Wednesday, November 22, 2017

NIGERIA Haruna Ishola and His Apala Group – RPS 16

NIGERIA – NIGÉRIA
Haruna Ishola and His Apala Group – RPS 16 (Cassette)
(1919-1983)



If asked to call out a single traditional African artist, I would probably choose Apala king Alhaji Haruna Ishola. For more than three decades, he dominated and helped popularize Apala music with his incredible voice and profound lyrics, accompanied by vocalists and backed by some of the best percussion playing ever, featuring iyalu talking drums, agogo bells, sekere rattles, and a large agidigbo thumb piano.

He is the Yoruba’s heart and soul, regardless of creed. I remember a young Christian Yoruba émigré in a remote village in eastern Burkina-Faso who would listen to Ishola's music religiously every evening, eyes closed, bobbing his head gently to the beat in the un-electrified dark, totally immersed in his Yoruba culture. In the 1990s, I purchased every single LP and cassette of the sublime maestro I could lay my hands on. A major 20th century artist.

Si on me demandait de ne citer qu'un seul artiste africain traditionnel, je choisirais probablement le roi du Apala, Alhaji Haruna Ishola. Pendant plus de trois décennies, il a su populariser la musique Apala avec sa voix incroyable et ses paroles profondes, accompagné de chanteurs et des percussions sublimes, notamment des tambours parlants iyalu, des cloches agogo, des hochets sekere et un grand piano à pouce agidigbo.

Il incarne l'âme même des Yorubas, quelles que soient leurs croyances. Je me souviens d'un jeune chrétien Yoruba loin de chez lui dans un village à l'est du Burkina Faso qui écoutait religieusement la musique d'Haruna Ishola tous les soirs en solitaire, les yeux fermés, balançant doucement sa tête dans l'obscurité, totalement immergée dans sa culture Yoruba. Dans les années 1990, j'achetais tous les albums et cassettes du maître que je trouvais au Nigéria ou ailleurs. Un artiste majeur du XXème siècle. 
Download
The best place to start is the wonderful Apala Messenger – IndigeDisc – ID495002 compilation produced by Andrew Frankel which showcases a stellar selection of remastered tracks. Essential.

La remarquable compilation Apala Messenger - IndigeDisc - ID495002 d'Andrew Frankel, qui présente un choix extrêmement judicieux de morceaux remasterisés, est un excellent moyen de découvrir l'artiste. Incontournable

5 comments:

  1. How did I miss this one? I have a couple of different downloads of tapes and an LP by him - just amazing.

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  2. Lovely. Ishola deserved to be an international superstar!

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  3. yes indeed , wonderful music!!

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  4. Wow! What a rare mixture between talent and humility. Everybody rowing the boat in the same direction without letting ego get aboard. Beautiful!

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    1. Your eloquent metaphor beautifully describes the feeling conveyed by this enthralling music. Thank you.

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