http://author.voanews.com/english/africa/blog/index.cfm African music treasures is a Voice of America blog that allows you to discover rare African recordings from the VOA's unique African music library. Many of the recordings featured on the blog are unreleased recordings of traditional and contemporary music that were originally recorded for the VOA program MUSIC TIME IN AFRICA. en-us Mon, 23 Nov 2009 03:56:31 -0000 Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:35:00 -0000 BlogCFC http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss mlavoie@voanews.com mlavoie@voanews.com http://author.voanews.com/english/africa/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=9CED07DC-E4D1-F73C-877C86F0C6C8DDB5 After several long and time consuming posts, and while I am working on the next long one, I thought I'd squeeze in a brief post featuring some of the many wonderful recordings that our listeners have sent us over the years; this first batch includes a few of my favorites from West African listeners. The constant challenge of creating music programming that appeals to listeners from dozens of countries, each with their own dynamic musical traditions and recording industries, is made easier by th... Various Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:35:00 -0000 /english/africa/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=9CED07DC-E4D1-F73C-877C86F0C6C8DDB5 http://author.voanews.com/english/africa/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=C4B44E7A-0625-CB15-5148FEADD9FDB155 When I first started, twenty years ago, to explore the musics of Africa, recordings of many popular African styles, and detailed information about them, were hard to come by. Today, thanks especially to the generous efforts of dedicated African music bloggers (all of whom are more prolific than I am), there is a wealth of terrific recordings from throughout the continent available at the click of a mouse. However, the history of much of the continent's popular music still remains to be told. ... Cameroon Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:54:00 -0000 /english/africa/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=C4B44E7A-0625-CB15-5148FEADD9FDB155 http://author.voanews.com/english/africa/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=53352C07-D29E-B210-92726BD3B3378B8B Several weeks ago, I distractedly picked up my ringing phone to hear a colleague ask, 'haven't you been trying to get in touch with Bereket Mengisteab?' I had, in fact, wanted to interview the Eritrean music legend for quite some time. 'Well', my colleague continued, 'he has just stopped by the VOA's Horn of Africa service.' Later that afternoon, Mr. Mengisteab was kind enough to spend an hour in the studio talking with me, through a colleague who interpreted, about his life and music. At se... Eritrea Tue, 25 Aug 2009 20:06:00 -0000 /english/africa/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=53352C07-D29E-B210-92726BD3B3378B8B http://author.voanews.com/english/africa/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=A3EFA96D-D754-B78B-054CD906DA729537 The late 1980s and early 1990s 'World Music Boom', when a decent selection of African music first started to appear in non-specialist shops in Europe and the United States, helped many artists reach new audiences; I can still remember the excitement of discovering Youssou N'dour's 1990 release 'Set'. However, despite its many successes, the 'World Music' phenomenon had some unfortunate-and I assume, unanticipated-consequences, including the progressive dilution of once unique and powerful artis... Morocco Wed, 22 Jul 2009 19:14:00 -0000 /english/africa/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=A3EFA96D-D754-B78B-054CD906DA729537 http://author.voanews.com/english/africa/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=A854893F-0F3A-0BF2-3D9BACB11B43061D One of the qualities, I find, that is shared by many of the musics that most appeal to me is the ability to create and sustain juxtapositions between different, and often seemingly contradictory, moods or 'feelings'. The mysterious ways in which, for example, the best Brazilian Bossa Nova can simultaneously express contentment and melancholy, or in which Albert Ayler's music can be both ecstatic and reflective. Ghana's many highlife guitar-bands of the 1960s and 1970s seem to have mastered the... Ghana Wed, 03 Jun 2009 22:37:00 -0000 /english/africa/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=A854893F-0F3A-0BF2-3D9BACB11B43061D http://author.voanews.com/english/africa/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=9DB13EEB-A11F-3F8E-627A8D53F7B9ABD5 One of the greatest joys of an intuitively organized-read disheveled-archive is the potential for surprise discoveries. Even after ten years of poking through our stacks of reels I still find interesting recordings I have never heard. Over the last month, whenever I could find a few minutes, I have gone down to the archive and pulled out tape after tape looking for a recording of a Dr. Nico interview. I still haven't found that interview, in fact I haven't yet been able to confirm that Dr. Ni... Ghana Mon, 01 Jun 2009 21:16:00 -0000 /english/africa/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=9DB13EEB-A11F-3F8E-627A8D53F7B9ABD5 http://author.voanews.com/english/africa/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=F472EBC1-DAE0-C45B-BF817FF6F0EA24FA Nestled in the heart of the Continent, the Central African Republic is surrounded by some of Africa's most fertile musical cultures, and over the last fifty years her musicians have struggled, and continue to struggle, to make themselves heard above the din of Cameroonian and Congolese rhythms that flood the region's airwaves. Despite the many professional and existential challenges Central African musicians have had to overcome (the music industry in CAR is probably the least developed in the ... Central African Republic Thu, 30 Apr 2009 00:17:00 -0000 /english/africa/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=F472EBC1-DAE0-C45B-BF817FF6F0EA24FA http://author.voanews.com/english/africa/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=3E3EDC0A-CC1C-4930-AF718F9FDD617994 Ten years