I have been listening to so much Bona lately and although i know he is a rarety i love the sound and pulse of the music that he makes and i also love Graceland by paul simon.


So any one got any sugestion of any other music in a similar style?


Dave

You could also check out Johnny Dyani, a great South African bassist. He might be a more raw, but he was amazing.

There is a big flowing river of African music you are about to step into! Great! A few quick thoughts -- there's much much more beyond these (I'm no expert, just a fan)

-- Amadou & Mariam (currently working in France, but from Mali originally
-- Oumou Sangare: also from Mali, and amazing singer, with great grooves on her record.
-- Bakithi Kumalo -- is the bassist on Graceland - plays with many people - you probably already know this!
-- King Sunny Ade -- the king of Nigerian juju music -- many overlapping guitars and percussion.

I'll stop there -- I'm sure others will pitch in with more.

I opened for the Bhundu Boys in the mid-80s, they were great! Check them out if you can.

If you like African-flavored-Fusion. I would highly recommend Sixun. With Paco Sery (Cameroon) on Drums & the incredible Michel Alibo on bass. They just came out with a live CD & DVD for their 25th Anniversary reunion. These guys will blow your mind.
Sites like AbstractLogix.com or AudiophileImports.com carry their stuff.

Bona is the King but Cameroon has produced some of the finest Bass Players in the world. you can also check out Jean Luc Ponty who is French and has a Bass Player from Cameroon who actually used to be in a Bass trio with Richard Bona. His name is Guy Nsangue. A bad MF. Ponty is French but plays a lot of African music. You can easily find a DVD of him on Amazon.

I hope that helps.

Duh, Fela Kuti!!!!!!
Also, Keziah Jones' album Black Orpheus.

Duh, Fela Kuti!!!!!!

Yeah, I'll second that in a major way. If you're not familiar with Fela, you MUST go buy some this minute. I recommend anything with his Afrika '70 band (Opposite People happens to be my favorite album).

King Sunny Ade as was mentioned earlier.

Ali Farka Toure

Baaba Male

Angelique Kidjo

Guy Nsangue is an insanely talented bass player, as mentioned above.

There's tons of variety in "African" music, as can be expected when you try to lump an entire continent of a bazillion different cultures into one category. It's definitely worth spending some time looking into it. SOme of it will jive with you, some won't. I keep learning about more and more styles and groups and it totally blows me away.
I took some lessons this past summer with Leo Traversa and was exposed to a lot of new rhythms beyond the Fela/Afrobeat stuff I had known previously. It really opened my mind. This **** can be REALLY HARD TO PLAY as well as the rhythms can get very tricky. I had a nice list of people to check out fom Leo, but I've since lost it...:scowl:
This would make for a great thread on its own, "Afrobeat and Afropop"

Duh, Fela Kuti!!!!!!
Also, Keziah Jones' album Black Orpheus.
Can't leave out Fela's son, Femi!

As long as we're talking Afrobeat, might as mention Antibalas as well.
They've gotten some flack for being "posieurs", but, I've seen them a few times and they're ****ing awesome at what they do. I've listened to a ton of Fela, and I feel pretty comfortable recommending Antibalas. Their latest album tries to push boundaries a bit more than stay true to roots-Afrobeat, as they should! But, in concert they're just a smoking Afrobeat groove machine.

I'd say Lucky Dube, but the 1 CD I have kinda stunk...:(

Manu Dibango
Hugh Masekela
Oliver Mtukudzi
Check out Africa Straight Ahead & Smooth Africa over at Heads Up Records

Also, if you can find it, there was a sequel to Superfly (Superfly TNT) and that soundtrack was done entirely by an African Funk Soul band named Osibisa.

True, there is a lot of variety in African Music.
I agree, Angelique Kidjo(Togo) has great pop beats. Real Funky!
Baba Maal (Senegal) kind of Raggae-ish. Really nice too.
And don't forget Youssou Ndour (Senegal), Mory Kante (Mali), Salif Keita(Mali) etc... All great Afro-Pop Artists.

All the folks talked about in this thread are awesome.
However, based on your preferences, you might have to go through a lot to find what you are looking for.

I have to say though, If you are looking something that compares to Richard Bona's Bass playing, rythm and harmonic complexity, you are going to have to go with something a bit Jazzier than some of the artists were mentionned earlier.

One thing is sure there is a mine out there for music lovers because African music is all about the Groove.

Actually, Here is a link to some samples of different styles of African Music by a band based in New York: http://www.soulsearchproductions.com/pages/africanbluenote.htm
Some are cover tunes and some are originals. This is a Promo page. I would however recommend buying the CD from them http://AfricanBlueNote.com. As you well know Artists gotta make a living. ;-)

For the record, my favorite is "Full Time". Listen to the Bass & Drums...
And no, this is not my Band. I only wish I could play like that :-)

Hmmm... I like the idea of an Afro-Pop/Afro-Jazz forum on TalkBass.

