MALAWI – Musiker Aus Malawi / Südliches Malawi – Museum Collection Berlin MC15

MALAWI
Musiker Aus Malawi / Südliches Malawi – Museum Collection Berlin MC15 – recorded by Gerhard Kubik in 1967, 1983 and 1984 (2 LPs)

Malawi is a landlocked country in southeastern Africa bordered by Tanzania, Zambia and Mozambique. This unique double album recorded by Gerhard Kubik in 1967 and 1983-1984 and published by the distinguished Museum Collection Berlin, is an anthology of traditional and folk music from three regions of southern Malawi: the lower Shire River area; the eastern shore of Lake Malawi and the Zomba Plateau; and the Shire Highlands and the mountain areas of Mwanza. 

 

The music showcased in this collection features a variety of instruments, including xylophones (A1, A2, A3, C1, C2, C3), malimba lamellophones (A5, A6, B5), idiophones (D3), zithers (A4, B4, B6, B7, B8, B9, C4, C5, D1, D2), vocal music (B1, B2, B3, D4), a mouth bow (D5), an accordion (C6, C7), and neo-traditional Kwela street music from southern Africa by the renowned Kachamba Brothers singing and playing pennywhistle flutes, guitars and shakers (D6, D7, D8).

 

Le Malawi est un pays enclavé du sud-est de l'Afrique, bordé par la Tanzanie, la Zambie et le Mozambique. Ce double album, enregistré par Gerhard Kubik en 1967 et 1983-1984, puis publié par la prestigieuse Museum Collection Berlin, est une anthologie de la musique traditionnelle et folklorique de trois régions du sud du Malawi : la région en amont de la rivière Shire; la rive orientale du lac Malawi et le plateau de Zomba; ainsi que les hauts plateaux de Shire et les zones montagneuses de Mwanza. 

 

La musique présentée dans cette collection fait appel à une grande variété d'instruments, notamment des xylophones (A1, A2, A3, C1, C2, C3), des lamellophones malimba (A5, A6, B5), des idiophones (D3), des cithares (A4, B4, B6, B7, B8, B9, C4, C5, D1, D2), de la musique vocale (B1, B2, B4, D4), un arc à bouche (D5), de l'accordéon (C6, C7) et de la musique de rue Kwela d'Afrique australe, jouée par les célèbres frères Kachamba avec des flûtes pennywhistle, des guitares et des shakers (D6, D7, D8).

THE LOWER SHIRE RIVER AREA 
The Sena musical style on Side A and Side B (1-5) and the Mang’anja style on Side B (6-9):

 

A1 – Kukapanda Mbale Kumaliza

A2 – Makang'ombe

Eric Edison, ulimba xylophone ensemble; recorded in Mpomba, Nsanje District, March 1967.

 

A3 – Panagona Diminga

Johnny Zuze, valimba xylophone ensemble; recorded in Ntoma Mbini, Nsanje District, May 1967.

 

A4 – Wachelera Mabasa

Luka Motokale, bangwe board zither; recorded in Nsanje, March 1967.

 

A5 – Ntalimba

A6 – Kwa Nthole

Dayi Masitine, malimba lamellophone; recorded in Ziwe-Ziwe, Nsanje District, May 1967.

 

B1 – Chigolingo vocal technique used during the pounding of maize

B2 – Chigolingo jodel song used during the pounding of maize

Fainesi; recorded in Ntoma Mbini, Nsanje District, May 1967.

 

B3 – Ntano polyphonic song

Mahomed Kawonza; recorded in Chipwembwe, near Nsanje, March 1967.

 

B4 – Bandera  

Chamboko Chinamulungu, bangwe board zither; recorded near the Mozambique border, Nsanje District, May 1967.

 

B5 – Kabutera

Dzingo Chiningamphale, malimba lamellophone; recorded in Chambuluka, Nsanje District, June 1967.

 

B6 – Ndanyani 

B7 – Kulankhula-Lankhula Kwanuku

B8 – Kugwira Mikanda Kwina Ntidya...

B9 – Kwa ChaGoma

Limited Mfundo, bangwe board zither; recorded at Hetherwick House, Presbyterian Mission, Blantyre, March 1967.

 

THE EASTERN SHORE OF LAKE MALAWI & THE ZOMBA PLATEAU

Yao (Wayao) musician-composers (Side C):

 

C1 – Maguluve Kumala Imanga...

C2 – Kung'anda Kwa Anyamata

C3 – Ulendo Wa Kumigunda

Waisoni Msusa, mangolongondo xylophone school; recorded in Nkopiti, Mangochi District, July 1983.

 

C4 – Najiwa

Finlat Yona, sese flat-bar zither; recorded in Chiluwe, Zomba District, February 1984.

 

C5 – Untitled

Yona Nnema, sese flat-bar zither; recorded in Malonge, Zomba District, March 1984.

 

C6 – Siombela

C7 – M'bwiza

Jonas Chapola, accordion, M’bwiza music; recorded in Malamya, Mangochi District, August 1983.

