Samba Mapangala & Orchestra Virunga - Zanzibar

Samba Mapangala was born in Matadi, in the region known as Bas-Congo. In the early 1970s he moved to Kinshasha for secondary education. His vocal talents were recognized early and he worked in various Kinshasa bands like Bariza, Super Tukina, Super Bella Bella, and Saka Saka. Samba travelled east with other musicians in 1975. In Kampala, Uganda in 1976, they made their mark as Les Kinois (The Kinshasans). With Samba as lead singer, Les Kinois relocated to Nairobi, Kenya in 1977 and took the music scene by storm. Samba formed his own band, the legendary Orchestra Virunga, in 1981. Virunga, named after a volcanic mountain range in central Africa, proved to be one of East Africa's most popular groups, Their music is an innovative mix of the best rumba and soukous from Congo, with the earthier Kenyan style. Samba composes and sings in both Lingala and Kiswahili. His astounding voice has been described as melting in the ears. Virunga as a whole also get high praise; "The telepathy that runs between the bass, drums and rhythmic guitar players of this outfit is jaw-dropping…" (Ian Anderson, Folk Roots). Virunga's first recording was the LP It's Disco Time with Samba Mapangala (1982). Samba Mapangala and Virunga went to UK in April 1991 and played 23 concerts, not surprisingly causing a terrific buzz. After celebrated journeys through Africa, Europe and North America, Virunga last toured in 1997. Samba then settled with his family in Washington D.C. Samba Mapangala made a triumphant return with his CD Ujumbe (The Message). Samba's albums to date include Virunga Volcano (1990), Evasion (1983), Feet on Fire (1991), Karibu Kenya (1995) recorded in Paris with Les Quatres Etoiles and other veteran musicians, Vunja Mifupa (1997) released on cassette in East Africa as Confusion and in 2001, Ujumbe. Virunga Roots Volume 1, featuring songs from the Orchestra Virunga archive, was released in 2005. In 2000 Samba's presence at the Kenyan Jamhuri celebrations in London was one of the major highlights. His music is timeless, sounding as fresh after the 100th hearing it as it did the 1st. The lyrics, often containing advice or social commentary, are charming and interesting, the melodies delightful, energetic and exuberant. In May 2004 Samba went on a 2-week concert tour in Tanzania after a 7-year absence. He performed with an all-star lineup of musicians based in Kenya and Tanzania. Samba's latest album is Song and Dance (2006) on virungarecords featuring Bopol and other great members of Orchestra Virunga. They promoted the album and other great hits during a very energetic UK tour in March 2006. Samba was in Kenya for a major event, Ecofest, on 4th June 2006 alongside other well-known Kenyan musicians (see photo above). During the US Presidential campaign in 2008 Samba recognized how proud Kenyans are of Barack Obama and released a specially composed song in his honor: 'Obama Ubarikiwe' (click to view the video) - translated as 'Obama Be Blessed.' Samba and Orchestra Virunga were back in East Africa early in 2009 as they performed in Nairobi and at Zanzibar's Sauti za Busara festival which is featured on this post.

01 - Virunga
02 - Malako Disco
03 - Bi Kidude
04 - Nyama Chuma
05 - Obama
06 - Dunla Tunapita
07 - Tafuta Kazi
08 - Vidunge
09 - Vunja Mufupa
10 - Sungula

SOURCE	DAB	SOUND QUALITY	A+	FORMAT	Mp3	BITRATE	256	TRACKS #	6
LOCATION / VENUE		Zanzibar		Sauti Za Busara Festival		DATE		2009
NOTES:		I cut 6 tracks but there are actually 10. If you listen carefully, you will feel that the master recording was probably taped from the audience... Listen to the clapping…

Salif Keita - Live at Fuse 2006

Salif Keita Recorded Saturday 13 May 2006 at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds.

Salif Keita (vocals); Souleymane Doumbia (percussion); Harouna Samake (n'goni); Mamadou Kone (calabash); Diely Moussa Kouyate, Ousmane Kouyate (guitars); Timo Elian N'guessan Zamati, Maria Marolany (backing vocals); Mike Clinton (bass); Ghislain Roger Biwandu (drums); Sekou-Amala Keita (dancer).

