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Culture Press Around the World
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Like many of his fellow Angolans, Waldemar
Bastos fled that country during its lengthy,
bloody civil war and has lived in Portugal since
1982. After returning for the first time in
2003 to help celebrate the newly won peace,
Bastos was inspired to create the music that
comprises Renascence (Times Square), which showcases
his mellifluous voice and sinewy guitar playing.
 For
grittier sounds, a trip to Germany finds the
collaboration between German-Nigerian hip-hop
artist Bantu and Nigerian musician Ayuba. The
resulting record, Fuji Satisfaction: Soundclash
in Lagos (Piranha) showcases Fuji, a style of
music popular in the Nigerian metropolis of
Lagos which blends polyrhythmic styles with
western instrumentation. The sound ends up as
a sort of Afropop meets rap style described
by its creators as AfroPean HipHop and gives
listeners some insight into the current sounds
of the streets where Fela Kuti once reigned.
Moving south to Italy, the Italian Café
compilation released by Putamayo is worth mentioning.
Even though Putamayo's releases are sometimes
derided by "serious" music fans as
being lightweight and targeted at the casual
fan, they never fail to provide at least a few
moments of excellence in every release. Italian
Café collects songs by Italian artists
from the post-World War II, La Dolce Vita era
of the 50's and early 60's and includes such
luminaries as Fred Buscaglione and Renato Carosone,
as well as some more contemporary singers such
as Gianmaria Testa (who sounds like an Italian
Tom Waits).
To fittingly wrap-up the journey across Europe,
we end in the city of Istanbul, Turkey, which
sitsastride the Bosphorous Straits that mark
one of the borders between Europe and Asia.
One of that city's most renowned musicians is
Mercan Dede, whose Su record (released on Escondida)
had a very successful year. Heavily inspired
by both the waters of the Bosphorous and Dede's
Sufi religious beliefs, this mystical record
provided many hours of claming, trance-inducing
music and according to the clerks at one of
my favorite local record stores, was a big seller
as well.
Traveling south from Europe to Africa, we find
some of the biggest world music success stories
of the year as well as the re-emergence of some
old favorites. We'll start off just across the
Mediterranean in North Africa with Putamayo's
North African Groove compilation highlights
the blend of traditional and western electronic
styles in music from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia,
Libya, and Egypt and includes the excellent
"Montuno Noreno" by Jomed, which illustrates
the recent collaborations between North African
and Cuban musicians (further explored on Putamayo's
Afro-Latin Party CD).
The country of Mali continues to be an absolute
hotbed of terrific music continuing the wave
of western interest in this poor West African
nation that was started with the emergence of
Ali Farka Toure during the late 80's. Again,
Putamayo's Mali compilation provides a nice
introduction to a number of the country's artists
and shows a cross-section of the sounds originating
from a nation which is among the world's poorest
economically but is startlingly rich in musical
resources. Highlights of Mali, which is far
and away the best of the seven 2005 Putamayo
releases that I heard, include the excellent
"Maninda" track by Moussa Diallo,
the amazingly groovy desert blues of Tinariwen
("Amassakoul N Tienere"), "Bassa
Kele" by rising female star Mamou Sidibe,
and the lovely instrumental "Koulandian"
by septuagenarian balafon player Keletigui Diabate,
which also features the guitar of his frequent
collaborator Habib Koite.
 For
releases by individual artists, Mali produced
two of the year's best overall records in Boubacar
Traore's Kongo Magni and Amadou and Mariam's
Dimanche a Bamako. Traore was a highly visible
figure in Mali during the early 60's, known
both for his skill as a soccer player and as
the singer of the song "Mali Twist"
which was a staple on the state-run radio station.
But with the life of a Malian pop singer not
being lucrative, Traore retreated into a common
life to try to take care of his family. When
his beloved wife, Pierrette died (his song "Adieu
Pierrette" from the documentary film Je
Chanterai pour Toi is heart-wrenching), Traore
ended up in Paris working construction before
coming to the attention of record producers
who coaxed him back into the studio. Kongo Magni
(World Village) has a sparse and somber mood
but with less of a direct link to the Mississippi
Delta blues style that many musicologists have
focused on when discussing Traore, though a
song like "Honoria" certainly wouldn't
be out of place on a Lightning Hopkins record
with some English lyrics.
