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12-16-2009, 03:04 PM
| | Steve Harris nut | | Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Germany | | | African bass lines?
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hello,
i'm really starting to like all those great bass grooves i hear in african music. can somebody point out to me how i can develop my own or where i can find inspiration? (artists, videos, etc.)
much appreciated, thanks.
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Cliff Bordwell Ball-Bass 5-string
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12-16-2009, 04:40 PM
| | | | Listen to it and emulate until you've internalized it, then it will start to come out in your playing. |
12-16-2009, 04:41 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Ontario | | | Fela Kuti
__________________ dvh  "Never lose the groove in order to find a note" - V. Wooten |
12-16-2009, 04:55 PM
| | | | check these guys out:
The Budos Band
Manu Dibango
and ++++1 on Fela Kuti
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12-16-2009, 04:56 PM
|  | Groovin' Eskrimador
Lark in the Morning Instructional Videos; Audix Microphones | | Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Santa Cruz Mtns, California | | | Good suggestions thus far.
Also suggest:
King Sunny Ade
Malopoets
Toure Kunda
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12-16-2009, 05:43 PM
| | | Zimbabwean music like chimurenga is great for ternary - check out max mapfumo (track called Mutserendende is really good example), thomas mapfumo, any mbira music, the bhundu boys, stuff like that
soweto music and township is great - there is a rough trade album from way back which I think paul simon got hold of which inspired him to make graceland - that's called 'sounds of soweto'. the bass player on that is great - it's different to most african stuff because it's really sort of punk-ish - very middy and up front. the guys name is something like sol malipane
also for the kind of afrobeat thing - fela obviously (although I never got much from the basslines in fela cos they're not really stand out - much more about tony allen if you ask me). Ebeneezer Obey and his inter-reformers, Sonny Ade is amazing (lots more bass instruments than just bass on that - weird talking drums and allsorts).
Tinariwen's bass player is sublime - their new album is their best - much more desert blues sound. They are from northern mali in the sahara.
Congolese music has the strangest rhythmic turnarounds you'll ever hear - check out a tune called 'sequestration' by awila longomba. I don't really know what the bass is doing in that but congolese music is very particular and intricate with the bass.
Extra Golden are a hybrid band - part american part kenyan, but the main songwriter, Ian Eagleson, writes all the bass and guitar parts, and he writes them really well. He is an ethnomusicolist and has studied benga music so he's really inside the style, but he really innovates so his guitar and bass lines are amazing - really interlocking grooves. Check out their first album with otieno on vocals, it's the best.
If you can find an lp called 'music of burundi' then there is some awesome bass frequency stuff played by a guy with and instrument which is a bit like a bass lute, which is intense.
Kanda Bongo Man (I like it anyway)
And this is the best resource of all, and one I should check out more, http://awesometapesfromafrica.blogspot.com/ |
12-16-2009, 05:46 PM
| | | | Also, I would recommend trying to play it rather than just listening. It's a lot quicker than just picking it up by osmosis. |
12-16-2009, 05:47 PM
|  | I took the one less traveled by | | Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Reims, Champagne, France | | | Think drums when playing your line. It's all in the groove. Accents and dynamics are really important. |
12-16-2009, 06:05 PM
| | | | true - it's even worth studying african percussion to be honest - check out clave's and bell patterns. might be too much info but anyway. |
12-17-2009, 03:44 AM
| | Steve Harris nut | | Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Germany | | | thank you very much guys.
now i have a ton of stuff to work on.
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12-17-2009, 04:08 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Ottawa and its Environs. | | | If you're into afrobeat, i'd suggest antibalas, nomo, kokono no. 9, budos band, mr. something something, and afrodizz.
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12-17-2009, 04:35 AM
| | I took the one less traveled by | | Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Reims, Champagne, France | | Try to follow this guy playing a very simple line, say over pentatonic scale. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvIzv4EHnc0
Get in the groove, it's all about dynamics and pulse. Ghost notes and mutes are your friends. |
12-17-2009, 08:07 AM
|  | Yeah, I've got the moves like Jagger. | | Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: G.R. MI | | | Harari
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12-18-2009, 06:47 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Hamilton, ON | | +1 to the budos. There bass player is awesome, and he doesn't read music he just grooves.