01 - Laban (9.14)
02 - Yambo (6.48)
03 - Tassi (5.22)
04 - Koukou (7.07)
05 - M'Bemba (7.51)
06 - Calculer (5.40)
07 - Madan (4.38)

SOURCE	FM	SOUND QUALITY	A+	FORMAT	Mp3	BITRATE	224?	TRACKS #	7
LOCATION / VENUE		Leeds		West Yorkshire Playhouse		DATE		13 May 2006
NOTES:		New link - At last !! -

Fiddlers Bid Vs Blazin Fiddles - Fiddles on Fire

An absolutely storming way to launch Fiddles on Fire – with a ‘fiddle off’ between two bands brimming with talent, charisma and fun. Both bands include musicians who pull sell-out crowds in their own right, including Catriona Macdonald, Aidan O’Rourke, Chris Stout and Catriona McKay. Blazin’ Fiddles keeps alive the musical traditions from all the parts of Scotland that the band members are from: they play solo spots showcasing the regional styles and individuals talents, and join together for barn-storming numbers.
Fiddlers’ Bid champions the strong musical heritage of Shetland, taking their music round the globe. A dynamic four fiddle front line is joined by piano, bass, guitar and Scottish harp.
Both bands have the ability to shake the very fabric of the venues they play in with their fiddling gusto, but also reduce a rapt audience to breathless hush with their quiet numbers. Together, they are not to be missed! “The all-instrumental powerhouse that is Blazin’ Fiddles presented thoroughly exhilarating shows.” The Independent
“There’s nothing like Fiddlers’ Bid in full flight - you should take every opportunity you get to see them live.” BBC

Fiddler's Bid: New Shetland (3.43)Naked and Bare (4.00) White Wife (4.23)Pocka Siss (2.17)Uyea Isle (5.25)Christopher Stout (fiddle/viola); Kevin Henderson, Maurice Henderson, Andrew Gifford (fiddle); Catriona McKay keyboards/clarsach); Fionan De Barra (guitar); Jonathan Ritch (bass guitar) The most recent Fiddler's Bid album is Naked and Bare (Greentrax 277) http://www.fiddlersbid.com/

Blazin' Fiddles: Forgeron Reels (5.02)I laid a herring in salt (4.17)Colonel Thornton (4.35)Murdo on the Moon (5.02)Jewish Set (4.07)Bruce MacGregor, Iain Macfarlane, Allan Henderson, Catriona Macdonald, Aidan O'Rourke (fiddles); Marc Clement (guitar); Andy Thorburn (keyboard)The most recent Blazin' Fiddles album is 'Live' (Blazin' Records BRCD2007) http://www.blazin-fiddles.co.uk/

SOURCE	FM	SOUND QUALITY	A+	FORMAT	Mp3	BITRATE	224	TRACKS #	8
LOCATION / VENUE		Gateshead		the Sage		DATE		04–07
NOTES:

Andy Sheppard & Kuljit Bhamra - bewitched!!

Andy Sheppard's creativity knows no bounds - see his 'Deep River ' project with artistic Director Joanna MacGregor -and tonight's beautifully laid back and intimate gig showcases another of his longstanding partnerships, with fellow polymath Kuljit Bhamra. Long, unfurling melodies, spicy grooves and subtle improvisation characterize this duo; Kuljit Bhamra's background in classical tabla, bhangra and sophisticated multi-tracking techniques bring a layer of sophistication to the dance rhythms. Be prepared to be bewitched.

Line up	Set list
Andy Sheppard: saxophones Kuljit Bhamra: tablas and percussion	Bye bye/Dancing Man & Woman Dear Prudence

 

SOURCE	FM	SOUND QUALITY	Mp3	FORMAT	Mp3	BITRATE	224	TRACKS #	3
LOCATION / VENUE		Bath Festival				DATE		2008
NOTES:

Adama Yalomba - Bamako - Europe Express

Author/composer Adama Yalomba, whose true name is Adama Traoré, was born in the mid-1970s in Kémacina, where his father, Samadji Traoré, was a farmer, artist and a virtuoso of the n'dan, a mystical six-string instrument that is traditionally played to welcome home those who have been abroad.
Yalomba is an excellent percussionist and string-instrumentalist (n'goni, n'dan and guitar), and he's played with Balazan of Ségou, a talented group from the Ségou region in Mali, and Bronkoni of Niono, another leading group from the area.