 

THE SHIRE HIGHLANDS AND THE MOUNTAINS AREAS OF MWANZA

Mainly inhabited by the Maravi people, including the Chewa and Nyanja (Side D):

 

D1 – Wafa Nintima, Katalika

D2 – Sabwerna Edina

Mulimanthewe, bango board zither; recorded in Chakhumbira, Mwanza District, April 1967.

 

D3 – Sansi Music

Mulimanthewe, sansi idiophone; recorded in Chakhumbira, Mwanza District, April 1967.

 

D4 – Kangalile Nkanyanga

Nasibeko J. Kachamba, Nthano story song; recorded in Singano, Blantyre District, March 1967.

 

D5 – Nkangala Music

Emery, nkangala mouth bow; recorded in Singano, Blantyre District, October 1967.

 

D6 – Vula Matambo

Daniel J. Kachamba, hauyani ‘slide’ guitar; recorded in Blantyre, March 1967.

 

D7 – Anifa Love Me

D8 – Anifa Waiting For Me

Daniel J. Kachamba & his Brothers, recorded in Blantyre, March 1967.

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Gerhard Kubik (born 1934) is an Austrian music ethnologist who studied ethnology, musicology, and African languages at the University of Vienna. Since 1958, he has regularly traveled to Africa to conduct fieldwork and research, and has published over 300 articles and books on Africa and African Americans, particularly in Venezuela and Brazil. He has amassed the world's largest collection of African traditional music, with over 25,000 recordings archived at the Phonogrammarchiv Wien in Vienna. He also plays clarinet with a kwela jazz ensemble that has performed in Europe and Brazil.

More great 1960's Kwela music by the Kachamba Brothers:

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ALGERIA – ALGÉRIE Cheikha Rabia Rélizania – Mani Man - Moulat El Haik – Assiaphone ASP 157

ALGERIA – ALGÉRIE
Cheikha Rabia Rélizania – Mani Man - Moulat El Haik – Assiaphone ASP 157 (Vinyl 7 inch, 45 RPM)

      Best wishes for 2025! / Meilleurs Vœux pour 2025 !

Singer Cheikha Rabia (الشيخة ربيعة), born in 1943 in Relizane, south-east of Oran, is one of the last great champions of authentic traditional Raï. Rabia began singing at the age of 11, inspired by the women's songs she heard at celebrations and weddings, and later studied the traditional Raï repertoire rooted in Bedouin music and poetry.

 

From the mid-1960s, Cheikha Rabia sang in cabarets in Algiers to an all-male audience and enjoyed great success. She achieved national fame with the release of 7-inch records. Due to a decline of singers in bars and cabarets and fewer organized celebrations, she moved to Paris with her family in 1977 to relaunch her career among the Algerian diaspora in France. In Paris, she performed in small cabarets and café concerts, particularly in the 18th and 19th arrondissements, where she sang authentic Raï accompanied by gasba flutes and traditional bendir drums. Her songs explore themes that blend tradition and modernity, including love, the condition of women, despair, drunkenness, uprootedness, morality and nostalgia for her homeland.

 

Following in the footsteps of her illustrious elder Cheikha Rimitti (1923-2006), nicknamed the "Queen of Raï," Cheikha Rabia is greatly respected for perpetuating an authentic musical style and transmitting a precious cultural heritage. She has profoundly influenced the new generation of modern Raï chebs and chebbas.

 

On this exemplary 7-inch record, her husky, powerful voice expresses her lyrics with intensity and emotion, accompanied by backing vocals, bendir and tar drums, and punctuated by flights of twirling flutes

 

A - Mani Man (excerpt)

(The title is an expression of Berber origin used in Raï to express feelings of confusion)

 

"Mani, mani, mani,

I have a friend in Relizane,

The bottle serves glass after glass (2x)

Worries turn your hair grey,

Worries makes you dizzy,

I'm sick and sad because my love is not here, he didn't come (...)"*

 

*Thanks to our friend F. for translating the lyrics.

La chanteuse Cheikha Rabia (الشيخة ربيعة), née en 1943 à Relizane, au sud-est d’Oran, est l'une des dernières représentantes du raï traditionnel authentique. Inspirée par les chants de femmes lors de célébrations et de mariages, elle commence à chanter à l'âge de 11 ans, puis apprend le répertoire du Raï traditionnel enraciné dans la musique et la poésie bédouine.

 

À partir du milieu des années 1960, Cheikha Rabia se produit dans les cabarets d'Alger devant un public exclusivement masculin et connaît un franc succès. Elle acquiert une renommée nationale avec la publication de 45 tours. Cependant, en raison d'une baisse de travail dans les bars et cabarets, et de la diminution du nombre de fêtes organisées, elle décide de s'installer à Paris avec sa famille en 1977, dans le but de relancer sa carrière auprès de la diaspora algérienne en France. Elle se produit alors dans les petits cabarets et cafés-concerts, notamment dans les 18e et 19e arrondissements de Paris, où elle chante le raï authentique, accompagné de flûtes gasba et de tambours bendir traditionnels. Ses chansons abordent de nombreux thèmes mêlant tradition et modernité, notamment l’amour, la condition féminine, le désespoir, l’ivresse, le déracinement, la morale et la nostalgie de son pays natal.

