NIGERIA – Sir Victor Uwaifo & His Melody Maestros – Sasakosa Ekassa Vol. 3 – Philips 6361 060

NIGERIA – NIGÉRIA

Sir Victor Uwaifo & His Melody Maestros – Sasakosa Ekassa Vol. 3 – Philips 6361 060, 1974 (LP)

I discovered the music of Victor Uwaifo (1941-2021) in Lagos in the early 1990s, when I came upon this outstanding LP. Uwaifo, a singer, composer, guitarist, flautist, and keyboard player, was born and raised in historic Benin City in Edo State, Nigeria. Benin City was the center of the Benin Empire, home to the Oba (king), one of the world's oldest continuous monarchies, dating from the 12th century.

 

In 1965, Uwaifo formed a band called Melody Maestros, which introduced a unique style of highlife music with a string of hit singles. Their song Joromi, recalling the life of a legendary warrior and blending traditional Edo folklore with modern music, became a massive hit in Nigeria and West Africa, earning Africa’s first Gold Disc Record. Throughout his illustrious career, Uwaifo released about 100 records and was one of Nigeria’s brightest stars during the golden age of African music in the 1960s and '70s. 

This Renaissance man was a multi-talented showman, dancer, inventor (notably of an 18-string double-neck guitar), writer, sculptor, public servant, and university lecturer. In the early 1970s, Uwaifo released his Ekassa Series, featuring more than 50 songs, to showcase the music and rhythms played during the traditional Ekassa dance performed at the coronation of a new Oba of Benin. Uwaifo modernized this rarely played music by fusing it with electric guitars, bass, and brass instruments in a style he called "Progressive Traditionalism."

These inventive, joyful and unforgettable Ekassa songs are suffused with Uwaifo’s ebullient personality, and showcase his mellifluous voice, guitar playing and musicianship, drawing on traditional music, palm wine music, highlife, funk, soul, rock and jazz.

C'est à Lagos, au début des années 1990, que j'ai découvert la musique de Victor Uwaifo (1941-2021), en tombant sur cet album exceptionnel. Chanteur, compositeur, guitariste, flûtiste et claviériste, il est né et a grandi à Benin City, la ville historique de l'État d'Edo, au Nigeria. Benin City était le centre de l'empire du Bénin, siège de l'Oba (roi), l'une des plus anciennes monarchies au monde, fondée au XIIe siècle.

 

En 1965, il a formé un groupe appelé les Melody Maestros, qui a introduit un style unique de musique highlife avec une série de singles à succès. Leur chanson Joromi, qui évoque la vie d'un guerrier légendaire et mêle folklore traditionnel Edo et musique moderne, a connu un immense succès au Nigeria et en Afrique de l'Ouest, remportant le tout premier disque d'or africain. Au cours de sa brillante carrière, Uwaifo a sorti environ 100 disques et a été l'une des stars les plus en vue du Nigeria durant l'âge d'or de la musique africaine dans les années 1960 et 1970. 

Cet esprit universel pluridisciplinaire fut également danseur, inventeur (notamment d'une guitare à double manche de 18 cordes), écrivain, sculpteur, et professeur d'université. Au début des années 1970, il a sorti sa série Ekassa, composée de plus de 50 titres, afin de mettre en valeur la musique et les rythmes joués lors de la danse traditionnelle Ekassa, exécutée lors du couronnement d'un nouvel Oba du Bénin. Uwaifo a modernisé cette musique rarement jouée en la fusionnant avec des guitares électriques, une guitare basse et des percussions, dans un style qu'il qualifiait de « traditionalisme progressiste ».

 

Ces chansons Ekassa, inventives, pleines d'entrain et inoubliables, sont imprégnées de la personnalité exubérante de Victor Uwaifo et mettent en valeur sa voix, son jeu de guitare et son talent musical exceptionnel. Elles s'inspirent de la musique traditionnelle, du palm wine music, du highlife, du funk, de la soul, du rock et du jazz.

