music

Singer Fatoumata Kouyaté, known as Tata Bambo Kouyaté, died on Monday 14 June at the age of 71. She was her nickname "Bambo" due to her most famous song, composed in the 1960s, when she was barely a teenager. Fatoumata Kouyaté was only 12 years old, in 1962, when she composed "Bambo". A marked title, in which she condemns…

"Polyphonies, polyphiles" is the name of this musical show presented at the Alliance française de Bangui, the fruit of the meeting between polyphonic pygmy songs and the legendary Bambari horns. as reported from Bangui, Carol ValadeIt is a meeting led by guitarist Camel Zekri, the French-Algerian musicologist and composer, who…

Doro Dimanta is back in Chad with a project to revive the traditional repertoire of Baguirmi, one of the country's three ancient kingdoms. Associated with the group Khalélé, sitarists among the rare last depositaries in this repertoire, the saxophonist has therefore recorded a dozen titles and now hopes to find a label in France to produce for them this amazing mix of jazz notes and traditional sounds in…

Francis Bebeya introduces African music to the whole world. In 2001, the African pioneer in world music died prematurely. During his 40-year career, the Cameroonian singer and guitarist traveled 80 countries to promote a hybrid style between traditional music without age and Bush's electronics. Twenty years after his death, the release of the famous Diabiyé, a cult album, sung in English, Douala and French. Texts with lessons and humanism. .

In South Africa, the social community TikTok has signed a partnership with the establishments liable for accumulating copyright. The settlement additionally applies to the 22 African international locations with which these establishments work. A win-win contract for TikTok who needs to entice artists to their platform and for the music business who're in search of new earnings.…

For almost two months, artists have occupied the National Arts Council in Johannesburg. This institution would distribute EUR 17 million through a presidential fund to support employment, but not all applicants could benefit from it. At the initiative of opera singer Sibongile Mngoma, artists took possession of the building in early March to demand transparency in the distribution of funds and to…

A new stage threatens the already rich history of Congolese rumba: within a few months, Unesco will examine the file jointly submitted by the authorities in two Congos so that this popular African music becomes part of humanity's intangible heritage and joins reggae among others. or tango. This candidacy, which was drafted during the very serious international colloquium on rumba in March 2020, has not only a symbolic dimension; it also reflects the awareness of a cultural richness to be valued, defended and…

Ballaké Sissoko is back with Djourou, his new album on the No Format label. We find the kora master surrounded by many guests including the Gambian Sona Jobarteh, one of the rare women who play the instrument. .

Madagascar loses a great artist and a radio pioneer. Wednesday morning in Antananarivo, Sammy Rabenirainy died in hospital as a result of Covid-19. He was 66 years old. Violinist, lyricist, he was one of the leading figures in the mythical group "Lôlô sy ny tariny". During the day, testimonies of sympathy flowed online. Big brother Sammy Rabenirainy is gone. And with that, a large part of DNA: ti Lôlô sew new tariny. This Tananarivian group, the forerunner of popular and protest texts, had emerged in the mid-1970s in the…

It's the disappearance of a legend of Senegalese music: singer and lyricist Thione Seck, 66 years old. He started his career at the age of 17 with the Dakar Star Band and continued with the mythical orchestra Baobab, the Senegalese cult group in the 1970s. Thione Seck was one of the singers in the famous "mbalax" style. Many artists and big names in the music scene mourn a brother like his countryman singer Wasis Diop, who remembers a man deeply attached to his country. .