Some of the most exciting sounds to come out of Africa in the late 1980s and 1990s were produced by Senegalese-born vocalist Youssou N'Dour. Although rooted in the traditional music of his homeland, N'Dour constantly sought new means of expression. In addition to recording as a solo artist, N'Dour collaborated with a long list of influential artists including Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, Neneh Cherry, and Branford Marsalis. A native of Dakar's impoverished Media section, N'Dour inherited his musical skills from his mother, a griot (oral historian) who taught him to sing as a child. Before his teens, N'Dour joined Dakar's popular Star Band at the age of 19. Within two years, he had assumed leadership of the group, which he renamed Super E'toile de Dakar. With the band accompanying their four- or five-octave vocals, N'Dour helped pioneer mbalax, an uptempo mix of African, Caribbean and pop rhythms. First performing in Europe in 1984, Dakar's N'Dour and Super E'toile made their North American debut the following year. N'Dour's talents soon attracted the support of top musicians. In 1986, his vocals were featured on Paul Simon's Graceland and Peter Gabriel's So. He subsequently traveled the world as an opening act for Gabriel. His biggest exposure came when he agreed to co-star, along with Gabriel, Bruce Springsteen, Sting and Tracy Chapman, in Amnesty International's Human Rights section. He toured in 1988. The same year, he performed at the well-known birthday concert for South African activist (and president) Nelson Mandela at Wembley Stadium in London. N'Dour cemented his reputation in 1989, when he released his first internationally distributed album, The Lion, which featured a tune, "Shaking the Tree," that he co-wrote with Gabriel. After signing with Spike Lee's Columbia label 40 Acres & a Mule, distributed on Columbia, N'Dour earned a Grammy nomination in 1991 with his first effort on the Eyes Open label. He continued to seek new opportunities for his creativity, including an African opera that premiered at the Paris Opera in July 1993. Recorded in Senegal, N'Dour's album The Guide, released in 1994, featured his duet with Swedish vocalist Neneh Cherry, "Seven Seconds". A series of greatest hits packages, reissues, singles and even a few full-lengths - including a handful of Nonesuch, 2002's Nothing's in Vain, 2004's Egypt and 2007's Rokka Mi Rokka, issued in the late '90s and on the next century, with N'Dour working with artists from Etoile de Dakar to Gabriel. Grammy-winning Egypt caused a cultural and political stir when it was released during the month of Ramadan. A documentary DVD focusing on the whole affair, Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love, appeared in early 2010 and included a biography of N'Dour's career, as well as extensive concert footage and a N'Dour film. working on the Egypt project.

01. Gorée 02. Bull Ko Door 03. Be Careful 04. Jeegel Nu 05. Conquer the World (feat. Akon) 06. Exodus 07. Ban La (feat. Fally Ipupa) 08. Oumar Foutiyou Tall 09. Dawal (feat. Spotless) 10. Serin Fallu 11. Food For All 12. Money Money

With their feet in tradition and their eyes on the future, the four Urban Village musicians set out to raise awareness of the culture and history of the South African township of Soweto, the apartheid-designed dormitory town that became home to of people from all over the country, bringing with them their diverse cultural and musical identities. Urban Village embodies this story, and in their latest work Udondolo (Walking Stick) they present us with a question not only of music but of identity, they are inspired by their upbringing in Soweto and build their imaginary based on the quasi-romantic idea of ​​life in rural.

tracks list:

01. Izivunguvungu

02. Dindi

03. Ubaba

04. Ubusuku

05. Madume

06. Sakhisizwe

07. Marabi

08. Umuthi

09. Inkani

10. Makolo Yanga

11. Empty K-Set

12. Umhlaba Wonke ft. Msaki

Fuente: http://lauvaylaparra.blogspot.com/2022/07/urban-village-udondolo-2021.html

The Souljazz Orchestra is a Canadian multicultural group, created in Ottawa, that has spent more than a decade perfecting its characteristic sound: a percussion explosion of soul, jazz, Afro, Latin and Caribbean rhythms, backed by an arsenal of analog-style keyboards from the 60s and 70s of the 20th century.

Staff:

Zakari Frantz (Alto Sax, Percussion, Vocals)

Ray Murray (Baritone Sax, Percussion, Vocals)

Steve Patterson (Tenor Sax, Percussion, Vocals)

Pierre Chrétien (Keyboards, Percussion, Vocals)

Philippe Lafrenière (Drums, Percussion, Vocals)

Marielle Rivard (Percussion, Vocals)

01. Bibinay (feat. El Hadji "Élage" M'Baye)

02. Kelen Ati Leen

03. Cartão Postal (feat. Rômmel Teixeira Ribeiro)

04. Ya Basta

05. Jericho

06. Serve & Protect (feat. El Hadji "Élage" M'Baye)

07. Conquering Lion

08. Kingpin

09. Tanbou Lou

10. Nijaay

A key player in the new generation of South African jazz musicians, KwaZulu-Natal-born guitarist and vocalist Sibusile Xaba has all the makings of a master acoustic guitar player. With a vocal style that is part dreamcaping and part ancient invocation, Xaba divines rather than simply sings. Combined with a guitar style that is rooted in expressive choice, Xaba's music breaks the boundaries of the genre, taking only the fundamentals of mentors like Madala Kunene and Dr. Philip Tabane and imbuing them with an improvisational mythology and intensity of their own.

