'African' Bands // p 1 of 3

Africa Express

Africa Express was founded in 2006 to promote the concept of musical collaboration that breaks down boundaries and borders, whether between geographical regions, genres or generations. It has hosted a series of remarkable adventures that have won praise from artists, audiences and critics alike. These include five trips bringing together artists in Africa, four acclaimed albums and a series of inventive and highly-original shows in Britain, Europe and Africa. Past projects include a train tour around the United Kingdom as part of the 2012 Olympic festivites, playing the New Shrine in Lagos, performing to 50,000 people on a beach in Spain, staging the first show in front of Paris’s Hotel de Ville, reforming a 50-strong Syrian orchestra and recording the only African version of Terry Riley’s contemporary classic In C.

^{Source africaexpress.co.uk}

Ahmoudou Madassane

Ahmoudou Madassane is an actor and writer, known for Zerzura (2017) and Akounak tedalat taha tazoughai (2015).

^{Source imdb.com}

Ali Farka Toure

Ali Ibrahim "Ali Farka" Touré (31 October 1939 – 6 March 2006) was a Malian singer and multi-instrumentalist, and one of the African continent's most internationally renowned musicians. His music is widely regarded as representing a point of intersection of traditional Malian music and its North American cousin, the blues. The belief that the latter is historically derived from the former is reflected in Martin Scorsese's often quoted characterization of Touré's tradition as constituting "the DNA of the blues". Touré was ranked number 76 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and number 37 on Spin magazine's "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".

^{Source Wikipedia}

Alice Phoebe Lou

Alice Phoebe Lou (born 19 July 1993) is a Berlin-based South African singer-songwriter. She has released three EPs and four studio albums. In December 2017 her song "She" from the film Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story was included on the Oscars shortlist for Best Original Song. Since 2019 she had also been active in her side project Strongboi.

She has released four studio albums to date — Orbit (2016), Paper Castles (2019), Glow (2021) and Child's Play (2021) — alongside two live albums and various singles.

Early life

Lou spent her childhood in Kommetjie on west coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa and attended a Waldorf school. Her parents are documentary filmmakers. She took piano and guitar lessons as a child. When she was 14 years old she was fond of trance music and started to take photographs from concerts, sometimes even getting paid for them. In 2010 she spent her summer holiday in Paris living first with her aunt but soon moved to live with a friend and started earning money by fire-dancing.

^{Source Wikipedia}

Amadou & Mariam

Amadou & Mariam are a musical duo from Mali, composed of the Bamako-born couple Amadou Bagayoko (guitar and vocals) (born 24 October 1954) and Mariam Doumbia (vocals) (born 15 April 1958).

Their album Welcome To Mali (2008) was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album.

Background
Amadou lost his vision at the age of 16, while Mariam became blind at age 5 as a consequence of untreated measles. Known as "the blind couple from Mali", they met at Mali's Institute for the Young Blind, where they both performed at the Institute’s Eclipse Orchestra, directed by Idrissa Soumaouro, and found they shared an interest in music. Between 1974 and 1980, Amadou played guitar in the West African band Les Ambassadeurs du Motel de Bamako.

In 1980 the couple married and by 1983 they began to play together while Amadou continued a successful solo career and ran the blind institute's music programme.

Amadou is a fan of Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin.

Style
The duo's early recordings in the 1980s and 1990s featured sparse arrangements of guitar and voice. Since the late 1990s Amadou & Mariam have produced music that mixes traditional Mali sound with rock guitars, Syrian violins, Cuban trumpets, Egyptian ney, Indian tablas and Dogon percussion. In combination these elements have been called "Afro-blues".

^{Source Wikipedia}

Baaba Maal

Baaba Maal (born 12 November 1953) is a Senegalese singer and guitarist born in Podor, on the Senegal River. He is well known in Africa and internationally and is one of Senegal's most famous musicians. In addition to acoustic guitar, he also plays percussion. He has released several albums, both for independent and major labels. In July 2003, he was made a UNDP Youth Emissary.

Maal sings primarily in Pulaar and is the foremost promoter of the traditions of the Pulaar-speaking people, who live on either side of the Senegal River in the ancient Senegalese kingdom of Futa Tooro.

Early life and education
Maal was expected to follow in his father's profession and become a fisherman. However, under the influence of his lifelong friend and family gawlo, blind guitarist Mansour Seck, Maal devoted himself to learning music from his mother and his school's headmaster. He went on to study music at the university in Dakar before leaving for postgraduate studies on a scholarship at Beaux-Arts in Paris.

