Entries associated with the tag "Kenya":

For the past week or so the media have been talking about Barack Obama's new momentum in the polls, but unsurprisingly none of the pundits have commented on the appearance of two new pro-Obama songs by African musicians, both from or once based in Kenya, his father's homeland.

While in town a couple of weeks ago for World Music Festival Chicago the great African singer and bandleader Samba Mapangala (a native of the Congo who achieved his greatest fame after relocating to Kenya) went into Delmark's house studio, Riverside, to cut "Obama Ubari Kiwe (Obama Be Blessed)," a song he also performed during at least one of his festival sets. In the studio he was joined by members of his own group, Virunga, as well as guitarist Nathaniel Braddock and saxophonist Greg Ward of Chicago's Occidental Brothers Dance Band International. The tune is a lovely, lilting slice of benga, with luminescent guitar lines snaking around the infectious but easygoing groove. There are some introductory English-language rhymes from Fanaka Ngede, a Kenyan rapper based in Minneapolis, but for most of the song Mapangala's effortlessly fluid cry takes center stage; in part, his Swahili lyrics say, "Obama, leadership is a gift from God, and you have it / Please help to bring peace, change, and hope to all Americans, and all the world / We love you!" You can hear the song at Mapangala's MySpace page.

The other song, called "Obama for Change," is by the Kenyan group Kenge Kenge, who play a sort of raw, pre-electric strain of benga. I wrote about them here last summer. Their song, which is available on emusic.com, opens with a bit of English: "American people, citizens of the world! Here are sounds and memories from Africa, drumming support for Barack Obama!" It's hardly news that support for Obama outside the U.S. is overwhelming, nowhere more than in Africa, and musicians from Africa should be especially fond of Obama--his office's assistance in cutting through immigration red tape has allowed both Extra Golden (who subsequently recorded their own praise song, "Obama") and Seun Kuti to tour in the U.S. in the past couple of years.

UPDATE: Here's the video for "Obama for Change:"

Today's playlist:

No Age, Nouns (Sub Pop)
Portishead, Third (Mercury)
Bill Stewart, Incandescence (Pirouet)
Graham Lambkin, Salmon Run (Kye)
Joe Henderson, Inner Urge (Blue Note)

The title track from Agwambo (Kanyo), the new album by veteran Kenyan band Bana Kadori, is like a burned-out car left by the side of the road: it's an optimistic benediction for opposition leader Raila "Agwambo" Odinga, written when he was expected to win the presidential election held in December. Of course, Odinga was edged by incumbent Mwai Kibaki, and widespread suspicion of voting fraud helped plunge what had been one of Africa's most stable countries into fierce political and ethnic violence that's left more than a thousand dead, hundreds of thousands driven from their homes, and the nation in shock. Kenya has been battered economically as well, and many formerly integrated neighborhoods have become homogenous ethnic enclaves. Yesterday Kibaki and Odinga signed a power-sharing agreement in Nairobi, brokered by Kofi Annan, that creates a powerful new prime ministerial position for Odinga, but considering that the two men have failed to work together in the past, the future of this new government is uncertain at best.

The Bana Kadori song was recorded last summer during the band's first American tour, which included shows for expat Kenyan communities in Pennsylvania and Texas and a New York rally for Odinga. Most of the tune is sung in Luo, but it also includes an English-language litany of Odinga's virtues: "He has suffered through detention without trial / For the sake of liberation / He was a staunch advocate of the Second Liberation / That gave Kenya the historic repeal of section 2A / That brought multiparty politics to our land," and so on. It's not exactly poetry, but given such enthusiasm it's easy to see why Odinga's defeat--especially in what seems likely to have been a corrupt contest--would come as a bitter blow to so many.

Benga, the modern guitar-driven dance style that dominates Kenya's musical landscape, is a major part of Bana Kadori's sound, but the band also has a deep love for Congolese rumba and uses its languorous, soothing grooves to temper benga's energy. The music is wonderfully stripped down--none of the chintzy synths that so many African pop stars use, just electric guitars, percussion, saxophone, and bass. Perhaps the most satisfying element is the gorgeous, lush harmony singing. It's one thing for a group to nail a chorus, but these guys often sing whole songs together without the slightest wobble out of tune. The record was produced by Nyathi Otenga Flying Studios (the mobile setup run by Alex Minoff and Ian Eagleson of Extra Golden, who also own Kanyo Records), and they captured the music honestly and without fuss. Let's hope Kenya's future is as smooth as this album.

Today's playlist:

Liu Fang, Silk Sound (Accords Croises)
Vinicius Cantuaria, Cymbals (Koch)
Farmers Market, Surfin' USSR (Ipecac)
Box, Studio 1 (Rune Grammofon)

The recent elections in Kenya have been dogged by charges of fraud, and in their wake the country has been rocked by ethnic violence--hundreds have been murdered, there’s been widespread looting, and a national curfew has the country on virtual lockdown.

The transcontinental band Extra Golden--whose fine second album, Hera Ma Nono, was released in the fall by Thrill Jockey--has several members in Kenya. Ian Eagleson and Alex Minoff, who are based in D.C., are asking the public to help their bandmates in Nairobi, Opiyo Bilongo (pictured), Onyango Wuod Omari, and Onyango Jagwasi. As it says on the band’s Web site, “They all have large extended families for whose well-being they are entirely responsible. Of course, as musicians, that well-being is provided for through nightly work at clubs. With dusk-to-dawn curfews in place, these men are all unable to work, and a subsistence that was already hand-to-mouth has become non-existent.”

Eagleson and Minoff are asking for donations of just five dollars, though they’ll welcome any amount. Obviously this mess affects thousands and thousands of Kenyans, most of whom could probably use five bucks too, but at least this way you can know who you’re helping. Further details and Paypal info are available here.

Today’s playlist:

Brian Groder, Torque (Latham)
Jackson Harrison Trio, Land Tides (Hatology)
Teresa Cristina e Grupo Semente, Delicada (EMI, Brasil)
Tunng, Comments of the Inner Chorus (Full Time Hobby/Static Caravan)