African Music Show #3: East and southern Africa

Time for another dig into the archives of Australia’s pioneering African Music Show, aired on 16^th May 1984, and weaving networks that only the future might see. This was the time before  African music hit mainstream Western ears, this was before Youssou N'Dour’s Immigres was released, even two years before Paul Simon’s  Graceland album. Granted, it was a little while after King Sunny Ade’s “Juju Music” had already made waves with Island Records.

African musicians were moving though, and it was radio shows such as this one that helped shine spotlights into new territories. In this two-hour show Tony Hunter and Geoff King talk about and play music coming out of the Nairobi Hub of Congolese music in the early 1980s. They chat about London beginning to notice African music, and wonder if the African “hub” might shift from Paris to London.  The second half of the show heads south, skipping via Zimbabwean Rhumba, through Thomas Mapfumo, to end with a few different styles from South Africa at the time, including “The Call is Heard” from Amandla – The ANC’s Cultural Group in exile.

It was at this time in London, thirty two years ago, that Jumbo Van Renen was breaking ground with the Earthworks record label he founded in 1983. In his book “Sounds Like London: 100 Years of Black Music in the Capital”, Lloyd Bradley describes Jumbo as “ a perpetually genial South African and lover of music from all over that continent, who arrived in London at the start of the 1980s.” 

Jumbo actually arrived in London in 1972 and worked as A&R for Virgin and Frontline records, landing the likes of Dudu Pukwana and the Spears, Jabula, Orchestra Makassy, Orchestra Super Mazembe, as well as working with reggae bands, The Gladiators, The Twinkle Brothers and I-Roy, amongst others.

Already, new webs were spinning to new worlds. Tony Hunter  arrives in London towards the end of 1983 and meets Jumbo, and of course buys a pile of records. Jumbo had just released Thomas Mapfumo’s “Ndangariro” on the Earthworks label. The music press were warming up. Jumbo was

“working the connections”. Tony wrote an article on “Chimurenga and Mapfumo’s music” for the very influential Black Music and Jazz Review Magazine (edited by Chris May).

Lloyd Bradley describes a growing London vibe oozing with confidence from the hip pan-African Limpopo Lounge (at the Africa Centre), “it was hardly going to take a series of marketing meetings to work out that African could be ‘the new black’. So to speak.”

Two of the tracks featured on this radio show come off those Earthworks albums Tony bought from Jumbo, hot off the press at the time: Thomas Mapfumo’s “Ndangariro” and Orchestra Super Mazembe’s big hit “Shauriyako” (your problem).

If you have somewhere to drive why not tune your car radio back thirty two years and be curious to find of an Australian radio show showcasing African music hits from the early 80s? 

Download links:

Tape One

Tape Two

Swahili Special Hit Parade: (1983)

Government decrees to promote increased air-play of local music content are quite common, and they all have their good effects, as well as some unintended consequences. This  week the state-controlled South African Broadcasting Corporation issued a decree requiring ninety percent of the music featured on 18 of its radio stations be music created and/or performed by South African citizens.

This got me thinking about a parallel situation in Kenya in 1985 which contributed to dismantling the East African rumba scene.

Call it Swahili rumba or Soukous, in East Africa it is known as “Muziki wa Dansi!”. This compilation showcases four top bands and serves as a great introductory compilation to the genre and time. Nairobi was a huge magnet for African bands from the Congo, Tanzania and elsewhere, with a phenomenal live music scene which fed a burgeoning record industry. For example, the Simba Wanyika track "Shillingi" featured in this compilation sold 50,000 copies in Kenya in 1983.

In 1985 the Government of President Arap Moi cracked down on foreign bands in Kenya, and the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation further decreed that 70 percent of music played by all radio stations should be Kenyan music. It was also required that thirty percent of the music on vernacular radio stations would be music featured from other tribes and regions. 

Kenya's foreign music clampdown had the effect of many pan-African bands disbanding or leaving the country to play elsewhere. Kenya's current national music policy requires sixty percent local content on radio. But only last year local musicians took to the streets in protest, asking "how local is local": In August 2015 The Daily Nation wrote: 

"The protesting musicians are particularly irked that Kenyan airwaves are saturated with Nigerian pop. Three decades ago, the foreign dominance came from another part of Africa: Kinshasa, Congo DR (then known as Zaire). But what really is foreign music in today’s interconnected world?Kenyan musicians have been openly craving for collaborations with their Nigerian counterparts. The leading pop band in the country at the moment, Sauti Sol, have just released their new single, Shake Your Bam Bam, whose beat is taken from a Jamaican riddim, never mind that they claim it’s a throw back to the “Kenyan beat in the 90s”. The same song interpolates lyrics from a soukous hit by Awilo Longomba, while the video is directed by a Nigerian Clarence Peters.Given this confluence of styles and influences, would Kenyan radio stations play Sauti Sol and not Awilo, for instance?"

You can read the full article at the Daily Nation.

So, as of today the state-controlled South African Broadcasting Corporation requires that 18 of its stations present  90 percent local music content. With immediate effect nine out of every ten songs played between 05h00 and 23h00 must meet two out of four of these criteria:

• The lyrics are written by a South African citizen
• The music is composed by a South African citizen 
• The music and/or lyrics are performed principally by musicians who are South African citizens
• The musical work is a live performance recorded wholly in South Africa, or performed wholly in South Africa, and broadcast live in South Africa.