^{Source Wikipedia}

Celestine Ukwu

Celestine Ukwu (1940 – 7 May 1977) was a Nigerian Igbo highlife musician during the 1960s and 1970s, best known for his hit songs "Ije Enu", "Igede" and "Money Palava". Described as a "prolific and outstanding composer" by music critic Benson Idonije of Radio Nigeria Two, Ukwu's works have been featured on various world music compilations including The Rough Guide to Highlife and The Rough Guide to Psychedelic Africa.

Life

Ukwu was born in Enugu to music-oriented parents. His father was a local performer of the igede, ikpa and ode genres of Igbo music while his mother was lead singer in a women's musical group. At a young age, he began learning how to read music and play the harmonium with the help of his uncle. Upon completing his primary school education, he went to teacher training school for two years but dropped out to pursue music as a career. He went on to join Mike Ejeagha's group Paradise Rhythm Orchestra in 1962 at Enugu as a vocalist and maraca player before he left to join Mr. Picolo's band who were touring the Democratic Republic of the Congo at the time. He returned to Nigeria to form his own band known as Celestine Ukwu & His Music Royals of Nigeria in 1966 which was later disbanded in 1967 following the outbreak of the Nigerian Civil War, before releasing a song at the outbreak of the war titled 'Hail Biafra'. After the war, Ukwu formed another group, Celestine Ukwu & His Philosophers National; with whom he released several albums, including Igede Fantasia which did well commercially

Artistry

His songs were primarily composed in Igbo language with a bit of Efik. In a 1986 edition of Thisweek, a writer once wrote that his songs "gave a food for thought to its listeners".

^{Source Wikipedia}

Cheikh Lô

He was born in the late 1950s to Senegalese parents in Bobo Dioulasso in Burkina Faso and began playing drums and singing at an early age.

He joined Orchestre Volta Jazz, a Bobo variety band that played Cuban and Congolese pop songs as well as traditional Burkinabé music. Lô moved to Senegal in 1978, performing in several mbalax outfits. By then, the Zairean sound was in full flower, Camerounian makossa was coming on strong, and reggae had entered the mix, and Lô absorbed everything. In 1985, he was playing guitar with numerous Côte d'Ivoire and French musicians, which led him to record material in Paris in 1987. After his band dissolved, Lô remained in Paris as a session musician, developing his own sound, described as a mix of mbalax, reggae and soukous influences. He spent most of his time in recording studios, and he picked up as much as he could. His casual contacts with Zaire's most successful progressive singer, Papa Wemba, were especially memorable. "I was a drummer. So when there was a group who came and didn't have a drummer, I would practice with them. Papa Wemba's drummer was also a businessman, so if he wasn't there, I would help out. He's from the school of Tabu Ley, and when I was young, I listened to Tabu Ley a lot."

In 1995, Youssou N'Dour offered to produce Lô's debut album, Ne La Thiass, which became a success worldwide.

In 2000, Lô sang alongside Ibrahim Ferrer on "Choco's Guajira", from Cuban pianist Rubén González's, (Buena Vista Social Club) album Chanchullo.

In 2002, he appeared on two tracks of the Red Hot Organization's tribute album to Fela Kuti, Red Hot and Riot. He collaborated with Les Nubians and Manu Dibango on one of the tracks, "Shakara / Lady (Part Two)."

^{Source Wikipedia}

Cymande

Cymande (pronounced sah-mahn-day) is a British funk group that was originally active in the early 1970s. The band name derives from a calypso word for "dove", which symbolises peace and love; it is also the title of one of their best-known songs. With a membership deriving from several Caribbean nations, Cymande were noted for an eclectic mix of funk, soul, reggae, rock, African music, calypso, and jazz that they called "nyah-rock". The band formed in 1971 and released three albums before disbanding in 1974. After gaining newfound popularity when their music was sampled by many notable rap artists, Cymande reformed in the 2010s.

History

Original incarnation

Cymande was formed by bassist Steve Scipio and guitarist Patrick Patterson in London, England in 1971. Scipio and Patterson had previously played together in a jazz fusion group called Meta, in which they picked up additional influences from a Nigerian bandmate. Cymande variously had either eight or nine members in its original incarnation, and also included singer/percussionist Ray King, saxophonist Derek Gibbs, conga player Pablo Gonsales, singer/percussionist Joey Dee, saxophonist Peter Serreo, drummer Sam Kelly, and flautist/percussionist Mike Rose. All were members of the Afro-Caribbean diaspora community in London, originating in nations including Guyana, Jamaica, and Saint Vincent.

Cymande was discovered by British R&B producer John Schroeder while they played in a basement club in Soho in 1971. Schroeder recorded some demos and convinced Janus Records to sign the group. Their first single "The Message" reached the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B charts in the United States. Their self-titled debut album was released in 1972 and also reached the Billboard pop and R&B albums charts in the United States. During this period the group toured the United States successfully; their wide-ranging sound was illustrated by invitations to tour with soul singer Al Green, funk-rock band Mandrill, and jazz musician Ramsey Lewis.

