#african guitar

[mywifeleftme]

176: Various Artists // Wallahi le Zein!! Wezin, Jakwar and Guitar Boogie from the Islamic Republic Of Mauritania

Wallahi le Zein!! Wezin, Jakwar and Guitar Boogie from the Islamic Republic Of Mauritania Various Artists 2011, Latitude (Bandcamp)

In the early 2000s, Nouakchott, a city of roughly a million people and capital of Mauritania, was largely without electricity. Thousands of migrants from rural villages arrived in Nouakchatt each month, forced from their traditional homes by increasing desertification or drawn by the opportunities in the country’s only large settlement, and the city’s outskirts became a chaotic maze of Berber tents and rough houses built from bricks of sand. And yet, since the late 1970s, Mauritania’s most popular native music is played on the electric guitar. As the extensive liner notes of the Wallahi le Zein!! Wezin, Jakwar and Guitar Boogie from the Islamic Republic Of Mauritania compilation explain, (as of 2011 anyway) Mauritania has no domestic recording industry, no studios, no concert touring circuit. Instead, musicians make their bread by performing at weddings, parties, or private get-togethers. Musicians tend to be hired on individually, and you’re expected to be able to play with whomever else is working the event; a singer, percussionists, and a guitarist or two will roll up to the event, plug their amplifiers into a generator or car battery, and start to rip. Hiring a musician also gives you the right to record the performance as a souvenir of the night, and some of these tapes are sold or traded at markets—most are recorded off of a boombox sat directly in front of the musicians, and the tapes are often little more than a snow of laughter, shouted conversations, and blown out guitar squall.

Compiler Matthew Lavoie (who also runs the staggeringly great African cassette blog Wallahi le Zein!!/Wealth of the Wise) has done heroic work with this compilation: by trawling through literally thousands of tapes from Mauritania that he collected during his time in the region, he’s managed to shine a light on an almost completely unknown corner of the musical world, and also compiled one of the rawest, most intriguing collections of guitar music of the past few decades. Wallahi le Zein!! focuses on the Beydane (Arabo-Berber) styles which so entranced Lavoie that, after witnessing a single performance in nearby Senegal, drove him to spend a number of years immersing himself in the culture. Guitar Beydane-style is blazingly fast, heavy on the flange, and relies on amps cranked to the absolute max to be heard over the commotion of a crowded party. Many guitarists heavily modify their instruments—Lavoie cites the example of Luleide ould Dendenni, who added extra frets to his guitar’s neck to approximate microtonal traditional instruments like the tidinitt (a five-stringed lute) and then carved a hole in the back to incorporate the electronics from a Boss Phase Shifter pedal he’d grown tired of getting tangled up with his other cables.

Performances at Mauritanian Nadwiya (meaning invitations, or gigs) are lengthy and improvisational, combining the singing of traditional poems with wezin, instrumental guitar melodies that drive partygoers into ecstatic gyrations. Wallahi le Zein!! is made up of excerpts from these 60- to 90-minute performances, with Lavoie cutting out sections from those tapes with the most listenable audio quality when the guitarists start to absolutely cook. There are some vocal passages here and there, but the compilation is primarily a showcase for blistering axework. This is uniformly captivating stuff: Kweli ould Seyyid and Klayhid ould Mehlid’s “Wezin” sounds like a dance for sparks in a divine forge; meanwhile the thrashing ”Wezin” of Jeich ould Chighaly has a guitar tone that reminds me of a classic SST band. Though there is an ethnographic aspect of this project, Lavoie’s choice to use existing recordings rather than recording the artists himself in the Alan Lomax tradition makes for a livelier end product. At times, you’ll hear members of the audience freaking out, or emcees stepping in to direct traffic on the dancefloor. Runs erupt out of nowhere and just as abruptly fizzle out, and we stay with each performance only as long as it maintains interest.

Wallahi le Zein!! was released in 2011 as a two-CD set, and reissued more recently on wax in 2021 featuring only 11 of the original 28 recordings. This is a clear instance where being a junkie for the LP format bites you in the ass, as the CD version is far more comprehensive and realistically sounds exactly the same or better. With that said, even in its truncated form the compilation is a fine testament to the dizzying talents of Nouakchott’s Beydane guitarists, and to Lavoie’s laudable work bringing them to a wider audience. A must-have for fans of adventurous guitar music.

P.S. If you find yourself digging the compilation, it’s worth seeking out a tape of a full performance to understand the context of these excerpts. This is a good place to start!)

176/365

[sonicandvisualsurprises]

50's/60's

John Ondolo spent his life traveling between Tanzania, where he was born, and Kenya, where he recorded a string of singles for independent labels in the late 1950s and early 60s.

Unlike most guitarists from the region, Ondolo used open tuning (a favorite of American blues guitarists), creating a hypnotic drone over which he laid down endless rhythmic variations on his main themes.

Inspired by the exploding pop music scene in Nairobi, the newest rock and roll imports from the US, and the Abakuria tribal music of his youth, Ondolo transposed traditional instruments and rhythms to his guitar, playing it more like a traditional harp at times, and inventing a sound totally unique in the recorded history of African guitar.

Source : bandcamp.com

[nemfrog]

I have given the world my songs. Elizabeth Catlett. 1947.

West Harlem Art Fund

[juneaupaws]

Character Playlist Commissions for 2DWildDog!

[worldwarxp]

Bob Marley Opens the Rastaman Vibration Tour at the Tower Theater on April 23, 1976!

Bob Marley and the Wailers open their Rastaman Vibration Tour at the Tower on April 23, 1976.  It’s a special night for Bob and The Wailers.  They are scheduled to play two shows.  Bob’s mother, Cedella Booker, will travel the 30 minutes from her home in nearby Wilmington, Delaware to see her son, now a bona fide rock star, play at a North American venue for the first time.  The Wailers, now sporting roots guitarist Donald Kinsey and a game Earl “Chinna” Smith, are both excited and apprehensive about playing the new songs off their Rastaman Vibration album – which will hit stores the following week on April 30, 1976.  What a way to introduce the new songs…to an eager audience in one of North America’s most historic cities.

Photographer: Neil Fitzpatrick

Location Of Photograph: Tower Theatre, Upper Darby, USA. 04/23/1976

[yearningforunity]

Photo by Roger da Silva sometime between 1953–1969

[kemetic-dreams]

Jesse Fuller, sitting on a porch and playing the acoustic guitar, while using his feet to play the cymbal and the 'footdella,' his own homemade stringed instrument, California , circa 1955.

[cinnamoncee]

[lesafricainescharmantetfraises]

Voice...

[afrotumble]

African Highlife Music (Guitar loop feat. Mr Eq) | HighLife Guitar

[spoonietimelordy]

Music was much easier to play when I was 8. Should go back to playing xylophone it was easier than guitar. (My dyslexic brain has a really hard time with tabs)

[soundgrammar]

Listen/purchase: Onye Ikekwere Meyeka by Highlife from Nigeria

[heritage-harmony-records]

NEW SIGNING ALERT!!!

I am extremely pleased to announce that South African dark progressive folk / blues act Fishwives have joined the Heritage Harmony Records family with their most recent album In Fluorescence. OUT NOW!

The album features four offerings of catchy melodies, dark atmosphere, impressive fingerstyle guitar work, captivating female vocals, bluesy rhythms and dark but humorous storytelling.

Listen to and purchase the album at the link below. All sale proceeds go directly to the artist as always with HHR. Remember to always support emerging artists!

[twistedsoulmusic]

Niwel Tsumbu’s Milimo is a journey transcending borders and genres, weaving a rich tapestry of global sounds. Hailing from the Democratic Republic of Congo and based in Ireland, Tsumbu is known for his virtuosic guitar skills and fusion of diverse musical traditions. This debut solo album showcases his unique ability to blend classical, African, and jazz influences seamlessly.

[guitargallerytn]

(via Aboudib Sagittarius A Mod D Guitar at GuitarGal.com)

[thatlaidbackdude]

If ever you're in Phoenix and have some downtime, be sure to visit the Museum of Musical Instruments. It includes instruments from pretty much every corner, every country of the world! Amazing and inspiring!