You can read the full text of the decree here

Personally, I might feel more comfortable if the decree also incentivised the playing of musics from other African countries too  - what better way to get to know and appreciate the wonderful diversity this continent has to offer.

As for Swahili rumba, it has achieved worldwide recognition and is selling very well - though I am not sure how much the Kenyan economy is benefiting. Doug Patterson has put together at least ten different CD compilations for Sterns. Check out Doug's site here. Doug tells me that when he heard the Maroon Commandos track on this compilation featured in this post, he knew it had to be featured on his "Nairobi Beat" compilation. (Part one only).You can still find that wonderful compilation online, for example at Amazon. You can also find another great compilation available from Naxos,

There are three excellent East African discography sites produced by Doug Patterson, Alastair Johnston and John Beadle which you should check out. 

Kenya-based Simba Wanyika was founded by two Tanzanian brothers in 1971, and continued playing and touring in one form or another until 1994. 

Kurugenzi Jazz is a less often recorded band with roots in Tanzania, all the more a pity. The influence of Franco is clear in this 9:45 track.

Vijana Jazz: John B writes on his Likembe blog: “Orchestra Vijana Jazz, one of Tanzania's top dance bands, was founded in 1971 under the sponsorship of Umoja wa Vijana Tanzania, then the Youth League of the ruling Tanzania African National Union (TANU).

Led by Habel Kifoto, the Maroon Commandos remain one of my favourites for what feels to me like a tropical laid-back sound-track to the life I would like to have. Founded in 1971 this Kenyan band was originally made up of members of the 7^th Kenya Rifles in Nairobi.

POLP 539 Swahili Special Hit Parade

Recorded in the Nairobi Polygram Studios on 8 track.

Engineer: Chris Mbindyo

Mixage: Isaya Mwinamo

Compilation: Justice M. Kasoya.

Download here

Maroon Commandos: Usiniambie Unaenda (1981)

Every time I visit Kenya and Tanzania I can hear its’ contemporary music still echoing strains of earlier seventies and eighties roots. Towards the end of last year I had the privilege of listening to and watching ensembles of musicians, dancers and acrobats from Tanzania, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, and Norway rehearse and perform ahead of Tanzania’s 32^nd International Bagamoyo Arts Festival.

Bagamoyo sunrise. Commuters on their way to Zanzibar

In Bagamoyo I heard new fusions from young artists, plucking the Taarab “banjo/type-writer” 72-string flat zither into Cuban Rhumba territory. The sensational contortions of young Ethiopian circus performers, in time to live Ethio-jazz, convinced me that they had absolutely no spines. The enthusiasm, music and energy of all the performers convinced me that Africa’s artistic futures are in good hands.

Drinking in beautiful sunrises ahead of a day’s work I found time to digest the rush of exhilarating experiences. The drive back south to Dar Es Salaam was accompanied by a  mellow soundtrack  of Habel Kifoto’s Maroon Commandos oozing through the taxi-driver’s sound-system.

I had the good fortune of watching another combined performance of these amazing artists at the Sarakasi Dome in Nairobi a little later last year. If you are in Nairobi, do yourself a favour and go and see a performance hosted by the amazing Sarakasi Trust.



Bagamoyo sunrise

The recording I share today was made in 1981 at the CBS Studios in Kenya, Nairobi.

The sleeve notes have the following to say:

“The group was formed in 1970 but only became popular in 1975 mainly because the material they performed was copied from the then popular bands in Kinshasa, Zaire. The Maroon Commandos later decided to compose and record a few singles; but these failed to take off because they were not well rehearsed, and fans were then of the opinion that the Group performed copyright material better than their own compositions.

“The group, however, did not give up, and worked hard at improving their compositions – in fact, the “Maroons” of the eighties are a totally different story in that they have gone far to establish that they are a “force to reckon with” music-wise.
“The Maroon Commandos signed on with CBS Records (Kenya) Ltd in June 1980, and recorded two singles, both of which sold fairly well. Their first recording in CBS Records

 “Kenya Studios, “Usiniambie Unaenda” turned out to be a nation-wide hit in Kenya. Since its release in April 1981 it has dominated top positions in local charts and it still there in December 1981. The other single, “Bi Sophia NO 1” has also ben a hit, though not as massive as the former.

Their new album “Usiniambie Unaenda” includes both the above hits, as well as two new ones. All four songs have been composed by David Kibe and Laban Ochuka. Listen to the album once and you will only be able to say the group is HEAVY!!!.”

Habel Kifoto: Group Leader; Lead Guitar; Keyboards; Vocals

David Kibe: Deputy Leader; Vocals, Tenor and Alto Sax
Laban Ochuka: Bass; Vocals
Albert Orguro: Rhythm Guitar
Joshua Ogoma: Trumpet
Tom Mutuku: Drums
Paul Mwandembo; Idi Mathias: Vocals
Hamishi Shabani: Tumba
 

1. Usiniambie Unaenda – Part 1 & Part 2

2. Bi Sophia NO 1 – Part 1 & Part 2
3. Bi Sophia No 2 – Part 1  & Part 2
4. Safari Ni Ndefu – Part 1 & Part 2

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