SOURCE	FM	SOUND QUALITY	A+	FORMAT	Mp3	BITRATE	224	TRACKS #	4
LOCATION / VENUE		Boechout		Sfinks Festival		DATE		28 July 2007
NOTES:		Tracklist: M'Bora (5.25) Bara (6.01) Ca va aller (4.21) Angers - Bamako (6.33)

Miriam Makeba - the Legend

Following a three decade long exile, Miriam Makeba's return to South Africa was celebrated as though a queen was restoring her monarchy. The response was fitting as Makeba remains the most important female vocalist to emerge out of South Africa. Hailed as The Empress Of African Song and Mama Africa, Makeba helped bring African music to a global audience in the 1960s. Nearly five decades after her debut with the Manhattan Brothers, she continues to play an important role in the growth of African music.
Makeba's life has been consistently marked by struggle. As the daughter of a sangoma, a mystical traditional healer of the Xhosa tribe, she spent six months of her birth year in jail with her mother. Gifted with a dynamic vocal tone, Makeba recorded her debut single, "Lakutshona Llange," as a member of the Manhattan Brothers in 1953. Although she left to form an all-female group named the Skylarks in 1958, she reunited with members of the Manhattan Brothers when she accepted the lead female role in a musical version of King Kong, which told the tragic tale of Black African boxer, Ezekiel "King Kong" Dlamani, in 1959. The same year, she began an 18 month tour of South Africa with Alf Herbert's musical extravaganza, African Jazz And Variety, and made an appearance in a documentary film, Come Back Africa. These successes led to invitations to perform in Europe and the United States.
Makeba was embraced by the African-American community. "Pata Pata," Makeba's signature tune was written by Dorothy Masuka and recorded in South Africa in 1956 before eventually becoming a major hit in the U.S. in 1967. In late-1959, she performed for four weeks at the Village Vanguard in New York. She later made a guest appearance during Harry Belafonte's ground-breaking concerts at Carnegie Hall. A double-album of the event, released in 1960, received a Grammy award. Makeba has continued to periodically renew her collaboration with Belafonte, releasing an album in 1972 titled Miriam Makeba and Harry Belafonte. Makeba then made a special guest appearance at the Harry Belafonte Tribute at Madison Square Garden in 1997.
Makeba's successes as a vocalist were also balanced by her outspoken views about apartheid. In 1960, the government of South Africa revoked her citizenship. For the next thirty years, she was forced to be a 'citizen of the world.' Makeba received the Dag Hammerskjold Peace Prize in 1968. After marrying radical Black activist Stokely Carmichael, many of her concerts were cancelled, and her recording contract with RCA was dropped, resulting in even more problems for the artist. She eventually relocated to Guinea at the invitation of president Sekou Toure and agreed to serve as Guinea's delegate to the United Nations. In 1964 and 1975, she addressed the General Assembly of the United Nations on the horrors of apartheid.
Makeba remained active as a musician over the years. In 1975, she recorded an album, A Promise, with Joe Sample, Stix Hooper, Arthur Adams, and David T. Walker of the Crusaders. Makeba joined Paul Simon and South Africa 's Ladysmith Black Mambazo during their world-wide Graceland tour in 1987 and 1988. Two years later, she joined Odetta and Nina Simone for the One Nation tour.

– Live the Future (4.08)
From the 1991 album Eyes On Tomorrow
– Malaika (4.17)
From the 1967 album Pata Pata
– Africa Is Where My Heart Lies (5.17)
From the 2000 album Homeland
– Ibhabhalazi (5.25)
– Pata Pata (2.37)
From the 1967 album of the same name
– In Time (5.14)
From the 2000 album Homeland
– Nomeva (2.07)
From the 1991 album Africa
– Acapella (1.32)

SOURCE	FM	SOUND QUALITY	A+	FORMAT	Mp3	BITRATE	224	TRACKS #	8
LOCATION / VENUE		Brighton		the Dome		DATE		21–05–08
NOTES:

Femi Kuti & Positive Forces - AfroBeat Superstar

A veritable superstar in his native Nigeria, Femi Kuti is the standard bearer for Afro-beat, the blend of American jazz and funk with African percussion and vocals pioneered by his father, Fela Kuti in the 1970s.
Born in London in 1962 and raised in Lagos, Femi Kuti started his music career as a teenager, playing in and later leading his father's band, Egypt 80. In 1986, Femi formed his own group, Positive Force, following his father's Afrobeat traditions while modernizing the sound with hip-hop, soul and modern dance techniques. Femi's music is also more accessible. Fela's songs often stretched for 30 minutes with long brass and percussion jams. But Femi's is tighter. Like his father, Femi Kuti's music is also controversial. Femi's songs are politically charged with commentaries on African suffering from poverty, corruption and international neglect. But Femi is less antagonistic than his father and more conservative in his lifestyle choices. Fela Kuti, who died in 1997 from AIDS, was a famous polygamist (he once married 27 of his dancers during a concert) who refused to wear condoms, advocated marijuana use and often performed only in his underwear, all of which gave the government plenty of opportunities to arrest him, repeatedly. Femi says he saw his father's behavior as counterproductive to the impact Fela's music was having on African culture and politics. So Femi decided early on to live a more palatable life. He has one wife, doesn't drink or smoke, and is a public advocate for safe sex. But Femi maintains his father's anti-establishment sensibilities. In addition to his music, he's the founder of MASS, the Movement Against Second Slavery, to air the effects of government corruption and American and European business interests on post-colonial Africa.