The married duo known as Amadou and Mariam
delivered one of the year's best records in
any category in Dimanche in Bamako (Nonesuch),
which was a collaboration with world music superstar
Manu Chao. The combination of the duo's music,
especially Amadou's guitar playing and Mariam's
disarmingly lovely voice, with Chao's quirky,
ebullient production created a sound that painted
a broad emotional palette ranging from the frenetic
"Senegal Fast-Food" to the undulating
"Aristiya" to the graceful "Beaux
Dimanche" to the brooding "Camions
Sauvages." Dimanche a Bamako is not likely
to garner the broader critical and commercial
attention it deserves because the lyrics are
generally in French, but for listeners who can
step outside of the usual genre confines, this
record is nothing short of stellar.
Two great reissues from legendary Nigerian
artists brightened the year as well. The double
CD collection Music Is the Weapon: The Best
of Fela Kuti (Wrasse) provided another reminder
of the long shadow that Fela still casts on
African music. This collection is indispensable
for not only its distillation of Fela's mad,
sprawling brilliance onto a manageable two-CD
set but also for its inclusion of a DVD of the
Music is the Weapon documentary (filmed in 1982),
which provides footage of Fela performing in
his prime at his Shrine nightclub, as well as
interviews and background information which
give important insights into this controversial
figure.
King Sunny Ade is another revered, though less
controversial, figure in Nigerian music. His
juju style first caught global attention during
the early 80's, which is when the recently re-released
Synchro Series record was first issued. Ade
also made his first trip to the US in a number
of years, providing American audiences with
the rare chance to see him live.
Traveling south from Nigeria, we next stop
in the rainforest of southeastern Cameroon where
British guitarist Martin Cradick and his wife,
Su Hart, unveiled another milestone in their
collaboration with the Baka people, pygmies
who live deep in the forests. Rhythm Tree shines
on the songs that prominently feature the Baka
people singing and playing. The song "Kobo"
especially bursts with joy and sweetness and
was recorded live in the Baka village. It is
also heart-warming to hear that with money received
from their musical efforts, the Baka constructed
their own "music house" for playing
and recording music, the first of its kind to
be built and owned by an indigenous community.
The warm glow of the Baka's story is dimmed
by the events in Zimbabwe over the past year
as Robert Mugabe's internationally condemned
crackdown on the nation's citizenry continued
to turn the country's recent relative prosperity
into turmoil. The two most famous figures in
Zimbabwean music both released splendid records
this year. Oliver Mtukudzi's Nhava was an international
success and seeing him live on an outdoor stage
during a hot Austin summer evening was one of
the concert highlights of my year. Packed with
insightful lyrics and buoyant music, Nhava is
testimony to why people like Bonnie Raitt hold
Mtukudzi in such high esteem.
Unfortunately, 2005 found the great Thomas
Mapfumo in exile in the United States as the
result of his strident opposition to Mugabe's
policies. Mapfumo has never been afraid of controversy
(he was outspoken in his criticism of the Rhodesian
rulers during the 70's), and despite being
forcibly extricated from his homeland and having
his music banned by Zimbabwean state radio,
he has not tempered his rhetoric. His latest
release, Rise Up also broke ground as it was
only released as a digital download through
the Calabash Music website. However, the record
was formally released on CD in January 2006
by Peter Gabriel's Real World label.
In South Africa, the world renowned Ladysmith
Black Mambazo completed a record of collaborations
with the English Chamber Orchestra entitled
No Boundaries (Heads Up International). The
record featured a mix of traditional townships
melodies with classical works of Bach and Mozart,
as well as stirring renditions of both "Amazing
Grace" and "Homeless," the favorite
from Paul Simon's Graceland record. The group
also will soon release a new record called Long
Walk to Freedom and will tour the US in the
next few months.
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