A1 – Ayubele – Ekassa 44

A2 – Idogo – Ekassa 42

B1 – Edenederio – Ekassa 40

B2 – Jesu – Ekassa 41

B3 – Amenawon – Ekassa 37

B4 – Atete – Ekassa 38

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Listen to Joromi/Monkey Yanga, an excellent, longer and more up-tempo 1980 rendition of Victor Uwaifo's classic 1965 version of Joromi:

My other African modern music posts:

Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe – People's Club Special POLP 070 here 
King Sunny Adé – Check E - SALPS 26 here  

African Dances – Authentic 601 here
Gbaari - Bariba music from Benin – Radio Parakou archives here
Bariba, Dendi & Fulani Peul music from Benin – Radio Parakou archives here

Photographs below are from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s online collection (www.metmuseum.org) and Africa: The Art of a Continent, Royal Academy of Arts, 1995:

Ùhúnmwèlaò (head of an ọ́bà, or king) wearing a woven cap of coral beads, Kingdom of Benin, Nigeria, early 15th-mid-16th century:

"The obas of Benin trace their origins to a ruling dynasty that 

began in the fourteenth century. The title of oba is passed 

on to the firstborn son at the time of the ruler’s death." 

Head of a python, Kingdom of Benin, Nigeria, 18th century:

In Edo cosmology, the python is a divine, royal messenger associated with the Oba, or king, and Olokun (the deity of the sea). The python symbolizes authority because it rules the snake kingdom, just as the Oba rules the land. The python is also a symbol of justice and moral vigilance. 

Olokun dispatches pythons to seek out and punish those 

who have committed wrongs.

Figure of a woman, Kingdom of Benin, Nigeria, 17th-18th century:

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COLOMBIA – Music of the Tukano and Cuna Peoples of Colombia – Rogue Records - FMS/NSA 002

COLOMBIA – COLOMBIE 
Music of the Tukano and Cuna Peoples of Colombia – Rogue Records - FMS/NSA 002, Recorded by Brian Moser and Donald Tayler in 1960-1961, released in 1987 (LP)

These unique, great sounding field recordings offer an in-depth glimpse into the sonic universe of the Colombian Cuna (Kuna or Guna) and Tucano (or Tukano) indigenous peoples, going back to time immemorial. 

 

This album features abstract and otherworldly flutes – including end-blown flutes, a deer-bone flute, a snail-shell flute, a wing-bone duct flute, a tortoise-shell and pan pipes – a conch-shell trumpet, whistling, male and female voices, rattles, and gourd maracas. These inspired performances set in a variety of contexts, from dances (A7, A8, B5, B6) to curing songs (B8), and elders chanting origin myths (A6), are accompanied by the constant ambient sounds of nature, including insects, birds, frogs, and splashing water. 

Ces enregistrements uniques et de grande qualité offrent un aperçu approfondi de l'univers sonore des peuples indigènes colombiens Cuna (Kuna ou Guna) et Tucano (ou Tukano), qui remonte à la nuit des temps.

Cet album présente des musiques abstraites et éthérées, avec notamment des flûtes à embouchure, une flûte en os de cerf, une flûte en coquille d'escargot, une flûte en carapace de tortue, des flûtes de Pan, une conque, des sifflements, des voix masculines et féminines, ainsi que des hochets et des maracas. Ces musiques inspirées s'inscrivent dans des contextes culturels et magico-religieux variés : danses (A7, A8, B5, B6), chants de guérison (B8) ou anciens du village chantant des mythes fondateurs (A6). Elles sont accompagnées de sonorités constantes de la nature en forme de bourdons émis par des insectes, des oiseaux ou des grenouilles, ou encore des clapotis d'eau.

TUKANO PEOPLE

A1 – Early morning birdsong and deer-bone flute

A2 – Snail-shell flute

A3 – Paired tortoise-shell (goo) and pan-pipes

A4 – Yuca-plant sieving and washing

A5 – Pan-pipes and coca pounding (two excerpts)

A6 – Elders chanting origin myths

A7 – Eagle dance

A8 – Pan-pipe dance (chiruru) (two excerpts)

A9 – Distant snail-shell flute

 

CUNA PEOPLE       

B1 – Conch-shell trumpet, greeting chant and paired flutes

B2 – Two sets of paired pan-pipes (two excerpts)

B3 – Wing-bone duct flute (karlbeebil) and song with end-blown flute (kammu)

B4 – Yayganagadi song

B5 – Dog dance with kuli pipes

B6 – Chicken dance and pan-pipe dance (two excerpts)

B7 – Kammu flute and nasis gourd maraca         

B8 – Two curing songs and lullaby (three excerpts)

B9 – Pan-pipe tunes (three excerpts)

B10 – Paired pan-pipes with maracas (two excerpts)

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My other South American indigenous music posts:

The Indians of Colombia – Lyrichord - LLST 7365 here
Indiens et Animaux Sauvages d’Amérique du Sud – UNIDISC here