Source

FM

Sound Quality

A+

Format

mp3

Bitrate

128

Timing

33

Papa Noel & Bana Congo - Pan-Afrocuban Congo Rumba

Papa Noel - whose stage name comes from the fact he was born Antoine Nedule Monswet on Christmas day 1940- is one of the greats of African music and a guitarist of exceptional talent. Throughout his fifty year career Papa Noel has played with some of the best Congolese Rumba bands and collaborated with a host of world music stars, including Papi Oviedo with whom he produced the smash hit Bana Congo and appeared with Peter Gabriel. He has also released classic Rumba albums such as Nono and Mosala Makasi and received a MOBO nomination for Best World Music Act.
‘Cafe Noir’ is the long-awaited new album from Papa Noel, following his hugely successful ‘Bana Congo’ CD with Papa Oviedo in 2002. On this new album he is joined by guest artists including the living legend, Manu Dibango, as well as - Rey Crespo, Abby Surya, Coto, Sultan, Palma-Ernesto Reyes, Tomas Akuru, Estela– Liv Makasso and Adam Pedrosa. Papa Noel’s Café Noir Crosses the Ocean with Pan-African Congo Rumba. This is Congolese music with a Cuban spin, courtesy of Papa Noel and Bana Congo, nominated for both the MOBO and the BBC Radio 3 Planet Awards. Bana Congo was launched at Womad in 2002, followed by a highly successful tour of the UK and Europe. This tour launches Papa Noel's latest CD: 'Cafe Noir' (Tumi 141), an extraordinary album recorded in Havana, Paris, London and the Congo.
Papa Noel is renowned for his electric live performances, previous tours have wowed critics and audiences’ worldwide. On the current tour Papa Noel brought his 11 piece band together for what promises to be a spectacular series of shows.
This show was taped on the current UK tour at Colchester Arts Centre.

Nedule Montswet aka Papa Noel (vocals/guitar); Maria Cristina Azcuy, Mbambo aka Banyele Baniel, Akumu aka Wakudu Nana, Ghislain Zembellat (vocals/percussion); Juan de Cruz Coto Garcia (tres/guitar); Adam Pedroso (guitar); Rey Crespo (bass/musical director); Julio Padron (trumpet); Luis Carlos Fuentes (drums); Tomas Akuru (percussion)

Setlist
01 - Kin Havana (8.07)
02 - Salsa Africaine - Afro Cuban Son (5.42)
03 - Molimo (10.34)
04 - Democracie - Central Africa Rhythm (6.37)
05 - Mbonge (5.46)
06 - Soukous Son (7.49)
07 - Africa Mokili Mobimba - Congolese Rumba (9.21)

Amadou & Mariam - Le Couple Aveugle du Mali

Near the end of the '60s, Amadou Bagayoko worked as a guitarist in the Ambassadeurs du Motel de Bamako, a versatile group later joined by Salif Keita. The guitarist met vocalist Mariam Doumbia at the Institute for Young Blind People in Bamako, the capital of Mali. Upon working together (not to mention marrying and having three children), the duo traveled across Africa from Burkina Faso to the Ivory Coast in 1988, where they produced five cassettes produced by the Nigerian Aliyu Maikano Adamu. Their fame spread throughout Western Africa, where they became known as Amadou et Mariam, Le Couple Aveugle du Mali. Further travels to England and an extended stay in Paris in 1995 exposed the blind vocalists to American blues, Cuban son, Indian rhythms, and French folk music. In the late '90s, Sonodisc and Polydor began releasing new recordings by Amadou & Mariam, as well as remastering and compiling songs from their earlier cassettes. The duo gained worldwide exposure as featured performers on 2000's Putumayo collection, Mali to Memphis. In 2003 they released Wati, a funky electric guitar and keyboard driven collection of roots music that showed a more contemporary approach to their craft. Dimanche a Bamako followed in 2005. Produced by worldbeat giant Manu Chao, its soulful, reggae-tinged percussion and crisp, light production made it one of the best world music records of the year.