Remmy Ongala: We Lose the Greats Too Soon

Late last year the music world lost one of its great lights. On December 13th, Remmy Ongala passed away in his home in Dar Es Salaam. The Tanzanian guitarist and singer gave Congolese Soukous a distinctly Tanzanian flavor and was beloved by his countrymen. He was known for the intricate and soaring guitar lines that infused his songs.

Toumani Diabate and his Symmetric Orchestra

I've never been to Bamako, but this would be such a great place to see the master and his band!

If you missed it back when it came out, I highly recommend the album Boulevard de L'Independence. Toumani is amazing on the kora, and his band lives up to his high musical standards. Very satisfying release. I missed the chance to see them live in Seattle a few years ago, I've regretted it ever since.

A Quick Side Note

In addition to my music and drawing, I love talking about politics and related issues. And since 2002, I've been doing just that at a great forum called America's Debate, where I am a moderator. The site is run by Mike and Jaime, a couple from Savannah, Georgia, and I think the site is unique among the many political debate sites out there. It's different because it is tightly moderated. Not in a way that stifles opinion, though. The moderation is geared at keeping debates on topic, and for keeping debates from devolving into flame wars. The discussions get heated, but because of our rules about sourcing our opinions, being civil, and keeping on topic, it's just a great place to find mostly intelligent debates about current issues.

If you like to discuss politics, and value intelligent and thoughtful debate, come check us out!

Femi Kuti: Africa For Africa

I don't remember exactly when I first discovered the music of Fela Anikulapo Kuti; but there was a powerful mojo about his music that pulled me in right away. I had come to African music through the same door as so many other Americans - Paul Simon's Graceland - but unlike many of them, I took up residence. I couldn't hear enough. Still, it took me a while to get to Kuti. I went through Mbaqanga, Soukous, Shona, Mbalax, Makossa/Makassi... but eventually I got to Nigerian Juju music, and through that, found Fela. 

Fela was, in my opinion, one of the greatest artists of the 20th Century. He combined the electric charisma of Bob Marley, the endless funk and soul of James Brown, and the political urgency of a revolutionary. He was certainly a musical genius. His band was often huge, often 15 to 20 musicians or more. And at its base was an interconnected groove that belied the ego stroking approach of much American music. Listen to a 20 minute Fela song, and you might notice a subtle guitar line that repeats for the entire time. A percussionist might hit the cowbell every measure for the whole song. Sounds repetitive when I write it here, but it wasn't. It was beautiful. The musicians contributed piece by piece to a massive, unstoppable groove. It wasn't unusual for a song to play for 10 or 12 minutes before the vocals even came in.