african music
 

hi guys,
i am looking for african music as birthday and christmas gifts. i figured you would have a great selection of knowledge on the subject. so i anyone has some favorite music from southern or east africa i would appreciate the name of the artist and the particular cd you like. thx in advance

Big country,

Do a search.....i remember a recent thread on african music and cd's and recommendations etc etc., dont remember any details, but, know there was tons of info....

Hari

bigcountry - I would recommend the following source:

http://www.africachannelmusic.com/

Its the music section on the website of the Africa Channel, a television network that broadcasts African Television here in the U.S.

On the website you can view music by country and listen to clips. A few of my favorites are King Sunny Ade - Nigeria, Miriam Makeba - S.Africa, Ladysmith Black Mombaso - S.Africa.

A nice compilation album of various S.African artists is: Homeland - A Collection of S.African Music.

Here are a few CDs I like:

"En Mana Kuoyo" by Kenyan Ayub Ogada.
"Exile" and "Beat the Border" by Ugandan Geoffrey Oryema.
"Muhazi" by Rwandan Mighty Popo.
"Africa" soundtrack from National Geographic special "Africa". (Includes tracks by Ogada and Oryema.)
"Wonders of the African World", soundtrack for the PBS documentary of the same name written and presented by Prof. Henry Louis Gates Jr.
"Long Walk to Freedom" by Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
And here is one for Xmas: "African Christmas", Xmas favorites with an African beat, from Merry Music/Higher Octave Music Inc.
Please send along your favorites too: I like adding to my collection.

In addition to anything by Geoffrey Oryema (my favorite, especially "The River" on "Beat the Border"), Samite is another great Ugandan artist ("Stars to Share", "Embalasasa", "Tunula Eno", etc.). If you can go to a store such as Borders (USA) that has listening stations, you could check them out and see which one you like. You might also like some compilations like "African Tranquility" and "African Lullaby".

You cannot go wrong with anything from Oliver Mtukudzi, the soulful voice of Zimbabwe

Soundtrack to the film, The Power of One. Great chorals by the Bulawayo Church Choir and others.

Thank you all for your recommendations. I am unfamiliar with Samite and Mtukudzi and look forward to checking them out.

Another vote for Oliver Mtukudzi.
regards - tom

thanks a lot guys. i will look into a bunch of these.