 

Dans le sillage de son illustre aînée Cheikha Rimitti (1923-2006), surnommée la « reine du raï », Cheikha Rabia est une artiste très respectée pour avoir perpétué un style musical authentique et transmis un précieux héritage culturel. Elle a profondément influencé la nouvelle génération de chebs et de chebbas du raï moderne. 

 

Ce formidable 45 tours présente sa voix rauque et puissante qui exprime avec intensité et émotion ses paroles, accompagnée par des chœurs, des tambours bendir et tar, et ponctuées d’envolées de flûtes gasba virevoltantes.

 

A – Mani Man (extrait)

(Le titre est une expression d'origine berbère employée dans le Raï pour exprimer un sentiment de désarroi)

 

« Mani, mani, mani,

J’ai un ami à Relizane,

La bouteille sert verre après verre (2x)

Les soucis rendent les cheveux gris,

Les soucis provoquent le vertige,

Je suis malade et triste car mon amour est absent, n’est pas venu (…) »*

 

*Merci a notre ami F. pour la traduction des paroles

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Our other Algerian early Raï posts:

Cheikha Rimitti – Scop Music SPM 106 here

Cheikha Rimitti –Ya Hlima & Ehdi Salra – Nabil-Phone NBP 35421 here

Photograph below is from L'Algérie des Premiers Photographes (1850-1910) by Mohamed Sadek Messikh, Edition du Layeur, 2003:

Unknown Arab musicians, Oran region, Algeria, c. 1885:

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NIGERIA – NIGÉRIA Kollington Ayinla & His Fuji '78 Organisation – Emi Ni O Jo (I'm the one who dances) – KRLPS 9

NIGERIA – NIGÉRIA

Kollington Ayinla & His Fuji '78 Organisation – Emi Ni O Jo (I'm the one who dances) – KRLPS 9, 1984 (LP)

Singer and composer Kollington Ayinla, who was born in Ibadan, in 1953, made a splash on the Nigerian music scene with his Fuji 1978 ensemble which innovated by adding a double-headed bata drum. According to Ronnie Graham, in The Da Capo Guide to Contemporary African Music (Da Capo Press, 1988), this gave his ensemble a distinctive new sound, that helped him emerged “from the shadow of [Sikiru Ayinde] Barrister and so began several years of intense rivalry between the two Fuji giants. With a slightly faster rhythm than Barrister, and a sharper lyrical attack on social injustice, Kollington soon established a devoted following.” The singer also launched his own Kollington Records label in 1982 and released over 50 albums during his career.

 

This 1984 LP includes excellent medleys with hypnotic polyrhythms and catchy angular agogo-bell motifs in constant flux behind backing vocals in response to Kollington’s powerful voice.

 

Le chanteur et compositeur de musique fuji Kollington Ayinla, né en 1953 à Ibadan, fait sensation sur la scène musicale nigériane avec son nouvel ensemble Fuji 1978 qui innova avec l’utilisation d’un tambour bata à tête double. Selon Ronnie Graham dans The Da Capo Guide to Contemporary African Music ((Da Capo Press, 1988) cela rendit sa musique immédiatement reconnaissable, ce qui permit à Kollington « de sortir de l'ombre de [Sikiru Ayinde] Barrister. Commence alors une longue rivalité intense entre les deux géants du Fuji. Avec sa verve lyrique s’élevant contre l'injustice sociale et un rythme un peu plus rapide que celui de Barrister, Kollington se trouve rapidement un large public enthousiaste. » Il lance également son propre label Kollington Records en 1982 et publia plus de 50 albums au cours de sa riche carrière.

 

Cet album de 1984 comprend des medleys inspirés avec des polyrythmes hypnotiques et des fascinants motifs de cloche agogo en flux constant derrière des choeurs répondant à la voix puissante du maître du fuji.

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Comparing music’s impact then and now, Kollington Ayinla said, “There’s no basis for comparison… Current songs worsen societal flaws; we aimed to correct them.”

From nigeriaupdates.com October 22, 2024 here

Many thanks to our friend João for sharing this LP!

Our other Yoruba Fuji music Posts:

Kollington Ayinla – Ijoba Titun – KRLPS 6, 1984 here

Sikiru Ayinde Barrister –– Fuji Explosion – SKOLP 048, 1992 here

Sikiru Ayinde Barrister – Superiority – SKOLP 030, 1985 here

Sikiru Ayinde Barrister – Vol. 6 – Africa Song AS 33-L, 1975 here

Sikiru Ayinde Barrister – Fuji Exponent Vol. 8 - AS 46-L, 1976 here

Dr. Wasiu Ayinde Barrister – Jo Fun Mi (Dance for Me) – OLPS 1361, 1990 here

Photograph below is from Art Beyond the West by Michael Kampen O'Riley, Laurence King Publishing, 2001:

The Yoruba of Nigeria perform the elaborate and intense Gelede ritual 

to honour certain women elders or "mothers," ancestors or deities:

Please help me purchase important traditional records to 

pursue my global curation project and share the 

best finds with you on this blog: