Nonesuch Explorer Series: Africa / RootsWorld Recording Review

Nonesuch Explorer Series: Africa
Nonesuch (www.nonesuch.com)

cd cover Between 1969 and 1983 Nonesuch Records' Explorer Series put out an assortment of field recordings from a smattering of African countries. While it would be impossible to cover the entire continent in a scant thirteen volumes, a good sampling from Eastern, Western, and Central Africa appear here. (The puzzling yet mildly interesting inclusion of an "Animals of Africa" volume will be of value to those looking for sound samples. From it, we learn that zebras sound like dogs and wildebeests sound like grumpy old men.)

Ghana is represented in two volumes. The first, released in 1969, is a foot-tapping collection of highlife and other popular styles performed by Saka Acquaye and his African Ensemble. We hear the blues and calypso cross-fertilizations that make Ghanaian music so vital and lively. The other volume, released a decade later, is subtitled "Ancient Ceremonies: Dance Music and Songs." Included here are samplings of many of the traditional instruments of Ghana, such as the donno (talking drum), the one-stringed bowed lute gonje (used to accompany the voice), and the end-blown flute wiik (played in ensembles of three or more, in hocket style.) The title of this volume is a bit of a misnomer, as some of the music is less than ancient, e.g., a Christmas song, a piece celebrating Ghanaian Independence Day, and a post-colonial drum piece performed by women, who were traditionally not encouraged to drum.

The mbira music of the Shona people of Zimbabwe is amply represented in this series, with no fewer than three discs devoted to it. Released in 1971, 1973, and 1977, these discs give a fine sampling of this elegant music, with its rolling, circular melodic lines, the warm buzz of the mbira and the soft swish of the hosho (beaded gourd rattle.)

The first disc features Dumisani Abraham Maraire on 15-note mbira and voice. It is a quiet, intimate recording with a "living room" quality to the sound. The second is a more celebratory affair, with larger ensembles and larger instruments (from 17 to a whopping 35 keys.) In the opening track, we hear clapping, ululating, and whistling celebrants encouraging the musicians. There are some meditative moments, however, in which the delicate melodies glitter like jewels. Simon Mashoko does a sort of Zimbabwean equivalent of slam poetry with his fast-paced, improvised "Mbiriviri." The third disc features the voice of Hakurotwi Mude on eight of its ten tracks. The versatile Mude is also a spirit medium and upholsterer. His impassioned, declamatory vocals wail over the hypnotic mbira melodies.

cd cover Perhaps the most varied discs in the collection are the two East African collections. Both were recorded in 1975 by David Fanshawe in Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania. The music here ranges from the cacophonous horns of Ugandan festival music to the call and response praise songs of the Masai women of Kenya to the percolating marimba music of Tanzania. Most chilling are the songs of female initiation ceremonies of Kenya. In one, a young girl is frightened in to believing that she is going to be ripped apart by a wild animal, represented by a friction drum, then reassembled by sacred crows. In another, Men sing and ring bells outside of the hut of a girl who is about to be circumcised. As the initiates are led out at sunrise for the circumcision ceremony, men and boys chant. One can only imagine the trepidation of the victims as the men calmly sing.

In the early 1980's when the two collections of music of Burkina Faso were recorded, the war torn country was known as Upper Volta. An arid country in the western part of the continent, many of its instruments are made from the gourds that thrive in the dry climate. Drums, xylophones, rattles, and even clarinets are made from gourds of various sizes. As a result, the music of this region has a ringing, resonant tone quality. Unfortunately, the tracks on the first CD, Savannah Rhythms, are mislabeled, leading to some confusion while following along in the notes. The music on this one ranges from the minimalist musical bow and whistle of the northern Samo tribe to the Arabic chant of the Mossi Koranic students to the sparkling complex music of various xylophone ensembles. The second installment, Rhythms of the Grasslands, is more drum-oriented. A Mossi funeral celebration features gourd drums, cylindrical drums, pressure drums, and about seventy-five singers. In contrast, Be Ahnu Dembele plays intricate cross-rhythms by himself on a pressure drum and a cylindrical drum, all the while singing a praise song.

The East African region of Nubia is represented on Escalay (The Water Wheel): Oud Music. Hamza El Din, on oud and voice, plays the three lengthy selections on this disc. On the title track, his fast, repetitive oud lines imitate the motion of the water wheel. Remind Me is a more complex Arabic composition in a more modern (at least as of the release date of 1971) style. Song with Tar is just what the title promises, a traditional song accompanied by the airy sound of the tar (a large hoop drum) and handclaps.

cd cover The tiny central African country of Burundi has seen more than its share of strife over the centuries. Several political upheavals have taken place since the 1974 release of Burundi: Music from the Heart of Africa. Despite crushing poverty and civil war, the music of Burundi has a lightness and optimism, with upbeat drum rhythms and fluttering flute lines. There are two lovely examples of shepherd's flute music as well as samplings of several of the country's stringed instruments � the thunky inanga (eight stringed zither), the troubadour fiddle idingiti, and the umuduli, a stick zither similar to the berimbau. Usually the stringed instruments are played by a solo singer as accompaniment, but are occasionally heard in ensembles with drums and flutes as well. The track "Warriors of the Drum" shows the precision and power of a large drum ensemble.

A sort of catchall disc entitled West Africa: Drum, Chant, & Instrumental Music was released in the series in 1976. This disc features the music of Mali, Ghana, Niger, and Burkina Faso. Included is an improvisatory solo on bounkam (a single reed instrument), an amazingly intricate solo by an eight-year-old boy on kountougi (a single-stringed lute with wire rings that provide a jingling, buzzing sound), and Taureg medicine chant in which a chorus of men and women drone under the female medium's florid improvisations.

In terms of sheer breadth and scope, the series is still of great value. While the southern part of the continent and the Islamic countries to the north are not represented, what is here shows more than a passing glimpse of the variety of music on the African continent. The liner notes have not been edited from the original, but a disclaimer stating this and an update is included with each disc. This then/now approach is useful in that knowing what political upheavals or social conditions were in place at the time of recording puts the music into perspective with its country or region's history. It is also interesting to observe how ethnographic writing has changed in just the last thirty-odd years. Much of the wide-eyed romanticism and veiled ethnocentrism of the earlier writing is gone in the updates. Many of the liner notes also include detailed descriptions of the instruments. This series is a must-have for serious followers of African music. - Peggy Latkovich

These recordings are all available at cdroots

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