second
drummer with Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s newly formed Africa 70
, which was an enormous powerhouse ensemble of about 20 players.
The resulting album is pretty awesome. Fela sounds like an African
James Brown and the drum combinations of African and western rhythms
are some of the best ever recorded.’
The context of African music
This section of the book is not an attempt at an authoritative
guide to African music, rather it should provide a starting point
and a set of signposts towards some of the music, artists and
teachers that exist and how to find out more. At the end of this
section are some further references and online resources, plus
a glossary of African musical terms.
First off, here are a few issues and points of interest that
are worth bearing in mind when embarking on an African music experience
with young people. The African music and artists who we are now
hearing of in the UK and Europe are often neither the most popular
nor the best known in their native countries. There are a number
of reasons for this. Unfortunately, politics is one of these.
A number of African musicians have been forced by wars and governments
to flee from their homes and families. The situation in South
Africa during the years of the apartheid regime was particularly
sad with more than one generation of musicians living in exile,
including jazz supremos Hugh Masekela (trumpet), Dollar Brand
(piano) and also known as Abdullah Ibrahim and Dudu Pakwana (saxophone).
Geoffrey Orema was born into one of Uganda’s most powerful
families in 1953, but had to be smuggled out of the country in
1977 after his father was murdered on instructions from President
idi Amin.
Politics, religion and more
Some musicians fought on against the political regimes in their
respective countries and served times in prison for continuing
to criticise dictators and corruption. Amongst the best known
is Nigerian singer, bandleader and multi-instrumentalist, Fela
Anikulapo Kuti, who sang of the Nigerian army as being ‘zombies’
and spent a number of periods in prison even though he was regarded
as a virtual ‘king’ by locals in Nigeria. One of the
features of his music was that many of his lyrics, much of it
in a pidgin English, were an early form of improvised rap. Sadly
he died of AIDS in 1997, with over a million people attending
his funeral. But his legacy and musical tradition has continued
in a slightly more mellow form of Afrobeat fronted by one of his
sons, Femi Kuti. His band is called The Positive Force.
Congolese, ‘Franco’ Luambo Makaidi, was another superstar
of African music and led the band OK Jazz until his death in 1989,
which also may have been from AIDS. He was nicknamed the ‘Sorcerer
of the Guitar’ and was a complex man who was both a moralist
and sometimes obscene songsmith. This, coupled with occasional
criticism of the government led him into periods in jail. He released
150 albums featuring exquisite guitar picking and his gradual
transformation of Congolese rumba into soukous made him justly
famous. It’s hard to know where to start but Originalité
is one of his earliest records, Mabele with Sam Mangwana
is a popular landmark album and there is a Very Best of
CD released in 2000 on the Manteca label.
In Zimbabwe, Thomas Mapfumo also used his lyrics to challenge
politicians and corruption.  This
started in the struggle against the white Rhodesian government
in the 1970s, when he spent 90 days in prison, which earned him
the nickname, ‘Lion of Africa’. In 1998 he
sang, ‘We are slaves in our own country’ as a direct
criticism of Robert Mugabe’s regime. His whole form of music
was called in Shona (his language) as ‘chimurenga’
(the struggle). At the time of writing, he is living in the USA,
saying that it is not safe for him in Zimbabwe where his music
is currently banned. However, he has vowed to return, saying,
‘I may not be welcome there, but I will go to see my
mother, who is still alive, as soon as I can.’ His
2005 UK tour was appropriately titled ‘Rise Up!’
In fact, perhaps more than in many other cultures, African musicians
frequently:
- strive to keep traditional music and regional instruments
from becoming forgotten;
- use their songs to comment on social and economic issues
like AIDS, disease, famine, corruption, war, genocide and poverty;
- use music to celebrate their religious faith whether it is
Islamic, Sufi or Christian;
- play a different type of music for their home audiences than
for overseas consumption, and
- experiment with new instruments, styles and collaborations.
