EASTERN AFRICAN MUSIC

  We don't get much music from Uganda out here in Northern California, so MAMA AFRICA from the Peace African Youth Ensemble was  welcome surprise: any cd that begins with a joyful balafon (marimba) sound gets me every time.

 There is a homemade look to MAMA AFRICA, and it carries over into the sound inside: the whole cd is fifteen musicians crammed into a 12-foot-by-12-foot room recording into a single microphone.

 By cut #2 I was reminded of those great South African recordings of the 1940s and 50s: of course, the instruments are different - but the joy of young people living out their dreams comes across just the same way.

 Along with many voices and the balafon we have acoustic guitar, djemba (hand drum), tube bass, shakers, traditional fiddle, African harp and some type of flute.  Although a young man with a trumpet is shown on the cover, I didn't hear him - though after three listens I kept hearing more instruments and picking out individual voices which are occasionally in English.  All the musicians and singers seem to be teens. Due to the lack of high tech studio production it took a while to realize just how wonderful this music is.

 If you manage to get this recording, make sure you give it at least three listens before making up your mind - I'm really getting hooked: there's a joy here you get on very few recordings -songs of yearning for peace and a better world in a totally fun package. 

 What more could you ask for?

  Nawal is a very interesting new artist from the Comoros Islands which lay between the large island of Madagascar and the east coast of Africa near the northern border of Mozambique and the southern border of Tanzania. Music of her music is acoustic and the group is small - usually six or less, including Nawal herself, who sings and plays several instruments including guitar on cut 7.

 Nawal sings unaccompanied and music of her music is haunting and beautiful. Much thought went into who should sing on the vocal chorus, for every tract keeps changing - the sounds will remind some listeners of the sounds of Madagascar, other times of the nearby island of Reunion  - and at other times a Mozambique influence - and ever a South African influence - shows in some of the choral work.  The only European language I noticed in the vocals is French interwoven with local languages.

 Even though KWELI is soft and gentle, one can feel a sense of power in the vocals. According to the liner notes, this is Nawal's first cd. She's the first woman singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist to give a performance in public on Comoros.  If that isn't enough, she produced KWELI herself.

 Africa meets the Indian ocean cultures, rich in the heritage of Asia and the Middle East: this could be an international hit, with the right luck.

  Most 'world music' fans are somewhat familiar with the Taraab music of East Africa with its Arab-meets-India-meets-black-Africa mélange of sounds. Zanzibar is arguably the center of the Taarab sound as Zanzibar was for centuries the headquarters of the Sultanate that was the East African costal region before the coming of the British and Germans  - but Taarab is not the only music of the region; other sounds like Maulindi and Kidumback also exist in the area alongside the various styles of Taarab which dominate ZANZIBAR: MUSIC OF CELEBRATION.

 The people of the area are usually thought of (by outsiders at least) as a homogenous blend of mixed race people: African, Indian, and Arab - but not everyone is equally mixed and not everyone is Muslim, so among some groups the sound of Taarab can lean more to the African, Indian or Arab style.

 Other differences can be found in the purpose of the music: is it a religious festival? A solemn occasion? A wedding?  Naturally wedding music is going to sound different from music played at a funeral, or the music played at the swearing in ceremony of a state official.

 None of the recordings on ZANZIBAR: MUSIC OF CELEBRATION were recorded in a slick recording studio with overdubs: some were recorded in rehearsal halls with only band members and recording staff present; others were recorded at ceremonies where audience members can be heard shouting out encouragement among other things - so this will never be a top forty record.

 But for serious students of ethnic tradition and music, ZANZIBAR: MUSIC OF CELEBRATION is a valuable addition to the reference library.