ALso check some canadian boys of mine, www.myspace.com/souljazzorchestra Though there keys player does the bass work with his left hand. |
12-18-2009, 07:00 AM
|  | TalkBass' resident Bongo + Cowbell player | | Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Bucaramanga, Colombia, South A | | This song was extremely popular in my country in 1988 (and I still dig it a lot). Recorded by a Cameroonian band called Golden Sounds. For an unknown reason to me, the song was inscribed within a genre dubbed "therapy". Whatever it was, it was a smash hit. Hope you like it and find some inspiration there.  |
12-18-2009, 07:09 AM
| | Yeah, I've got the moves like Jagger. | | Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: G.R. MI | | | That's a great tune Al!
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Originally Posted by BassChalice Everybody pay attention to Phalex now! | Quote:
Originally Posted by champbassist My cat breath smelling a cat's odor is eating. | Quote:
Originally Posted by hover He's got the Moo OO OO OO OO OO OO OObs like Jagger.... | |
12-18-2009, 10:33 AM
| | Fueled by chocolate | | Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Montreal, Canada | | Quote:
Originally Posted by newbold If you're into afrobeat, i'd suggest antibalas, nomo, kokono no. 9, budos band, mr. something something, and afrodizz. | Not to sound like a "purist", but these guys are pretty much all "imitators" who are limited to the Fela formula (which, as far as bass is concerned, is one of the easiest styles to pick up if you're used to playing funk). The Congolese suggestions are great. There is a specific bass playing style associated with, for example, Congolese rhumba or soukous, whereby the bassist uses his thumb and fingers in a guitar-picking manner. You just can't get the same effect using just fingers, thumb or a pick. Find some footage of Kanda Bongo Man (a definite favourite!), Diblo Dibala, Zaďko Langa Langa or Franco and you'll see what I'm talking about. I spoke to a bassist from Cameroon once who told me that the role of the bass player in a lot of Cameroonian stuff is to effectively play drum parts. The thumb, for example, would play a low drum pattern while the fingers would play a higher-pitched drum pattern. There is a huge range of music on the African continent and it can be daunting trying to figure out what's what and where to start. I would suggest picking up Jean-Luc Ponty's "Tchokola" album for two reasons: the players are killers who really know their stuff and each song is based on a particular rhythm which is discussed in the liner notes. Of course, you'll have to put up with the violin, but... 
Otherwise, I'll add these names to the already good list:
Les Tętes Brulées (some pretty crazy stuff from Cameroon that can be quite complex rhythmically).
Salif Keita (check out the albums "Soro" and "Folon... The Past").
Anything by Kanda Bongo Man, Zaďko Langa Langa or Franco.
Pretty much anything by The Soul Brothers (township jive from South Africa) except for their remix album!
Anything by Sweet Talks (the album "Hollywood Highlife Party" is a classic).
There are tons of compilations out there to help you discover the music of Africa. Anything on the Stern's label should steer you in the right direction.
I'd also suggest you check out Kassav'. They're not African (most of the members are from Guadelupe), but their style would probably fit into the kind of vibe you seem to be interested in (and, really, any musician should be aware of this band - they're one of the best out there). Check out their-single disc "Live Au Zenith" album.
Last edited by bass12 : 12-18-2009 at 11:09 AM.
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12-18-2009, 10:58 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Northern California | | There's a SF bay area group playing Fela influenced stuff called Albino! good groove stuff http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JBLktWR8M8
Also in the east bay there is Baba Ken Okulolo who played bass with King Sunny Ade. He has several groups that play afrobeat and highlife styles. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyfNkwLfGLM
Kanda Bongo Man is another fave of mine for the soukous style. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZDCKPhl67w
The joy expressed in African music is a constant inspiration to me. I love it!
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