Music And Arts Scene
African Records Review
By Kwabena Asamoah
KING SUNNY ADE: 'Aura' (ISLAND ILPS 9746) 'Ase' "Gboromiro' 'Ogunja"/"Oremi" "Ire' 'Tro'
The history of this album on the Island label is as long as the musical history of Sunny Ade, the man who has steadily become Nigeria's top pride abroad. The recording took some time and distance (from Nigeria, the U.K. and the U.S.A.) to complete."Ire' and 'Ogunja' sound standard juju music but the arrangements in Ire' plus its uptempo will satisfy those on the dance floor. The basic instruments are solid in the back- ground while the lead guitar and the talking drums strike with warmth and vivacity. The singing is less dominant on this track but King Sunny Ade's voice throws some gentle touch on to a track that moves with pleasant dance tempo.
"Oremi' co-composed by King Sunny Ade and Tony Allen who also played drums on the track is a tidy mid-tempo whose rhythm and instrumental dis- plays would attract the keen ear. When the rhythm section is left temporarily to dominate, it is merely to prepare for the vocals to end the track.
'Gboromiro', though bears the same title as one of Shina Williams' tracks reviewed in our last week's issue, is an entirely different music. As King Sunny Ade completes his vocal solo, the harmonious vocal chorus jump in with "Gboromiro'. The guitars bolster up the singing together with the talking drums and the congas to produce a pleasing sound.
The spotlight on this album is that the living legend of Motown, Stevie Wonder who has become a good friend of King Sunny Ade, slotted in the harmonica solo in "Ase" (the stand-out track). What immediately strikes you in this song is that there is an abundance of musical instruments that encourage the listener to want to enter the dance floor. Fortunately enough, the instruments do not jam and there is no monotony other. The bass line is remarkably strong enough to take you through any marathon. By the time Stevie Wonder's lyrical harmonica solo enters the song you would already been prepared by other instruments. Strikingly enough, the steel guitar has the opportunity to strike a short but significant solo only on this track.
SAMBA MAPANGALA & ORCHESTRE VIRUNGA: 'Malako' (EARTHWORKS/ROUGH TRADE ERT 1006) 'Virunga' 'Ahmet Sabit'/'Malako" "Yembele'
Franco would say that most of the Zairean musicians who left home are not stable musicians but the decision to move away from home may have some advantages for both the host country and the artist. When Samba Mapangala arrived in Kenya to form Orchestre Virunga, the atmosphere was right and the moment opportune. This album is a compilation of some of Orchestre Virunga's most potent songs that have hit the East African disco charts for the last three years.Virunga' (named after a volcanic mountain in the Kivu region of Zaire) begins with the sweet voice of Samba Mapangala whose musical career dates back to the early age of 13 when he joined Super Tukina. The harmony provided by the vocal chorus sums up the degree of success of this group. The interchange between the guitar and the sax solo is successful especially when the vocals gently enter. In the "happy" sound all the musicians express themselves just before Somana's wicked guitar solo sets in.
The extraordinary contribution of Samba Mapangala's voice is reinforced in 'Ahmet Sabit', a track whose rhythm is as refreshing as the lyrics. Beginning as a rhumba, the song develops into an infectious soukous sweeping you onto the dance floor. The track also reveals the strength of Somana on his guitar. The sax solo too, lyrical in intensity, fulfils a dynamic role in the song.
Malako, which was a major hit in Kenya and the neighbouring states has the rhythmic drive usually associated with Zairean music. What makes this track unique is the freshness of sound in spite of the age of the composition No wonder that Samba Mapangala became known as the 'Malako Man' throughout East Africa after the release of this track.
HAPPENINGS
Koo Nimo - 'Sound of Ghana'
Without doubt the African Music village at the Commonwealth Institute's Holland Park has afforded Londoners another opportunity to savour pure and the best of African traditional music. This is the second time that the Greater London Council's Arts and Recreation Committee has collaborated with the Institute to put up such a musical eventRight from day one the diary of events has provided a variety of activities which had something for everybody from background talks, instrument making workshops, informal concerts and evening concerts.
The breath-taking galaxy of performers in the past two weeks has been a delight for music lovers and judging from the number of pocket miniature tape-recorders that appeared at some of the performances, people are going to enjoy hours of playback music long after the musicians have returned home to Africa.
By far one of the most interesting performances that I have heard was by the veteran Ghanaian musician, Koo Nimo and his Adadam Group.
Performing in the Holland Park Open Air Theatre last week with his 15 strong group, the programme first presented excellent features of the varied traditional dancing of Ghana. The gorgeously dressed Northern Ghana dancers totally captivated the audience with their rhythmic whirling with the strains of the two-string harp
Then came the fetish dance which everybody enjoyed, especially when the fetish priest asked everybody who had a problem to see her after the show. Koo Nimo's own performance was simply fantastic. Earlier, musicologist, Professor J.H.K. Nketia of the University of Pittsburgh's talk "An approach to African music" had set the tone for better understanding of the music of Koo Nimo.
Another sophisticated performer was the Cameroonian musicologist Francis Bebay who played the guitar and mbira. The festival of traditional music ended Saturday 4 August.