Obviously, to make sense of this, you have to understand that
in many countries the majority of the population is illiterate
or barely able to read and write, therefore the oral transmission
of ideas and knowledge is far more important. Also religion is
much more a matter of popular celebration than in the UK. In Uganda,
where Denis is from, and Zambia where Alan visited recently, it
is more common than not to see taxis and mini-buses festooned
in biblical tracts. And in Senegal many of the best loved singers
of recent years, such as Thione Seck, N’ dongo Lô,
Cheikh Lô and Youssou N’Dour have included significant
numbers of religious chants – essentially creating a new
form of Islamic pop. Another aspect central to much of the music
is that many singers are born into a caste based society where
all family members are automatically expected to be a ‘minstrel’,
‘poet’ and ‘praise singer’, known more
usually as ‘griot’ or ‘jali’ in African
countries. We just don’t have an exact equivalent, except
if we look back to medieval times when wandering bards and magicians
entertained the courts and the lay people. Finally, the reality
in many African countries is that not to sing at least some religious
songs would be economic suicide.
African tastes and European tastes in African music
This is controversial. It is also pretty essential to making
sense of African music in the UK and across Europe compared with
African music in many African countries. Travel in Africa, visit
clubs there, and what you mostly experience is a highlife mbalax
blend of African dance rhythms, drum machines, synthesisers, relatively
poor sound quality – music to dance and sing along to, usually
using Western amplified musical instruments. To most of us from
the UK it sounds like rather bad 1960s and 70s pop music. The
African music that sells best on the world music circuit is either
what European audiences perceive as more authentic, such as the
albino Salif Keita’s high flying vocals and subtly layered
masterpieces, Toumani Diabete’s hypnotic kora playing, the
Touareg rebel guitar band Tinariwen, and Malian blues from the
likes of Boubacar Traoré and Ali Farka Toure. In all honesty,
here in the UK we are particularly besotted with Mande and Mandinka
music – from Mali, Guinea and the Gambia.
In 2005 this debate continued after Biyi Adepegba, one the UK’s
major promoters of African music , complained in Songlines magazine
that:
‘Certain African artists get fêted
here because of their links with European labels, managers and
agents...The BBC Radio 3 awards for World Music are one of the
worst examples. They don’t represent what Africans are listening
to at all.’
If you can get hold of examples of music that represents both
sides of this debate it may be one interesting issue to explore
with a youth group.
The other aspect of this issue that seems to have been overlooked
in the media row is the fact that the actual historical legacy
of musical traditions in many African countries is a multi-layered
one. Looking back to the time when the missionaries arrived in
many countries, they saw African music as alien, inferior and
backward. Stapleton and May (1989) suggest that for the missionaries,
‘European music represented a ‘world
of order’ in contrast to what they saw
as “the inexplicable monotony and sudden passions of African
drumming”.’
In point of fact, the ending of the slave trade in 1807 meant
that many freed slaves returned to their home countries having
experienced different musical styles and traditions than those
they had grown up with. So, whilst the mission choirs brought
gospel music into countries like Ghana as early as 1752 they were
soon followed by many  brass
and military bands employing black Africans as musicians, which
led to the creation of big bands that played in the urban areas
by the mid 1800s. In the 1930s dance hall music was very popular
in many African countries and rumba, rock, blues, jazz, Afro-Caribbean
and more recently rap and ambient music have added even further
layers. Urbanisation, the mix of acoustic and electric instruments,
and the fact that venues in Africa are different from in the west
– usually either a dance hall, drinking club or hotel –
have all meant that distinctions are complex. These fusions are
actually responsible for some of the curiosities that lie within
the African music that is actually played in Africa. A good example
would be Thomas Mapfumo, who has been called a human juke box
of 1960s UK and American pop and rock. Add to that the fact that
many Africans will know more about white and black pop and reggae
music than about traditional African music.
So, in some ways, making a journey into African music offers
some challenges. Will the young people you work with prefer:
- the high vocal sounds of Algerian rai music?
- the danceable guitar rhythms of Nigeria’s King Sunny Adé?
- South African reggae star, Lucky Dube?
- Salif Keita’s lush lyricism?
- dance bands such as the Super Rail Band or Bembeya Jazz?
Or………………..
Have some fun along the way, and to start you off, Alan has
listed a few CDs and artists that may be worth checking out along
with links you can make using online resources and the references.