'Open Letter to Adoniah' is a reverent album of life and its connection to a higher source. The music emanates from the dreams revealed to Xaba on consecutive days and most of the album was recorded live in the Magaliesberg mountains outside of Johannesburg in the winter of 2016.

Featuring percussionists Thabang Tabane and Dennis Moanganei Magagula, the trio blends geographical and spiritual influences, hinting at Maskandi (a style of music dominant in Xaba's native KwaZulu-Natal) and the improvisational culture of South Africa's jazz avant-garde. Collectively, the musicians reshape these influences, situating them within rhythms that span the African continent. Thabang Tabane's influence on the project gives it a spiritual sensibility allusive to Malombo's music that his father, the legendary Dr. Philip Tabane, originated in the early 1960s.

1. Open Letter to Adoniah 05:00

2. Wampona 05:29

3. Emazulwini 05:18

4. Sibongile : Tribute to the Mother (Reprise) 04:46

5. Nomaphupho 04:52

6. Angisenalutho 03:52

7. Nyandi Yeni (Interlude) 01:14

8. Swaziland 03:34

9. Liyabukwa 03:57

10. Inkululeko (Reprise) 07:38

Fuente: https://sibusilexaba.bandcamp.com/album/open-letter-to-adoniah

The Orchester National de Barbès is the noise, the smell and the soul of this mestizo neighborhood of Paris, but also the fusion of the different North African and French musical communities, the union of 11 musicians from different regions of the Maghreb and France who set up a repertoire that puts everyone in agreement, Moroccans, Algerians, Tunisians and French from the popular neighborhoods. Their penultimate album, Rendez-vous Barbès (2010), is a synthesis of the 3 previous ones and comes to breathe a new dynamic into North African music of which they are the best ambassadors.

With Algerian and Moroccan roots, the members of this orchestra lived in the Parisian neighborhood of Barbès when they got together to make music in 1995. Barbès is an emblem of the history of immigration in France, the place where many Algerian, Moroccan and , Malians or Senegalese chose their first address, usually a room in a dilapidated hotel, hoping to scrape together a little money. And it is in the cafes of this neighborhood that the North African music scene was born in France, then confidential and frequented only by the hundreds of immigrants who came down to the cafe on their way back from the factory, to listen to some songs from their country. Mythical singers came from there, like Dahmane El Harrachi or Cheb Khaled.

Today, more than fifteen years later, the Orquestre National de Barbès continues to mix traditional Maghrebi styles, raï, reggae and Gnawa music with contemporary sounds and rhythms to show the world the sound richness of Africa, including both the north and the lands. that start from the Sahara desert, emphasizing the most festive rhythms and taking tradition as a base to adapt it to the sounds of today.

Rendez-vous Barbès is a synthesis of his three previous works. Songs inspired by allaoui, raï, gnawa, chaabi, Berber, reggae rhythms... combined with an energy inspired by rock and ska. A snapshot of the energy and creative spirit that characterizes the popular neighborhoods of Paris, an album that invites you to dance and that would almost make you forget the "too serious" of the inhabitants of the French capital. In short, "an intense album, which results in an invitation to travel through that immense world that is found in the streets of that multicultural neighborhood that is Barbès".

Tracks list:

01. Sidi Yahia-bnet Paris

02. Chkoun?

03. No no no

04. Chorfa

05. RDV Barbès

06. Jarahtini-Marhba-Jibouhali

07. Rod Balek

08. Laafou

09. Denya

10. Allah idaouia

Página web oficial: Orchestre National de Barbès

In the ebb and flow of life, things come together and things fall apart. This constant rhythm is observed in everyday life, as well as in historical summaries of past centuries. Bata Ketu is an Inter-musical game consisting of six acts. It tells the story of Yoruba music, uprooted from Mother Africa, transplanted in Cuba and Brazil, evolving separately in time, to later come together in the present day. In this meeting of two long separated "brothers", the differences and similarities to create a new form, dynamic art through performance and celebration.

During the long years of slavery in which the Yorubas and their descendants suffered in Cuba and Brazil, their ancestral deities, the Orishas, ​​would appear in the physical world through the possession of the initiates. Through a living art of song, drumming and dance, the orishas have lived as far as the shores of Africa. It could be said that whenever the rhythms of the orisha are played or their songs sung, they exist in our physical world.

Although both versions are clearly the same song, the difference between the Brazilian and Cuban flavors delights the senses. On the other hand, there is a wonderful sense of balance in Bata Ketu, as Cuban songs are sung by a woman, and Brazilian songs are sung by a man. These arrangements not only demonstrate a deep understanding of both lineages, but also the variety and ingenuity of the groupings in creating new and original musical textures that can be appreciated by beginner and aficionado alike.

The extraordinary music heard at Bata Ketu is the work of two visionary American percussionists, Michael Spiro and Mark Lamson. They are accompanied by Brazilian Percussion Master Jorge Alabe, Cuban singer and musicologist Bobi Céspedes, and Regino Jiménez considered one of the greatest olú -batá (percussionist) from Cuba.