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Like Fela Kuti and Bob Marley, singer, composer, and bandleader Thomas Mapfumo and his music came to represent his native country's anticolonial struggle and cultural identity. Mapfumo was born in 1945 in what was then the British colony of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). The trajectory of his career—from early performances of rock 'n' roll tunes to later creating a new genre based on traditional Zimbabwean music, including the sacred mbira, and African and Western pop—is a metaphor for Zimbabwe's evolution from colony to independent nation. Lion Songs is an authoritative biography of Mapfumo that narrates the life and career of this creative, complex, and iconic figure. Banning Eyre ties the a...
A narrative of life among the griot musicians of Mali. Born into families where music and the tradition of griot story-telling are heritages and privileges, the musicians live their lives at the intersection of ancient traditions and the modern entertainment industry.
Summary: A concise introduction to the varied landscape of contemporary African music. Features leading artists and bands, musical styles, traditional/acoustic music, cross-cultural sounds as well as a selected discography and a glossary of musical terms.
Banning Eyre, a recognized expert in African guitar music, guides you through a variety of important styles, including congolese, mbira, Malian blues, and juju. Learn about the history of this music, the pioneering musicians that developed each style, and the dominant characteristics and techniques necessary to play this remarkable music. All material is presented in standard notation and TAB. A CD demonstrating examples and compositions in the book makes learning easy and trouble-free for all players.
With Mande Music, Eric Charry offers the most comprehensive source available on one of Africa's richest and most sophisticated music cultures. Using resources as disparate as early Arabic travel accounts, oral histories, and archival research as well as his own extensive studies in Mali, Guinea, Senegal, and the Gambia, Charry traces this music culture from its origins in the thirteenth-century Mali empire to the recording studios of Paris and New York. He focuses on the four major spheres of Mande music—hunter's music, music of the jelis or griots, jembe and other drumming, and guitar-based modern music—exploring how each evolved, the types of instruments used, the major artists, and how each sphere relates to the others. With its maps, illustrations, and musical transcriptions as well as an exhaustive bibliography, discography, and videography, this book is essential reading for those seeking an in-depth look at one of the most exciting, innovative, and deep-rooted phenomena on the world music scene. A compact disc is available separately.
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An intimate portrait of the Afrobeat legend
From the first mention in courtly poetry of the thirteenth century to enormous global popularity in the twentieth, the guitar and its development comprises multiple histories, each characterised by distinct styles, playing techniques, repertories and socio-cultural roles. These histories simultaneously span popular and classical styles, contemporary and historical practices, written and unwritten traditions and western and non-western cultures. This is the first book to encompass the breadth and depth of guitar performance, featuring thirteen essays covering different traditions, styles, and instruments, written by some of the most influential players, teachers, and guitar historians in the world. The coverage of the book allows the player to understand both the analogies and differences between guitar traditions, and all styles, from baroque, classical, country, blues, and rock to flamenco, African, Celtic, and instrument making will share the same platform. As musical training is increasingly broadened this comprehensive book will become an indispensable resource.
Hiplife is a popular music genre in Ghana that mixes hip-hop beatmaking and rap with highlife music, proverbial speech, and Akan storytelling. In the 1990s, young Ghanaian musicians were drawn to hip-hop's dual ethos of black masculine empowerment and capitalist success. They made their underground sound mainstream by infusing carefree bravado with traditional respectful oratory and familiar Ghanaian rhythms. Living the Hiplife is an ethnographic account of hiplife in Ghana and its diaspora, based on extensive research among artists and audiences in Accra, Ghana's capital city; New York; and London. Jesse Weaver Shipley examines the production, consumption, and circulation of hiplife music, ...