It’s not meant to be competition for the real experts like
Nigel Williamson, Charlie Gillett, Simon Broughton and Andy Kershaw,
so they can keep their day jobs, at least for the present!
Recordings – where to start?
Alan scratched his head when trying to work out what and whom
to include without this section taking over the book. This is
just a personal ‘taster’ of the rich musical feast
that is available. His own collection of a couple of hundred African
albums, plus tracks on World collections is in no way comprehensive,
but even if the following is idiosyncratic, at least it’s
offered with some passion and personal commitment. Don’t
rush out and buy all of these. Check out samples available on
the internet, listen to world music on the radio, ask friends
to lend you what they like and then share with the young people
you are working with.
There also exist a number of cross-over or fusion albums which
may be a stepping stone towards more traditional African music.
For instance, the Talking Heads Remain in Light, produced
by Brian Eno, was one of the earlier experiments in mixing African
rhythms with Western lyrics; Graceland from Paul Simon
became an international hit and brought a number of African performers,
especially Ladysmith Black Mambazo to a much larger audience,
but was attacked at the time for supporting apartheid –
a charge that probably was unfair, since although the ANC charged
the performers with breaking the ‘cultural boycott’
of South Africa, Joseph Shabala, leader of Ladysmith Black Mambazo
said that the collaboration with Paul Simon affirmed indigenous
culture and was an act in defiance of apartheid; Duncan Bridgeman
produced the percussion based, 1 Giant Leap, which brought
together artists from around the globe recorded on a laptop and
then mixed with African drumming and singing including contributions
from Baaba Maal and Bada and Bakane Seck, or you might fancy dipping
into Mali Music, from the eclectic Damon Albarn (of Blur
and latterly of Gorillaz fame), which features contributions from
Afel Bocoum and Toumani Diabete. Some collaborations work well,
some work some of the time, and some despoil the spirit of African
music, for instance, Peter Gabriel’s makeover of Youssou
N’Dour album Kocc Barma, which was produced in
Senegal, and reworked as The Lion by Gabriel.
Samplers
There’s quite a library of compilation CDs available of
music from the whole or parts of Africa. There are also some very
commendable world CD collections which include a good number of
African tracks. The other comment Alan would make is that a good
deal of African music is itself a blend of cultures and borrows
and melds musical styles from different continents and countries.
Desert Blues and Desert Blues 2
Two gorgeously packaged double CD sets with lots of information
about the music and musicians who  are
predominantly from various countries across the Sahara and beyond
including Ethiopia, Mauritania, Mali, the Gambia, Algeria, Senegal,
Egypt, the Sudan and more. Predominantly acoustic music and great
vocal styles which are quintessentially African rather than mimicking
the American blues. Produced in Germany. Check out: www.networkmedien.de
Africa Moves
Stern’s (see online resources) were the first major producer
in the UK of African music. This CD collection from Stern’s
brought together some authentic examples of Africa’s highlife,
soukous and juju music including Commander Ebenezer Obey and Tabu
Ley. Now available on Rounder records.
Planet Zulu
Subtitled ‘…heavenly a cappella vocals and pulsating
grooves direct from South Africa’ and that’s exactly
what this CD delivers. Mostly artists little known outside of
Africa, excepting Ladysmith Black Mazambo and Mahlithini and the
Mahotello
Queens. Released on the Nascente label.
Gilles Peterson in Africa
A double CD compiled by DJ Peterson which rather eccentrically
mixes the well know like Miriam Makeba and Fela Kut with the relatively
obscure (in European terms) such as Mulatu Astaqé, Lekan
Babalola and Letta Mbulu. On Ether Music, one CD features older
artists and the other is bang up to date.
The Music of Mali
Another Nascente compilation and this includes many of the best
known of the Mali musicians including Salif Keita, Afel Bocoum,
Toumani Diabete and Ali Farke Toure. Something of a treasure trove.
Free at last
A great compilation of some of the best of the best from South
Africa specially recorded live under sponsorship from B and W
loudspeakers and released in 1995.
World Music (annual double CD compilation from Charlie Gillett)
If you want somewhere to start in your journey into world and
African music these compilations from the BBC’s dj provide
a pretty good starting block. Released on the Emi Hemisphere label.