In 1973 they made history as the first British band to headline the Apollo Theater in New York, and they also performed on Soul Train. However they achieved little notice in their home country. The album Second Time Round, featuring newly politicized lyrics, was released in 1973, and their third album Promised Heights was released in 1974. A lack of notice from the British music industry caused the group to break up in 1974. A fourth album titled Arrival was recorded during this period but was not released until 1981.

Rediscovery and reunions

After a period of obscurity, Cymande's music was rediscovered in the 1980s and 1990s. Some of their songs were deconstructed and used as breakbeats by early hip-hop DJs Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash. The British rare groove scene of the 1980s was openly influenced by Cymande. By the late 1980s they were being sampled regularly by rap artists, starting with De La Soul on their 3 Feet High and Rising album, plus EPMD, The KLF, MC Solaar, Heavy D, and many others. An unauthorized sample of "Dove" by The Fugees resulted in a lucrative copyright infringement settlement for Scipio and Patterson. Additional recognition arrived in 1994 when Spike Lee used the Cymande song "Bra" in his film Crooklyn; Lee used the same song in his 2002 film 25th Hour.

Thanks to ongoing recognition of their early 1970s original works by more modern fans, Cymande reformed with most of its original members for a one-off show in 2006. A fuller reunion commenced in 2012. Their original producer John Schroeder was recruited as well, and plans were announced for a new album. The group completed several one-off shows in the next few years, with all nine original members eventually contributing at various times, alongside some new sidemen. Cymande released A Simple Act of Faith in 2015 – the band's first new album in 41 years. In 2016 the group completed a short tour of the United States, where it had not played since 1973.

^{Source Wikipedia}

Ebo Taylor

Ebo Taylor (born 1936) is a Ghanaian guitarist, composer, bandleader, producer and arranger focusing on highlife and afrobeat music.

Ebo Taylor has been a pivotal figure on the Ghanaian music scene for over six decades. In the late '50s he was active in the influential highlife bands the Stargazers and the Broadway Dance Band. In 1962, Taylor took his group, the Black Star Highlife Band, to London. In London, Taylor collaborated with Nigerian afrobeat star Fela Kuti as well as other African musicians in Britain at the time.

Returning to Ghana, Taylor worked as a producer, crafting recordings for Pat Thomas, C.K. Mann, and others, as well as exploring solo projects, combining traditional Ghanaian material with afrobeat, jazz, and funk rhythms to create his own recognizable sound in the '70s.

Taylor's work became popular internationally with hip-hop producers in the 21st century. In 2008, Ebo Taylor met the Berlin-based musicians of the Afrobeat Academy band, including saxophonist Ben Abarbanel-Wolff, which led to the release of the album Love and Death with Strut Records (his first internationally distributed album). In 2009, Usher used a sample from Taylor's song "Heaven" for "She Don’t Know."

The success of Love and Death prompted Strut to issue the retrospective Life Stories: Highlife & Afrobeat Classics 1973-1980, in the spring of 2011. A year later, in 2012, a third Strut album, Appia Kwa Bridge, was released. Appia Kwa Bridge showed that at 77 years old, Taylor remained creative, mixing traditional Fante songs and chants with children's rhymes and personal stories into his own sharp vision of highlife.

He performed at the 2015 edition of the annual Stanbic Jazz Festival along with Earl Klugh,Ackah Blay and others.

^{Source Wikipedia}

Extra Golden

Extra Golden is a musical ensemble founded by two Americans and one Kenyan.

Bandmember Ian Eagleson studied Benga music from Nairobi for his Ph.D. thesis, and received assistance from Otieno Jagwasi, a Kenyan musician who played in a group called Orchestra Extra Solar Africa. Eagleson traveled with Jagwasi to Africa to continue his studies in 2004, bringing studio equipments along. His friend Alex Minoff, of Weird War, visited him in April 2004, and the three of them recorded an album together during their stay, which was released on Thrill Jockey Records. Jagwasi died of liver failure in 2005, but the remaining two members collaborated further with Jagwasi's brother, Onyago Wuod Omari (a drummer in Orchestra Extra Solar Africa) and Opiyo Bilongo, an established Benga musician. Two more albums with this configuration arrived in 2007 and 2009.

^{Source Wikipedia}

Fatoumata Diawara

Fatoumata Diawara (born 1982 in Ivory Coast) is a Malian actor, singer-songwriter and multiple Grammy Award nominee currently living in France. She received two nominations at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards for Best World Music Album for her album Fenfo and Best Dance Recording for Ultimatum featuring the English band Disclosure.