Manu Dibango
Hugh Masekela
Oliver Mtukudzi
Check out Africa Straight Ahead & Smooth Africa over at Heads Up Records

Also, if you can find it, there was a sequel to Superfly (Superfly TNT) and that soundtrack was done entirely by an African Funk Soul band named Osibisa.


Yes my Friend. These folks are what I am talking about. Real Awesome!

True, there is a lot of variety in African Music.
I agree, Angelique Kidjo(Togo) has great pop beats. Real Funky!
She's alright, but I just can not listen to her "Oremi" disc without cracking up when it gets to "Itche Koutche." :rollno:

She's alright, but I just can not listen to her "Oremi" disc without cracking up when it gets to "Itche Koutche." :rollno:

I know what you mean Brother :) you unfortunately have to go through some of that to find the good ones.

Having played in a west african band, I've been lucky to meet a few great performers and even get a gig on occasion.

Check out Zé Manel from Guinea Bissau. I've been lucky enough to play in his band a couple times.

http://www.zemanel.com/

Also check out Samba Ngo, another african musician who's based here in the bay area. He's got albums out on compass records, IIRC.

http://www.samba-ngo.com/

I'll sheepishly add the west african music project I did years ago. I can send you a cd if you're interested.

http://felyproductions.com/

There is so much great African music and the bass almost always rules! Ismael Lo is one of my favorite singers! As mentioned Manu Dibango and Salif Keita are great, I'm really partial to Salif's releases on Mango records........great grooves!:bassist:

I would recommend checking out the late South African bassist, Sipho Gumede. His CDs are on www.sheer.co.za
Another impressive South African bassist is Musa Manzini.
His CD can be found on www.click2music.co.za

Actually just go to www.sheer.co.za for info on both bassists I mentioned.

Also, if you can find it, there was a sequel to Superfly (Superfly TNT) and that soundtrack was done entirely by an African Funk Soul band named Osibisa.

I have one of their cd's. For some reason I always thought they were South American. Don't ask me why, I just thought that.

There's a wealth of great music out of Africa, and as rontalsaurus wisely pointed out, there are lots of different styles--you can no more generalize about what "African" music is than you can generalize about what "American" or "European" music is.

Lots of great suggestions so far. You could also check out:

Youssou N'Dour
Papa Wemba
Samite
Mory Kante
The late Franco
Tabu Ley Rochereau
Obo Addy
Africando (sort of West Africa meets salsa)
Loketo
Thomas Mapfumo

True, there is a lot of variety in African Music.
I agree, Angelique Kidjo(Togo) has great pop beats. Real Funky!
Baba Maal (Senegal) kind of Raggae-ish. Really nice too.
And don't forget Youssou Ndour (Senegal), Mory Kante (Mali), Salif Keita(Mali) etc... All great Afro-Pop Artists.

All the folks talked about in this thread are awesome.
However, based on your preferences, you might have to go through a lot to find what you are looking for.

I have to say though, If you are looking something that compares to Richard Bona's Bass playing, rythm and harmonic complexity, you are going to have to go with something a bit Jazzier than some of the artists were mentionned earlier.

One thing is sure there is a mine out there for music lovers because African music is all about the Groove.

Actually, Here is a link to some samples of different styles of African Music by a band based in New York: http://www.soulsearchproductions.com/pages/africanbluenote.htm
Some are cover tunes and some are originals. This is a Promo page. I would however recommend buying the CD from them http://AfricanBlueNote.com. As you well know Artists gotta make a living. ;-)

For the record, my favorite is "Full Time". Listen to the Bass & Drums...
And no, this is not my Band. I only wish I could play like that :-)

Hmmm... I like the idea of an Afro-Pop/Afro-Jazz forum on TalkBass.
I'm pretty sure Angelique Kidjo is from Benin, not Togo.

Just thought I'd mention this here...
My fiance and I just made plans last night to go to Benin (West Africa) for two weeks next December. She was a Peace Corps volunteer there for 3 years and has been wanting to take me for a long time. Should be one hell of an adventure. :hyper:

Artist: Tcheka
Album: Nu Monda
Double CD/DVD with a live concert and music video.

I'm pretty sure Angelique Kidjo is from Benin, not Togo.

And you are right. I stand corrected.