African musicians
King Sunny Adé
One of Alan’s all time favourites. Sliding guitars, great
percussion and laid back vocals. Blissful. All of his albums are
good, but particularly Synchro System and Juju Music.
His ‘best of’ compilation is called King of Juju,
see: www.wrasserecords.com
Salif Keita
This albino descendant of the first king of Mali, Sundiata Keita,
a Mandinka warrior, has a high soaring, distinctive voice (in
fact sometimes called the golden voice of Africa) and a penchant
for dressing , err, strangely. His career spans the Rail Band
of Bamako in 1967 to 2005’s much acclaimed M’Bemba
album on the EMI label.
Amadou and Mariam
Their album Dimanche a Bamako produced and featuring the Euro
superstar Manu Chao has launched these blind singers, complete
with some of the loveliest vibes you’ll ever hear, onto
the international stage. Modern enough in style to capture young
listeners’ attention. This particular album is on the Radio
Bemba label.
Tarika
Malagasy music – the music of Madagascar - and Tarika’s
name literally means ‘The Group’. Formed out of an
earlier group in 1993, their Son egal is Alan’s
personal favourite. That particular album is on the USA label
Green Linnet Records (1997).
Fela Kuti
There’s never been anyone quite like Fela Kuti. A showman,
some would say a show off, he actually studied music at Trinity
School in London in 1958. His lyrics were almost as explicit as
Eminem’s even in the early 1970s and his offstage antics
such as putting a fence around his home and declaring it to be
The Kalakuta Republic were typical of his full-on, in your face
attitude. As an introduction to his music, the double CD ‘Fela
Kuti: the best of the Black President’ is not a bad place
to start (Wrasse Records).
Souad Massi
Soulful to an almost heartbreaking level she evokes the sounds
of the desert, flamenco and the souk. From Algeria, she has a
haunting voice and the arrangements on her recordings are sensitive
to her voice and a range of traditions, particularly Arabic. Her
2003 album Deb (heartbroken) on Wrasse records is full
of mournful purity.
Baaba Maal
 Striking
in the extreme, Baaba Maal is one of the most experimental of
the modern African musicians. Michael Stip from the band REM perhaps
sums him up rather neatly, ‘Baaba Maal opened his mouth
and beautiful pearls and lilies and songbirds came flying out.
It was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.’
The Palm CD Nomad Soul from 2002 established him on
the world stage and features production by a wide range of western
producers including Howie B and Brian Eno. But many rate his earlier
album Djam Leelii: the Adventurers with Mansour Seck,
as being his personal high-water mark.
Youssou N’Dour
Senegalese superstar, N’Dour has mixed and matched traditional
and modern music including the Neneh Cherry collaboration, ‘Seven
Seconds’ which sold over 1.5 million copies. The fact that
he likes pop music makes him hard to categorise. In 2004 his album
‘Egypt’ was released. It is a celebration of Islam
and widely acclaimed in the west, while apparently being largely
ignored at home, despite being his most traditional recording
for years. It is perhaps his most subtle album (Nonesuch label).
Ba Cissoko
Alan’s mate, Howie Armstrong, who Alan has written a few
other youth work books with, introduced Alan to Ba Cissoko. Hailing
from Guinea, they’ve based themselves in Marseilles, France.
Alan’s copy of the Marabi label Sabolan is a much
prized and played possession. It mixes traditional Africa sounds
with a new and urgent urban groove. Their 2006 album Electric
Griot Land (Totolo) looks set to introduce them to an even
wider audience. Well worth searching out.
 Tinariwen
Mesmerising guitar music from these black gowned Touareg rebel
fighters from the Sahara area of Mali, who spent years in exile
in Libya. They were later championed by French band, Lo Jo and
have become the stars of the Festival of the Desert, where they
have played with Robert Plant of Led Zep fame. Alan’s favourite
album is Amassakoul (2003) on Independent Records in
the UK. But, having said that, their latest, Aman Iman: Water
is life (2007) also from Independent Records, is causing
very positive ripples in the world music pond. A pond which they
themselves would like to get out of, and into the world of rock
music per se.