Brésil Musique Indienne – Contrepoint MC 20-137 here

Wayapi Guyane – SELAF-ORSTOM CETO 792 here

The Music of Primitive Man – Horizon – P 11857 here

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ALGERIA – Rythmes et Chants du Sahara Central (Hoggar) – Les Disques ICEM-CEL

ALGERIA – ALGÉRIE

Rythmes et Chants du Sahara Central (Hoggar) – Les Disques ICEM-CEL – Documents Sonores de la BT nº3, released in 1972, recorded by Pierre Augier (Vinyl 7 inch, 33 RPM)

With an area of 2.4 million square kilometers, Algeria is the largest country in Africa. Over 80% percent of the country is covered by the vast Sahara Desert, the largest in the world.

 

This superb LP released in 1972 presents the music from the ethnic/cultural groups living in the Hoggar (or Ahaggar) Mountains, a vast highland region in southern Algeria's central Sahara. These include the fascinating and dynamic songs and dances of the Amazigh Tuareg nomads (A1, A2, B1), the Arabized Amazighs/Berbers (B2, B3) and the Sub-Saharan Africans (A3, B4).

 

Avec une superficie de 2,4 millions de kilomètres carrés, l'Algérie est le plus grand pays d'Afrique. Plus de 80 % du territoire est recouvert par l’immense désert du Sahara, le plus grand du monde.

 

Sorti en 1972, cet album formidable présente la musique des groupes ethniques/culturels vivant dans le Hoggar, une vaste région montagneuse située au sud du Sahara algérien. On y trouve les chants et danses fascinants et dynamiques des nomades Touaregs Amazighs (A1, A2, B1), des Amazighs/Berbères Arabisés (B2, B3) et des Africains subsahariens (A3, B4).

A1 – Tindé in Tazrouk (Tuareg) 

Tindé (or tendé) drums, traditionally played by Tuareg women to accompany singing and dancing during celebrations, weddings and religious ceremonies, are typically made from a mortar used for crushing grain and goatskin. The word "tindé" refers to both the instrument and the event at which it is played.

 

Two women sit on either side of the drum. They take turns clapping their hands on the stretched skin while singing. A group of women sit around them, repeating the refrain in unison. The men surround them, occasionally singing but never dancing.

 

"Ya Aoudenni Netigada" here is a love song about a soldier about to travel from Atakor in the Hoggar to Niger.

 

A2 – Tahigelt in Tazrouk (Tuareg) 

This dance is from Tamesna in Niger and the Kel Ahaggar Tuareg play it with the tindé drum.

 

"Ouan ien Nedou Deha" I would like to marry this woman, but I don't have any money. All I have are five goats, an old donkey, and an old camel. 

A3 – Tazengherit in Tazrouk (Sub-Saharan Africans) 

The orchestration consists of stunning sounds emitted from the throat, accompanied by hand clapping. A female singer performs a melody while men dance by stomping their feet and grunting.

 

B1 – Imzad – Ti Haddanarènes (Tuareg)

The imzad, a single-stringed violin played exclusively by women, lies at the heart of Tuareg culture and identity.

 

"Ti Haddananarènes" is performed here by 75-year-old Lalla Oult Abedakhoul, who is from the Kel Relaïdine group, which is part of the Kel Ahaggar Tuaregs in the Hoggar region. 

 

B2 – Tebel in Tamanrasset (Arabized Berbers/Amazighs)

The word tebel refers to both a traditional frame drum and a dance. This performance took place at a wedding in Tamanrasset in September 1970. These religiously inspired songs are well-known throughout the Arabic-speaking Saharan world. Various drums provide precise, rigorous polyrhythmic percussion.

 

B3 – Baroud on a Berrezzana rythm in Timimoun (Arabized Berbers/Amazighs)

This baroud was performed to the rhythm of the Bererezana in Timimoun in May of 1971. In Arabic, baroud means gunpowder. It also refers to rifles and the dance performed with them. These rifles are loaded with gunpowder, saltpeter, and sand. The dancers form a circle around the orchestra. At the end of a fast-paced rhythm, the baroud leader cues all the dancers to fire their rifles simultaneously.

 

B4 – Qarqabous in Adrar (Sub-Saharan Africans)

Qarqabous refers both to a musical genre and the large wrought iron or copper castanets used in it. The ensemble also includes wooden and ceramic drums.

