KALEIDOPHONE MUSIC OF AFRICA SERIES
KMA 8 Rhodesia I, Hugh Tracy.
KMA 9 Tanzania I.
KMA 10 Uganda I.
KMA 2 Musical Instruments #2: Reeds (MBIRA).
KMA 3 Musical Inst. #3: Drums.
KMA 4 Musical Inst. #4: Flutes and Horns.
KMA 5 Musical Inst. #5: Xylophones.
KMA 6 Musical Inst. #6: Guitars #1.
KMA 7 Musical Inst. #7: Guitars #2.
KMA 1 Musical Inst. #1: Strings.
BARENREITER MUSICAPHON
Premiere Anthologie De La Musique Malienne (First Anthology of the Music of Mali)
A series of 6 LP’s numbered from BM 30 L 2501 to BM 30 L 2506 presenting the main aspects of the musical art of Mali. Very well documented collection.
LE CHANT DU MONDE
Chants Des Guerriers Massal (Massai Warriors’ Songs) G.U. LDX 74475
This interesting LP is welcome and likely to fill a gap in a discography in which no music from Kenya was represented up to now. The recordings are good technically and artistically, since the music and its atmosphere are beautiful.
The text on the jacket however provides only very little information. The recordings are due to a journalist at “France-Soir”, a famous French daily newspaper.
OCORA
Mandlnka Kora by Jali Nyama Suso OCR 70
The musical traditions of the Manding date back to time of Sunjata and before. They have been maintained through the years by certain families whose profession is to keep the history and genealogy of great personalities of the community, and to perform music in honor of the principal figures in Manding history. Such professional musicians and historians are the “griots”, one of whom has been recorded on this disc. Jali Nyama Suso, a griot with a kora harp, sings and plays in the most traditional way, which makes this record a very interesting one.
Muslques Du Pays Lobl (Music of the Lobi) OCR 51
Some of the pieces on this record were published in 1962, in an album now out of stock – SOR 10, 25 cm – which had won the Grand Prix international du Disque.
The first side of the present record is devoted to the music of the Lobi people, whose principal instrument is the “elong”, a 14-key xylophone with calabash resonators. The second side presents music of the Gan, Dagari and Birifor peoples, who are neighbours to the Lobi.
Masques Dan (Dan Masks) OCR 52
Reference to the Dan has already been made in this discography. The present recording is as interesting as the one produced by Barenreiter Musicaphon under the Unesco Collection.
Musique Du Burundi (Music of Burundi) OCR 40
This record was awarded the Grand Prix international du Disque in Paris, 1970. The recordings do deserve the prize, and indeed had been expected for years since no recorded documents from Burundi were available before the publication of this disc. Among the instruments that one can hear, the “inanga” zither should be mentioned in particular. On Side A, track 1, an impressive “Song with Inanga accompaniment” will draw the listener’s attention, mainly because of the vocal technique of “whispered singing” generally used by musicians singing to the inanga accompaniment. The song with inanga accompaniment is performed by men of all classes. It is music played for one’s own pleasure, alone, or sometimes before an audience.
Another most significant recording here is one of an ensemble of drums, on side B, track 5. The ensemble is composed of 25 drummers each of whom in turn is a soloist. Usually the group plays until each of the drummers has had time to appear as the soloist.
Musique de L ’Anclen Royaume Kuba (Music of the Former Kingdom of Kuba) OCR 61
The kingdom of Kuba is situated on the edge of the great equatorial forest in what is now the Western Kasai province, in Zaïre Republic. The Kuba artists are among those who have created some of the finest and most important masterpieces of African art. Kuba music, however, has remained almost completely unknown, and no recordings had ever been published before the present ones. Their interest therefore lies in that fact, in part, the artistic aspect of the music itself being another justification.
A well documented text in French and English presents the recordings.
Musiques du Plateau (Music of the Plateau) OCR 82
These very interesting recordings were made on the Jos Plateau, which rises to an average height of twelve hundred metres in the centre of Nigeria. Various instruments are represented, and also various tribes, such as Angas, Birom, Jarawa, Burom, Yergam and Pyem. The music has been performed either by professional musicians or by communities.
FOLKWAYS RECORDS*
4201 Music from Petauke of Northern Rhodesia, Vol. 1.
4202 Music from Petauke of Northern Rhodesia, Vol.2.
4214 Music from an Equatorial Microcosm/Fang Bwitl
Music from Gabon Republic, Africa. Cult music.
4221 Music of the Idoma of Nigeria.
4222 Ewe Music of Ghana.
4223 Music of the Kurla & Gusli. W. Kenya.
4241 Music of Zaire (Congo), Vol.1.
4242 Music of Zaire (Congo), Vol.2.
4321 Music of the Joa Plateau and Other Regions of Nigeria.
4322 Music of the Mende of Sierra Leone.
4323 The Music of the Diola-Fogny of the Casamance,
Senegal.
4337 Music of Chad.
4353 Ritual Music of Ethiopia. Tribes rarely recorded.
4372 Music of the Cameroons.
4441 Drums of the Yoruba of Nigeria.
4457 The Pygmies of the Ituri Forest, Congo.
4462 Wolof Music of Senegal and the Gambia.
4470 Taureg Music of the Southern Sahara.
4476 The Baoule of the Ivory Coast.
4477 The Topoke People of the Congo.
4483 Music of the Ituri Forest, Congo.
4487 The Music of the Kung Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert, Africa.
4502 African Drums.
AB
4503 Africa — South of the Sahara.
8460 African Musical Instruments, Bilal.
8852 African Music.
8910 Psalms Sung in the Cameroons.
FE
4353 Ritual Music of Ethiopia.
*Note: The author was unable to give this group of recordings a personal hearing.