Dilon Djindji - Timing is everything

From the sound of the sitars we journey back across the Indian Ocean to the south coast of Africa. Here we find the musical neighbour to Madagascar, a style called Marrabenta which has its roots in the capital city of Maputo, and its heritage in one man's shoes, Dilon Djindji.

He is to Marrabenta what James Brown became to funk, and his first album, simply entitled Dilon, comes at the tender age of 75. He began his road to musicianship at the age of 12 when he made himself a three-stringed guitar out of an oilcan, soon to be upgraded to a six-string version. Through a lifetime which includes pastoral work, time spent in the mines of South-Africa and a final return to his home district of Marracuene, he has notched up a reputation of being 'a man of a thousand stories'.

This album features songs that were performed over a fifteen year period from 1950 onwards and shows that more than half a century ago the people of Mozambique were quietly enjoying a musical revolution all of their own.

The track featured here, Maria Teresa, tells the story of one man torn between two women.

Dilon Djindji - Maria Teresa

Anoushka Shankar - India Rising

Our first female artist to be featured on the TT captures the unique spirit of a country very close to my heart, India. They say some places on this earth can change your perspective on everything, and India is certainly that place - I think that if the same number of people in New Delhi were crammed into a similar space in London, my home town, there would be complete and utter mayhem.

However because there exists a profound kinship among Indian people, the daily hustle and bustle of getting around and being crammed 400 strong into a double decker bus, does not end with knives and guns being drawn.

In a country where the rich are super rich and the poor are devastatingly so, there is a spiritual strength that allows people to carry themselves, no matter what their circumstance, with tremendous dignity.

Anoushka Shankar is the daughter of the sitar virtuoso and composer Ravi Shankar with whom she has been playing and studying since the age of nine. She already has a highly acclaimed career, even if it is still early days for her professionally, and her music captures what I consider to be the warmth and joy India has to offer.

Anoushka Shankar - Prayer in Passing

Keeping it in the family: Ravi Shankar working the Sitar

Niafunké on the Niger

As member of Ali Farka Touré's "ASCO" group since the age of 13, Afel Bocoum's first solo album captures the spirit of the late great man's style, adding his own unique twist which he calls "Arabo-Muslim....in the Great River tradition."

As this first album shows, he is very much an artist in his own right, presenting a music that captures the twists and turns of daily life on the Niger.

Afel plays lead guitar, and with his group Alkibar, is accompanied by other local instruments which include the Njarka (a one stringed violin), Njurkle (a mono-chord guitar) and a small chorus of male and female singers. Listen carefully and you'll hear the great man of Niafunké himself on two of the tracks, although Afel proves to us with this first offering, that Niafunké has a new and powerful voice that has been waiting in the wings.

Afel Bocoum - Alasida

Afel Bocoum & Damon Albarn (see his album Mali Music) who joins Robert Plant in the queue of UK artists converted to Mali Music

Modeste - Living our Destiny

Off the south-east coast of Africa lies Madagascar and if you journey a little further in you will find Modeste Hugues Randramahitasoa, and his album Fomba (Living our Destiny), offering a musical canvas filled with the sounds of the Betroka region.

A musician since the age of 15, the musical style is called Malagasy and it combines the natural sounds of the African bush with the warm undertones found in the traditional South African gospel tradition.

The music itself is beautifully played and structured, and manages to convey a feeling of serenity and solitude – it’s just Modeste and his guitar on stage. It’s also interesting to compare his music with that of Afel Bocoum from Mali - both musicians with the guitar - to note the differences the environment can play on the music (Afel Bocoum on the River Niger, and Modeste on the Onilahy River).

His music also manages to evoke an air of melancholy and reflection, something I find more common in South American performers such as Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil or going back a bit, Astrud Gilberto. You can judge for yourself....