ago, I spent a few weeks with a friend in the Belleville neighborhood of Paris. Every evening, as I walked down the final block to our apartment I passed in front of a noisy Algerian café. At one end of the café a dozen men were usually leaning against the zinc countertop of the bar, arguing and laughing, while another forty or so men (always men, I never saw any women) sat at a half dozen tables playing dominos, cards or checkers. The café had none of the aesthetic appeal of Paris'... Algeria Wed, 25 Mar 2009 15:16:00 -0000 /english/africa/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=3E3EDC0A-CC1C-4930-AF718F9FDD617994 http://author.voanews.com/english/africa/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=B481AE56-F808-1299-FA90B28679DADF7B I am just about to head out of town for a few weeks and I haven't had the time to wrap up several features I have been working on. I had hoped in particular to post, before I left, a piece on Dahmane el Harrachi, one of the greats of Algerian music, most of whose recordings are now, frustratingly, very difficult to come by.As I mentioned in an earlier post, perhaps the greatest reward of being a broadcaster is the feedback you get from your listeners. I broadcast nine different radio programs ... Various Thu, 26 Feb 2009 21:19:00 -0000 /english/africa/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=B481AE56-F808-1299-FA90B28679DADF7B http://author.voanews.com/english/africa/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=6242F688-D4A6-3DDF-D9D2EDCAA64904E4 Every Saturday and Sunday evening, during the four months of the dry season (June through September), villages throughout Sao Tome come together to shuffle to the warm pulse of the island's most popular dance rhythms. These weekly dances, or 'fundoes' (which literally translates as 'the bottom', as in the old blues line 'down in the bottom', and refers to the public spaces that were cordoned off for dancing) bring together Sao Tome's different communities; the Creoles, descendents of Portuguese... Sao Tome & Principe Tue, 10 Feb 2009 22:00:00 -0000 /english/africa/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=6242F688-D4A6-3DDF-D9D2EDCAA64904E4 http://author.voanews.com/english/africa/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=8DC92121-9F33-ED7A-D547329B08561449 I have recently fallen into the end of the year holiday-induced doldrums, and have not had the time to finish the research on several posts I have been working on. Nonetheless, I wanted to end 2008 with some good music (recordings that don't need much commentary). I thought I would feature what is arguably the most 'famous' tape in our archive; Leo's never-released 1965 reel of Fela Ransome-Kuti and his Koola Lobitos that caught the Afrobeat pioneers at an interesting time in their careers. F... Nigeria Wed, 31 Dec 2008 15:52:00 -0000 /english/africa/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=8DC92121-9F33-ED7A-D547329B08561449 http://author.voanews.com/english/africa/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=21DB77F9-D35A-4A15-7A32B97FE3EA53C9 This past week marked the one-year anniversary of 'African Music Treasures'. Thanks to all of you who have responded, over the past year, for your contributions, suggestions, and encouragement. Over the last twelve months I have tried to feature genres, artists, and recordings from throughout Africa that don't get much attention in the music press, on blogs, or by record companies. As I have spent more time going through the reels, vinyl, and cassettes in our archive I have stumbled (literally... Guinea Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:42:00 -0000 /english/africa/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=21DB77F9-D35A-4A15-7A32B97FE3EA53C9 http://author.voanews.com/english/africa/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=9176649F-F9A9-411F-29F74F07F256F725 Over the last two years- through the thousands of emails, phone calls and letters I have received from listeners throughout Africa- I have gained some insight into the many ways in which the presidential campaign of Senator Barack Obama inspired the continent. This enthusiasm blossomed into collective euphoria when, one week ago, Senator Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States of America. In phone calls from Algeria, Guinea, Cote D'Ivoire, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda and Somalia, ... Kenya Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:53:00 -0000 /english/africa/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=9176649F-F9A9-411F-29F74F07F256F725 http://author.voanews.com/english/africa/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=DD4442EA-C794-8152-ECE9D2AC80701BF8 This fourth, and for now, final, installment of African Islamic music features recordings from the Cote D'Ivoire, Benin and Nigeria. (I think I will wait until next year to present the Islamic recordings we have in our collection from Mauritania, Sierra Leone, Niger, Northern Nigeria, Sudan, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Egypt. My original plan to highlight selections from all of our recordings by the end of the month of Ramadan was too ambitious!) One of the most enlightening aspects of going throug... Cote D'Ivoire Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:08:00 -0000 /english/africa/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=DD4442EA-C794-8152-ECE9D2AC80701BF8 http://author.voanews.com/english/africa/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=B56E30F6-AADA-4B29-2C4B7E8DCE1F9073 Our next installment of Sufi sounds from Africa takes us East to Mali, home to some of West Africa's most iconic Muslim sites; the Great Mosque of Djenne-the world's largest mud brick building-is an architectural masterpiece, the mystical city of Tombouctou has been a renowned center of Islamic learning since the 15th century. And although today Muslims make up around 90% of Mali's population, the worldviews of many Malians still accommodate the pre-Islamic beliefs that are deeply rooted in the ... Mali Tue, 30 Sep 2008 22:23:00 -0000 /english/africa/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=B56E30F6-AADA-4B29-2C4B7E8DCE1F9073