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My other Tuareg music posts:

Musique Touareg et Haoussa de la région d'Agadez – BAM LD 353 here

Music of the Arabian Orient and North Africa – Supraphon (track H3) here

Chad (Kanem) – Unesco Collection BM 30 L 2309 (track A9) here

Les Trésors du Faso – Musique Traditionnelle Vol. 1 (track A6) here

Photographs below are from Théodore Monod: Une Vie de Saharien by Sylvain Estibal, Vents de Sable, 1998, and Les Touaregs by Edmond Bernus, Vents de Sable, 2001:

In 1934, Théodore Monod (1902-2000) first crossed the vast, desolate Tanezrouft region of the Sahara, west of the Hoggar Mountains:

Tuareg woman from the Hoggar, early 20th century:

Please help me purchase important traditional records to 

pursue my global curation project and share the 

best finds with you on this blog here below:

INDONESIA – Javanese Court Gamelan Volume II – Nonesuch Explorer Series H-72074

INDONESIA – INDONÉSIE
Javanese Court Gamelan Volume II – Nonesuch Explorer Series H-72074, recorded at the Istana Mangkunegaran in Surakarta, Central Java, by Robert E. Brown in January 1976 (LP)

These tracks, recorded on January 5 and 8, 1976, inside the Pendopo of the Mangkunegaran Palace during the rainy season, were performed by the Gamelan Kyai Kanyut Mesem (tracks A1, B1, and B2) and the Gamelan Kyai Udan Arum (track A2). The ensembles' enthralling, interwoven clusters feature gongs, metallophones, a wooden gambang xylophone, kendang drums, eerie male and female voices, a celempung plucked zither, a whimsical bamboo suling flute, and a stark, abstract bowed rebab violin. Together, these instruments create a delicate, fluid, seemingly suspended, and otherworldly, multilayered tapestry of sound radiating sophisticated elegance and lofty nobility.

 

This LP from the excellent Nonesuch Explorer Series introduced me to the wonderful, timeless art of traditional Javanese gamelan music in the early 1980s.

Ces morceaux, enregistrés les 5 et 8 janvier 1976 dans le Pendopo du palais Mangkunegaran pendant la saison des pluies, ont été joués par le Gamelan Kyai Kanyut Mesem (morceaux A1, B1 et B2) et le Gamelan Kyai Udan Arum (morceau A2). Ces musiques de gamelans faites de sonorités profondes  entremêlées, comprenant des gongs, des métallophones, un xylophone gambang en bois, des tambours kendang, une cithare pincée celempung, des voix féminines et masculines évanescentes, une flûte suling à quatre trous et un violon à archet rebab caverneux et abstrait, forment une tapisserie sonore complexe, délicate, fluide, et éthérée qui semble suspendue dans l'espace et rayonne d'une noble plénitude.

 

Cet album de la série Nonesuch Explorer, que j'ai découvert au début des années 1980, m'a fait découvrir l'art merveilleux et intemporel de la musique gamelan traditionnelle de Java.

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***

Dr. Robert E. Brown (1927–2005) was an influential American ethnomusicologist and educator. He is best known for coining the term "world music" and for his pioneering efforts in integrating the study and performance of non-Western musical traditions into Western academia. He also founded the Center for World Music in 1973.

My other Javanese gamelan posts:

*Gamelan Garland – Fontana 858 614 FPY here

*Gamelan Kjahi Kaduk, Manis Rengga – Gamelan Music from Java – Philips 831 209 PL here

*Sunda – Gamelan Degung – Galloway Records GB 600 524 B here

*Java – Concert au Puro Mangkunagaran – Galloway Records GB 600 540 here

*Gamelan of Jogja Kraton – Gamelan of Java – Seven Seas – GXC 5014 here

*Java – Gamelans from the Sultan's Palace in Jogjakarta – Archiv Produktion here

*Java – Glagah Wangi Gamelan – CBS 65440 here

*Musique de Java – L'Ecole de Loka Wangi – Disques Alvarès C 462 here

*Java – Pays Sounda – Musique et Chants Traditionnels – Disques Alvarès LD 110 here

The photograph below is from The Art of East Asia by 

Gabriele Fahr-Becker, Koneman, 1999:

Gambyong dancer puppet; Wayang Golek three-dimensional wooden rod puppet theater; second half of the 19th century.

This graceful, beautiful three-dimensional figure is introduced at the end of a Wayang Kulit shadow puppet theater performance to encourage reflection on its moral and philosophical lessons.

Please help me purchase important traditional records to 

pursue my global curation project and share the 

best finds with you on this blog here below: