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Lets see some love for Afro-Beat/Afro-Groove

Skywalker83

Skywalker83

Oct 19, 2008
453
2
Tampere, Finland
#1
Anyone else reeeeaaalllly into this type of stuff? It's really taken a hold on me the past few years since i really got back into bass playing. I'm listening to this type of stuff alll the time.
My dream is to get an afro groove type band together (but what are the chances in Finland.....)
a great example here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlUFrWq84Qs&feature=related

Great muted p-bass like tone, and a really simple yet so effective groove.

So if your a lover of this type of stuff, lets here it.
 
#3
My ex-band once had the pleasure of opening for Manu Dibango - one of the fathers of African funk. As far as Fela is concerned, my favourite of his is probably "Let's Start" (with, funnily enough, Ginger Baker on drums). If you want to check out something wild, find some stuff by Les Têtes Brulées from Camaroon. Not all of it is funky, but man can those guys tear the roof off! There is so much great African music out there that goes unheard by the average listener and it's too bad. Anyway, lots of love here!
 
#4
check out some :
Koffi Olimide,
this is just three examples of Lingala...there's so much more

listen to these bassists,
Ngouma Lokito, Jean Louis, Faustino Ngoita..Awilo Longomba
Manu Lima, Noel Assolo, and Binda Bass, Koffi also plays bass
Godessy Lofombo, plays for Djouna

yeah Ginger Baker was the drummer on Zombie too
 
#6
Skywalker83 said:
Anyone else reeeeaaalllly into this type of stuff? It's really taken a hold on me the past few years since i really got back into bass playing. I'm listening to this type of stuff alll the time.
My dream is to get an afro groove type band together (but what are the chances in Finland.....)
a great example here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlUFrWq84Qs&feature=related

Great muted p-bass like tone, and a really simple yet so effective groove.

So if your a lover of this type of stuff, lets here it.
Click to expand...

did you know that song you linked is "sexual healing" originally by Marvin Gaye ?
 
#9
Clark Dark said:
did you know that song you linked is "sexual healing" originally by Marvin Gaye ?
Click to expand...

Yea, I was wondering about that too. In addition the song itself doesn't really have much of an Afro-beat groove to it either.

Sixun is great fusion band that incorporates a lot of african influenced instrumentation and song elements so you might want to check them out too. Here's a video of them playing "State Street" from the album Lunatic Taxi:
 
#14
Skywalker83 said:
Anyone else reeeeaaalllly into this type of stuff? It's really taken a hold on me the past few years since i really got back into bass playing. I'm listening to this type of stuff alll the time.
My dream is to get an afro groove type band together (but what are the chances in Finland.....)
a great example here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlUFrWq84Qs&feature=related

Great muted p-bass like tone, and a really simple yet so effective groove.

So if your a lover of this type of stuff, lets here it.
Click to expand...

keep your dream alive. I'm sure there are drummers who can do a 2 against 3 and other cross rythyms which you can bounce off. as long as the music is good, they will come
 
#15
For a cool spin on this stuff look for "Cravo e Canela", which is a Nasciemento tune redone by IG Culture with Bembe Segue. IG is one of the fathers of the British broken beat trip and did a very cool afro/funk/dance treatment on it. You can get it on Itunes and if you like this stuff it's worth every pennie.
And there's another cool treatment of" Zombie" on a "Red hot +riot CD by Bugz in the Attic. It seems there are some cool London producers working this genre.
For a more trad approach Femi Kuti and Toni Allen are cool too.
I love Les Tetes Brulees though I wouldn't put them in the afrobeat zone. If you dig the Bikutsi there's a great band from Madagascar, Jaojoby, who do a style called salegy, which is VERY similar to bikutsi. Where the one is, if you can get there, will make your head spin.
 
#16
Great thread, I just posted about Michel Alibo in the "Recordings" thread. He may be the most recorded African bassist, although he's from the Island of Martinique. Check out his work at 19 years old with Salif Keita ("Soro"), impeccable. Although he's more into a funk/fusion thing now (Sixun, as mentioned above), his older African stuff remains a benchmark to me - Jamerson like grooves, Jaco-like chops. He picked up a bass at 15, toured for a year with Manu Dibango a year later, and at 17 began his career as perhaps the busiest session bassist in Paris, playing on over 300 African and Caribbean records in the 80's alone.

Check him out: Link Removed

Thanks, I'm a newbie and African music fan, so it's great to see this thread.

http://www.thebonedaddys.com
Link Removed
Link Removed
 
#17
MixBass said:
For a cool spin on this stuff look for "Cravo e Canela", which is a Nasciemento tune redone by IG Culture with Bembe Segue. IG is one of the fathers of the British broken beat trip and did a very cool afro/funk/dance treatment on it. You can get it on Itunes and if you like this stuff it's worth every pennie.
And there's another cool treatment of" Zombie" on a "Red hot +riot CD by Bugz in the Attic. It seems there are some cool London producers working this genre.
For a more trad approach Femi Kuti and Toni Allen are cool too.
I love Les Tetes Brulees though I wouldn't put them in the afrobeat zone. If you dig the Bikutsi there's a great band from Madagascar, Jaojoby, who do a style called salegy, which is VERY similar to bikutsi. Where the one is, if you can get there, will make your head spin.
Click to expand...
Les Têtes Brulées are definitely not afrobeat, I just think they're kind of funky.
 
#19
MixBass said:
For a cool spin on this stuff look for "Cravo e Canela", which is a Nasciemento tune redone by IG Culture with Bembe Segue. IG is one of the fathers of the British broken beat trip and did a very cool afro/funk/dance treatment on it. You can get it on Itunes and if you like this stuff it's worth every pennie.
And there's another cool treatment of" Zombie" on a "Red hot +riot CD by Bugz in the Attic. It seems there are some cool London producers working this genre.
For a more trad approach Femi Kuti and Toni Allen are cool too.
I love Les Tetes Brulees though I wouldn't put them in the afrobeat zone. If you dig the Bikutsi there's a great band from Madagascar, Jaojoby, who do a style called salegy, which is VERY similar to bikutsi. Where the one is, if you can get there, will make your head spin.
Click to expand...

thanks for your post, most of my favorite music has been soukous from Zaire/Congo but I feel this Bikutsi. As you say the one is elusive hence my earlier reply to the OP about getting with a drummer who's into polyrythyms. here is a Bikutsi link , it kinda feels like a 6/8 against a 2/3

My penchant for soukous stems from every song gives you like 3 basslines within the same song, the grooves and tempos move fluidly. the guys that cut with Djouna, Awilo and Koffi really have that trad thing together. IMO
 
#20
Clark Dark said:
Skywalker83 and One Drop, since you're already in Europe maybe you can go see Awilo and many more Soukous artists in Paris on the 18th October
Click to expand...

Thank's for the heads up.

Can't do it this time around, but I'll keep my eyes open for the future.

My brother has a few thousand albums and cassette tapes worth on a hard drive- he's been collecting for decades, can't wait to copy them over to myself!

I was lucky enough to spend a week at the home of Mahmoud Guinea and his family in Morocco a few years ago, during the Gnawa festival. He took me to a midnight Lila that has to be one of the most powerful musical experiences of my life. That is some seriously deep music with some very long roots.
 

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