As said, there are sooo many kinds of African music, it’s a challenge jumping in.
One approach could be to do it regionally. Being you like Bona for starters,
pick at the west. You can’t go wrong w/ Cameroon, who wields some amazing musicians, including bassmen Bona,Sabbal-lecco,M’bappe, and Nsangue to name a few.
That’s also where Vincent Nguini, the gtr/m.d. of P. Simons band was from.
Great bands from there include, Les tetes Brulees, Ray Lema, Manu Dibango, and Prince Eyango ( whom I went to school on the bandstand with). Some styles from there are, bikutsi, makossa, and pedal. *some spelling is approximate*
Senegal is another great place to look. Great artists include Youssou n’ dour, Kine Lam, Diamond Lemzo, I believe Babba Maal, and Ismael Lo. Habib Faye is a bass monster from there who did most of Youssou’s stuff and produces a bunch. A few styles are,
Mbalax and sabar.
Mali has amazing music. Any Salif Keita is great. Sikouba Bambino and Issa Baggayo have great music. Mandinka is one of the styles there.
There’s so many more…..
Have fun!

As said, there are sooo many kinds of African music, it’s a challenge jumping in.
One approach could be to do it regionally. Being you like Bona for starters,
pick at the west. You can’t go wrong w/ Cameroon, who wields some amazing musicians, including bassmen Bona,Sabbal-lecco,M’bappe, and Nsangue to name a few.
That’s also where Vincent Nguini, the gtr/m.d. of P. Simons band was from.
Great bands from there include, Les tetes Brulees, Ray Lema, Manu Dibango, and Prince Eyango ( whom I went to school on the bandstand with). Some styles from there are, bikutsi, makossa, and pedal. *some spelling is approximate*
Senegal is another great place to look. Great artists include Youssou n’ dour, Kine Lam, Diamond Lemzo, I believe Babba Maal, and Ismael Lo. Habib Faye is a bass monster from there who did most of Youssou’s stuff and produces a bunch. A few styles are,
Mbalax and sabar.
Mali has amazing music. Any Salif Keita is great. Sikouba Bambino and Issa Baggayo have great music. Mandinka is one of the styles there.
There’s so many more…..
Have fun!

Great post!
Hit the nail on the head with a lot of that stuff.
Definitely check out some of the Bikutsi stuff, crazy!
Les Tetes Brulees play some very tough rhythmic ****...apparently while at times passing a soccer ball on stage according to a teacher of mine :eyebrow:

Etienne M'Bappe was another great call!

(...) bassmen Bona,Sabbal-lecco,M’bappe, and Nsangue to name a few.
That’s also where Vincent Nguini, the gtr/m.d. of P. Simons band was from.
Great bands from there include, Les tetes Brulees, Ray Lema, Manu Dibango, and Prince Eyango ( whom I went to school on the bandstand with). Some styles from there are, bikutsi, makossa, and pedal. *some spelling is approximate*
Senegal is another great place to look. Great artists include Youssou n’ dour, Kine Lam, Diamond Lemzo, I believe Babba Maal, and Ismael Lo. Habib Faye is a bass monster from there who did most of Youssou’s stuff and produces a bunch. A few styles are,
Mbalax and sabar.
Mali has amazing music. Any Salif Keita is great. Sikouba Bambino and Issa Baggayo have great music. Mandinka is one of the styles there.
There’s so many more…..
Have fun!


Wow MixBass! You do know the West African Music scene. May I ask how you know so much?

First, thanks!
I was lucky to see Les tetes @ of all places, the Palomino, which was a small country/punkish/alt kind of room here in L.A. Those guys were nuts! Dressed in madmax/punk/tim burton-esque clothes and paint, they played that mad bikutsi @ crazy fast tempos while, yes...playing soccer!
It was nuts, they didn't lose a beat while at any random time kicking or heading a soccerball. I have some friends that grew up w/ those guys so we hung out while they were in town and had a jam/bbq. It was some funny stuff.A few of the guys rode a skateboard for the first time and all I could think was...."tour cancelled due to broken ----"All turned out well!
As for the music, the first time I heard it, Salif's "soro", I was hooked.
Lucky that there was a bit of an African scene here for a while and I did my first gig w/ Makina Loca, who opened for (sp) Samba n'go. He has an amazing touch. On that gig after the first tune, the drummer Paul Tchounga from Cameroon, said I would play in his band. And he was right! He was a mentor of sorts and introduced me to tons of great music and musicians. It's been on ever since in one way or another.Cheers!

So the legend of Les Tetes is true!
That bikutsi stuff, if it's what I'm thinking of, is none to easy to get right rhythmically at slow tempos in austere concentration, I can't imagine how those guys pull it off at the speed they do with all the antics at the same time.

<--------- feels very, VERY white.

