West African music
 

Anyone know any? I would like to hear some so please give me some reccomendations.

iam from egypt do you need to hear some of our music of our king singer "AMR DIAB" ?????????
this link contain one song
please copy the link in your explorer
rapidshare.com/files/23665226/__1576___1593___1578___1585___1601_.mp3.html

Thread moved and bumped on request.

I'm a West African music geek, so I asked for thread to be revived. Forgive my geekiness, but I'm going to try an introduction to West African music here.

WA music is as diverse as, say British or American music. So, there is definitely not one example that fits all. Many WA countries have contributed to the large pool of music, but, in my opinion, some of the best comes from Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, Guinea, Cape Verdi, and Benin. A good place to start if you want samples from various countries is a CD called "africa remix" by Ah Freak Iya. Despite the title, there is only 1 remix on the CD--it is a compilation of various African artists from all over the continent, not just WA. But it has a good selection of WA artists. Beyond this CD, here are some of my favorite WA artists/art forms:

Mali (Mande music):
Mali has produced a lot of musical forms, including Malian folk music. But, music in the country has been dominated by a type known as "Mande," stemming from an empire by same name. My favorite artist from this genre is Salif Keita, known as "The Golden Voice of Africa." Here is an example of a song from "Moffou," which I think is his best album:

Salif Keita’s Music Videos – Listen free and discover music at Last.fm

On the same album, he is joined here by another one of my favorite WA artists, Cesaria Evora, from Cape Verde:

YouTube - YouTube - Salif Keita & Cesária Évora - Yamore

Over the years, Keita has been front for several bands in Mali, including "Le Ambassadours" (later "Le Ambassadours Internationale" when they fled to Cote d'Voire during oppression in Mali). A rival band was "Rail Band," which Keita also sang with at one time. Both bands once played in same venue in Mali when the president was reviving Malian music and culture after the oppression, and people thought it was going to be uncomfortable. Instead, both bands got folks into a frenzy--it was a marker musical experience for Mande music. Here is a more recent cut of Rain Band when they were at the 2001 Grassroots festival in the U.S. (In spite of slow beginning and some mike feedback, I think they rock in this vid, and the "flappy lady" at the end is funny):

YouTube - The Super Rail Band at the Grassroots Festival 2001

If you ever wanted to learn more about Mandee music, there is a great book about it (told you I was a geek): Eric Charry: Mande Music

In next post, I'll review and provide links to some Nigerian music.

Gotta love me some Fela Kuti. Everyone should have at least one of his albums in their collection (he made over 70 so there is no excuse). I like Manu Dibango too.

All the best stuff comes from Mali I reckon. The aforementioned Salif Keita has done some wonderful work over the years. Tinariwen, Boubacar Traore, Ali Farka Toure and Toumani Diabate are a few more of my personal favourites from the area - well worth a listen.

All nice Bulldog. Boubacar "Kar Kar" Traore, Ali Farka Toure and Toumani Diabate all come from the Mande influence that I wrote about. You can hear similarities with Keita especially in the guitar runs. Unlike Keita, though, all three are influenced by American blues in addition to Mande.

Tinariwen are from a different strain of Malian people--Tuareg rebels. Their music is much more "Arabic" influenced and political rather than the more mellow traditional Mande. Good stuff.

Here are some links:

Ali Farka Toure and Toumani Diabaté both have free listens on their myspace pages; both pages have some tracks with Toure and Diabate together:
Toure: http://www.myspace.com/alifarkatoureofficial
Diabate: http://www.myspace.com/toumanidiabate

Boubacar Traore
YouTube - Boubacar Traoré "KarKar"

Traore and Toure duet:
YouTube - Boubacar "Kar Kar" Traore & Ali Farka Toure

Tinariwen, myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/tinariwen

Tinariwen – Listen free and discover music at Last.fm

I wouldn't say ALL the good WA music comes from Mali; wait til you hear the Nigerians!!!

Nice links there Johne.

You're right, despite my own words all the best stuff doesn't come from Mali alone. What I meant to say was that in terms of quantity that's been the case from all I've heard of West African music. When it comes to Nigeria, Fela and Femi Kuti as well as King Of Juju himself take some beating. Then there's Manu Dibango from Cameroon and probably my favourite African artist Baaba Maal from Senegal, among a bundle of others.

Nigera (juju, apala, fuji, afro-beat, highlife)
Nigerian music is so diverse, and there is so much, it's hard to know where to start. Here's just a sampling:

Juju started in the 1920s as "bar music", but was updated and was made world-known by King Sunny Ade in the 1980s. Most have likely heard of him and his music, which is heavy on percussion, electric guitar, and vocals:
King Sunny Ade – Ja Funmi – Listen free and discover music at Last.fm or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbIhmfZNBOE

Apala is even more traditional than juju, therefore, it depends more on percussion and traditional instruments. It's roots are in the Yoruba people (like juju and fuji) and is closely associated with Islam. (If you've watched Ramadan observance on tv, you've probably heard traditional apala.) The most important apala musician is Haruna Ishola, but I'm linking to music by his son, Musiliu Haruna Ishola, who is keeping apala traditions but updating the music today. I would put this in the category of GREAT:
Musiliu Haruna Ishola - Soyoyo :: ADERADIO ::

Fuji is an integration of juju and apala. It uses more traditional instruments, mainly percussion and has roots in Islam, like apala, but it has more the energy and contemporary sound of juju, but even fresher. There are two leading fuji musicians, Sikiru Ayinde Barrister and Ayinla Kollington. I like Barrister a lot; here is a cut from a more recent album, Fuji London Garbage (again, GREAT):
Chief Dr Sikiru Ayinde Barrister - Fuji London Garbage - Free MP3 Stream on IMEEM Music

Adewale Ayuba is another fuji musician whom I really like (maybe the BEST one):
Adewale Ayuba - Bubble - Free MP3 Stream on IMEEM Music

I think juju, fuji and apala represent one strain of Nigerian music; another strain exists that begins with African folk music and pulls in influences from rock, funk and jazz (Afro-beat) and danceable "uptempo" and jazz (Highlife). All three are represented by a giant in Nigerian music, Baba Ken Okulolo. He has 3 different bands, each one representing one of these 3 types of music: African Folk (Nigerian Brothers); Afro-beat (Kotoja); and Highlife (West African Highlife Band). Here are 3 sample albums from each band, but only 30 second samples of all tracks:
CD Baby: BABA KEN OKULOLO & THE NIGERIAN BROTHERS: Songs from the Village
CD Baby: BABÁ KEN OKULOLO: Best of Babá Ken Okulolo & Kotoja
CD Baby: WEST AFRICAN HIGHLIFE BAND: Salute to Highlife Pioneers

Afro-beat: The most important Afro-beat musician is the pioneer of the genre, Fela Kuti . His most recognized song is probably Water No Get Enemy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdV1V...eature=related
(See jackhammer's Fela Kuti thread, also.)

Fela's son, Femi Kuti, is carrying on the tradition of his father and is definitely worth a listen as well. He has free tracks on his myspace page at:
http://www.myspace.com/femikuti

Highlife has even more roots in Ghana, so sometime later I will post full tracks of Ghanaian Highlife music.

^ Nigerian music is something I'm not so familiar with. As I said earlier, Mali, Senegal and Cameroon are the areas I know best (musically). I've got a few King Sunny Ade and Fela Kuti albums, haven't heard of any of the others you posted - gotta get back to this thread and have a look at those links.