Biography
Born in the Ivory Coast to Malian parents, Diawara moved to France to pursue acting, appearing in Cheick Oumar Sissoko's 1999 feature film Genesis, Dani Kouyaté's popular 2001 film Sia, le rêve du python, in the internationally renowned street theatre troupe Royal de Luxe, and played a leading role in the musical Kirikou et Karaba. She later took up the guitar and began composing her own material, writing songs that blend Wassoulou traditions of southern Mali with international influences. Noted for her "sensuous voice," she has performed or recorded with Malian and international greats such as Cheick Tidiane Seck, Oumou Sangaré, AfroCubism, Dee Dee Bridgewater (on Red Earth: A Malian Journey), and the Orchestre Poly Rythmo de Cotonou. The EP Kanou was released May 9, 2011, and her debut album Fatou from World Circuit Records was released in September 2011. (Nonesuch Records released the Kanou EP digitally in North America on September 27, 2011, and the album Fatou on August 28, 2012.)

In September 2012, she featured in a campaign called "30 Songs / 30 Days" to support Half the Sky, a multi-platform media project inspired by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn’s book. September 2012 also saw her board the Africa Express Train with Damon Albarn, Rokia Traoré, Baaba Maal, Amadou & Mariam, Nicolas Jaar, and the Noisettes, amongst many others. The show culminated in a 4.5k venue in Kings Cross where Fatoumata performed with Paul McCartney.

Fatoumata has spent the recent years touring the world, with a landmark performance for the English-speaking public at Glastonbury 2013. Alongside many European gigs her schedule has taken her to South America, Asia and Australia as well as on multiple trips to the US, where in September 2013 she performed as part of the Clinton Global Initiative alongside The Roots in New York. Since mid-2014 she has been in collaboration with Roberto Fonseca, with numerous live performances and a joint live album, At Home - Live in Marciac, along the way. In 2014 she also extended her list of collaborations by a joint performance with Mayra Andrade and Omara Portuondo. February 2015 saw her first live concert as a meanwhile established international name back home at the Festival Sur Le Niger in Ségou, Mali, where she shared the stage once again with her long-time friend and mentor, Oumou Sangaré; Bassekou Kouyate; and many other domestic acts.

Alongside, she has continued her cinematic activities, with numerous roles, appearances and musical input in multiple feature films, such as the seven times César Award winning and Academy Award nominated 2014 Timbuktu.

^{Source Wikipedia}

Geoffrey Oryema

Geoffrey Oryema (16 April 1953 – 22 June 2018) was a Ugandan musician. In 1977 after the murder of his father, Erinayo Wilson Oryema, who was a cabinet minister in the government of Idi Amin, he began his life in exile. At the age of 24, and at the height of Amin's power, Oryema was smuggled out of the country in the trunk of a car.

He sang in the languages of his youth, Swahili and Acholi, the languages of his lost country, the "clear green land" of Uganda, and he also sang in English and French.

Oryema earned his international reputation on the release of his second album, Beat the Border. He had collaborated with Peter Gabriel and others, and was backed by French musicians including Jean-Pierre Alarcen (guitar) and Patrick Buchmann (drums, percussion, backing vocals), touring with WOMAD in Australia, the USA, Japan, Brazil and Europe. In 1994 the band performed at Woodstock 94 celebrating the 25th anniversary of the legendary festival.

Gabriel's record label, Real World, helped with the first three of Oryema's albums, before his move to Sony International, a label established in France, where Oryema had lived since his exile.

In July 2005, he performed at the LIVE 8: Africa Calling concert in Cornwall, and with 1 Giant Leap at the Live 8 Edinburgh concert.

He resided in Paris, France until his passing. His ashes were delivered to Anaka.

^{Source Wikipedia}

Habib Koité

Habib Koité (Bambara: Habib Kuwate, born 1958 in Thiès, Senegal) is a Malian musician, singer, songwriter based in Mali. His band, Bamada, is a supergroup of West African musicians, which included Kélétigui Diabaté on balafon until his death in 2012.

Koité is known primarily for his unique approach to playing the guitar by tuning it on a pentatonic scale and playing on open strings as one would on a kamale n'goni. Other pieces of his music sound more like the blues or flamenco which are two styles he learned under Khalilou Traore.

Koité's vocal style is intimate and relaxed, emphasizing calm, moody singing rather than operatic technical prowess. Members of Bamada play talking drum, guitar, bass, drum set, harmonica, violin, calabash, and balafon. Koité composes and arranges all songs, singing in English, French, and Bambara.

^{Source Wikipedia}