Boubacar Traoré
The fact that his ‘best of’ collection is entitled
The Bluesman from Mali (2003, Wrasse Records) indicates
his standing in Mali. He has a great gravely voice as well as
being a mate of Ali Farka Touré, the best known Malian
blues legend. Another album worth checking out for its intimate
street sounds and unique feel of journeying through Mail from
Bamako to Niafunké is the 2002 recording Je chanterai
pour toi.
Habib Koité and Bamada
Habib has an exquisite voice coupled with a great African blues
guitar style. He’s a fine ambassador for African music and
yet another master musician from Mali. Alan particularly rates
his albums Ma Ya and Baro – both on the
Putamayo label.
Bhundu Boys
Alan first heard them on the John Peel show. They changed line
ups quite often, but their most accessible album to Western ears
is entitled the Studio Album: Friends on the Road on
Cooking Vinyl label.
Ali Farka Toure
One of the most popular African artists and one of the most
unassuming. He always gives his profession as ‘farmer’,
yet blues maestro, Ry Cooder said it was a privilege to play with
him on their 
collaboration in 1994, Talking Timbuktu. Imagine sublime
guitar sounds under African skies. His 2005 World Circuit release
with kora king, Toumani Diabeté, In the heart of the
moon is a quiet, understated masterpiece. His death in March
2006 after becoming mayor of his beloved Niafunké leaves
a giant chasm in the heart of Modern African music. Hi posthumous
album, Savane, on the World Circuit label, is a true
epitaph to a giant of music of any kind. Charlie Gillett said
of it:
‘He was a master and this is his masterpiece’.
Orchestra Baobab
After a 15 year break, the Orchestra Baobab reformed after the
successful re-issue of 1982 Pirate’s Choice (Nonesuch).
Youssou N’Dour then co-produced the album Specialist
in all styles in 2002 which is tour de force and well deserves
its critical acclaim. They are in Alan’s view the most interesting
of the old school of the Afrolatin big bands.
Debbo Hande
Suuf released in 2003 on the BBC legends label (which
is linked to Late Junction
radio programme) is one of the better realised cross-over fusion
projects. Simon Sleath is a multi instrumentalist who used to
work for Peter Gabriel’s Real World label. The album features
a number of Senegalese musicians who recorded with Simon on his
travels in that country. In style it mixes electric west African
musicianship with jazz, reggae and even a hint of classical music.
Thione Seck
His 2005 album on Stern’s label is titled Orientation:
Egypt – India – Senegal and that’s
what you get. An eclectic music which blends the sounds of different
countries and continents and is bound together by Seck’s
lyrical voice. Tipped to give Baaba Maal a run for his money in
the future.
Rokia Traoré
On the French Tâma label, her Bowmboï album
finally projected Rokia’s powerful, emotional and proud
voice and persona into the international limelight. From Mali
she is less traditionally inclined than some of her contemporaries
and this particular album mixes jazz with blues and both west
African and European traditions.
Baka Beyond
Formed out of the band Outback by Martin Cradick they
blend Celtic and African music with hints of everything else in
between from folk through natural and ambient sounds to rock.
Martin’s mission has been to work with the Baka people living
in the Cameroon and on each album Baka musicians feature together
with the loose knit collective of musicians from around the world.
Baka Beyond are now something of an institution, and money from
their music has funded various resources including a magnificent
Music Hall, owned collectively by the Pygmy people. Spirit of
the Forest was their first album in 1992 and 2004 saw the release
of their most recent, Rhythm Tree. The Global Music Exchange
is a resource that has developed out of the Baka Beyond project
and is aimed at developing and preserving the culture and environments
of indigenous people especially through music. They also run music
and educational workshops in the UK, particularly for young people.
Visit at: www.1heart.org
Afro Celt Sound System
Another eclectic mix of musicians from Africa and Europe. Their
first album Sound Magic surfaced in 1996 and they made
a big impact on the World stage at the Glastonbury festival with
their high energy performance, driving African percussion and
danceable sounds. At the end of 2005, Anatomic, Volume
5 of their global musical odyssey surfaced to wide acclaim. Simon
Emmerson who first brought the Afro Celts together had the idea
for the fusion of African and Celtic music after working as a
producer for Baaba Maal in Africa.
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