Yeah, the bikutsi is like a rhythm jungle jim. I've been working on how best to feel/understand it for years.I've come up w/ some exercises and a friend and I have pitched a workshop like article to a few places. We'll see...There's another band,Jaojoby, from Madagascar, that does something very similar @ times.I played a fest. and they were on after us.It was so cool, I could walk behind each guy and focus on what he was playing and what part of the groove was his domain. Wish I had a recorder as that was a rare opportunity. They don't call it bikutsi, it's another name, but after much listening and debate, I'm convinced it's bikutsi starting on 2! It's the same rhythm arrangements for the most part but bumped over a beat.
There's a few bits of the Cameroon stuff on the last 2 Brecker Bros. records. M. Brecker was doing the P. Simon gig around that time and Armand Sabal-lecco was on it too.If you haven't heard those,get them as they're worth admission for those cuts alone. Plus, Armand tears it down. He is a BADDDDD dude! When he plays any 3 based music, get out of the way boy!!!!

I remember having been shown a few Bikutsi parts, thinking "I can get this stuff down in an hour". 3 days later I was sitting in a rhythm section class with my eyes crossed. I appreciate the hell out of it, but I don't think I'm ever going to have the discipline to learn it. Hell, I haven't even picked up a bass in 6+weeks...darn medical school.

Etienne Mbappe

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001W8DIS/qid=1147625573/sr=11-1/ref=sr_11_1/103-5366898-4776615?n=5174

Etienne Mbappe

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001W8DIS/qid=1147625573/sr=11-1/ref=sr_11_1/103-5366898-4776615?n=5174


There must be some Groove extracts in the water in Cameroon because these guys really got it.

Bumping this all thread because last Friday at London a Malian band called Tinarawen. Check this pearl with Santana last year at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4mbQdzILPA BTW, is the bass playing a righthanded bass , being himself lefthanded? If you go to see all videos, check tinarawen at womad 2004, the person who recored this loves bass!!

Sally Nyolo!!! 'Nuff said :]

Bumping this all thread because last Friday at London a Malian band called Tinarawen. Check this pearl with Santana last year at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4mbQdzILPA BTW, is the bass playing a righthanded bass , being himself lefthanded? If you go to see all videos, check tinarawen at womad 2004, the person who recored this loves bass!!

www.tinariwen.com with link that work to youtube, check the second clip with Santana.

Some stuff other people have not mentioned-

Prince Nico Mbarga
Brice Wassy

Kora players from Senegal/Gambia/Mali-

The Late Kaouding Cissoko (played with baaba maal - released an album with Ira Coleman)
Toumani Diabaté
Foday Musa Suso

For Soukous beyond Franco-

Kanda Bongo Man
Diblo Dibala

For afrobeat in addition to Fela and Femi-

Tony Allen
Afrodesia from SF is great

Yeah, I'll second that in a major way. If you're not familiar with Fela, you MUST go buy some this minute. I recommend anything with his Afrika '70 band (Opposite People happens to be my favorite album).

As someone who owns 30-40 Fela albums, it is hard to recommend a specific era/band. The Afrika '70 is the most approachable, Zombie, especially. It was the most commercially viable group and it had the highest output of albums. But Koola Lobitos and the Nigeria 70 are completely different. I don't think Fela quite found his voice with these groups prior to the Afrika '70, but they are cool if you are more in a highlife or West African Jazz mood. I really enjoy Fela's direction after the military assault/invasion of the Kalakuta Republic. Although there are not nearly as many Egypt '80 albums as Afrika '70 albums, with albums like Beast No Nation and O.D.O.O., Fela was not holding anything back - he did what he pleased.

fela and femi are both amazing.

if you like Paul Simon and african music i would also check out his album Rhythm of The Saints!

-- King Sunny Ade -- the king of Nigerian juju music -- many overlapping guitars and percussion.



One of my all-time favorites in ANY genre. I saw him a few years ago and, before the show, as I was walking to the theater, I spotted him walking up the street by himself. I shakily walked over to him (I was nervous) and shook his hand and asked him a couple of questions about some songs. To say that he was incredibly nice would be to understate the matter. He is an amazing person and musician and I truly had stars in y eyes that night after getting to meet him.

Oh, and the show was incredible, too! :D

I have a bunch of his CDS and I've been a fan for a long time.

Dudes, seriously, Konono No1


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3__YDTRYQY


They have albums you should own.

Check out:

Youssou N'dOUR
Thione Seck
Salif Keita
Habib Koite
Toure Kunda
Cheikh Lo
Ismael Lo
Mokhtar Samba



Aj

Dudes, seriously, Konono No1


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3__YDTRYQY


They have albums you should own.

I've had that for a while. Trippy stuff.