Modeste - Fomba
Modeste’s set at the Europe in Union Concert, September 2003

All Kneel, The Cora

One secret of West African music

The Cora is the godly 21-stringed harp from West Africa. It can be found principally in countries such as the Gambia, Senegal, Guinea, and Mali where artists such as Toumani Diabate, Ba Cissoko and Baba Sissoko bring to life this instrument in all its colours.

The beauty of the Cora is the way it can operate at so many different levels. It can play high, middle, and low notes like most instruments, but the Cora can transcend these boundaries by giving the musician the option to play across all three tonal ranges simultaneously.

The result is mind-blowing: a single musician can provide a bass drum rhythm, add the melody, and then freestyle all at the same time.

I discovered the Cora 6 years ago walking through London's busy Leicester Square where I stumbled upon a musician getting elastic with his Cora. I can only say that it just stopped dead me in my tracks, and since then I've never looked back.

Here is small selection of Cora based music that I hope demonstrates how versatile this instrument is, and why it is a giant in its own right:

Ali Farka Toure and Toumani Diabate - Kala

Issa Bagayogo - Dya

Toumani Diabate - Single

See below how Toumani Diabate leaves the Cello struggling for air:

Tinariwen - Saharan Hendrix

Tinariwen's most recent album is on Independiente (UNIVERSAL), a clear sign that the majors are now interested in exploiting the Taureg dimension of sound. Who are Tinariwen? It's best to think of them as a cross between Jimmy Hendrix and Ali Farka Toure set against the backdrop of the Saharan desert. They formed in the camps of the Tuareg rebels in 1982 and their songs are sung traditionally in the French and Tamashek languages.

- Matadjem-Yinmixan, from Aman Iman

The Radio Tisdas Sessions was their first album to be released outside of Africa and in 2004, Amassakoul launched them properly onto the European stage with tour dates and appearances throughout the region. In my opinion Amassakoul is still their best work to date. To watch out for is the DVD "The Soul Rebel of the African Desert" that tells the story of the Taureg rebellion and the role of Tinariwen has played in this struggle.


Tinariwen, Amidiwan (UK music festival, 2007)

Africa - Literature & Learning

Africa - Michael Poliza
£41.00, Hardback, 408pp,
Photographer Michael Poliza has been traveling around Africa with his digital camera taking some of the most amazing wildlife photos I've seen in a long time. With over 400 pages of photos which occupy two page spreads, and introductory text in English, French, Spanish, Italian and German, this will make a perfect present for someone who has an interest in photography or travel. The book weighs over 5KGs and I'm sure its the type of item that would kill off Amazon if everyone ordered a copy.

Ali Farka Touré (1939 - 2006)

Commemorating the “bluesman of Africa”

I must dedicate an entry on this page to Ali Farka Touré, the self-taught blues man from Bamako in Mali, who constructed a bridge between musical styles. He combined traditional Malian music with American one note blues. His songs are about the virtues of hard work, honour and decency.

In 1994 his collaboration with Ry Cooder on Talking Timbuktu, and two years ago with Toumani Diabate, In the Heart of the Moon, were just two of many commercially successful albums he released. His last recorded album, Savane, is his final testament to a music that he created, and that generations will continue to grow.

Ali Farka Toure and Afel Bocoum, Festival in the Desert in 2003

Cheikh N'Digel Lo - Melting Rhythms

Cheikh N'Digel Lo
This album was released in 2005 and is Cheikh Lo's third on World Circuit Records. An artist that grew up in Burkino Faso but now lives and writes music from Senegal, he first came to attention supporting giants such as Youssou N'Dour. This album combines Salsa and Rhumba Congo styles with more traditional Senegalese cantatas which have been more the staple of emerging artists such as Nuru Kane.

Lamp Fall - Sou

Africando - Ketukuba

Africando

My latest purchase is by a group formed in 1990 to bring together New York Salsa Musicians with Senegalese folk singers. The result is a sound that has the complex rhythms of artists like Orchestra Baobab and Tony Allen, with the freeform funkyness of Tito Puente.

I'm posting one track here just to give you a flavour of what you can expect.

- Bogne Sirala - Amadou Balaké