Insingizi "Voices Of Southern Africa, v.1" (Arc Music, 2004)
Hi -- welcome to my African music review section. This page includes records by artists under the letter "I". More African music resources can be found at the main index page.
By the way, I'm hardly a world's expert on African music, and this list is kinda whatcha call a "work in progress," so please feel free to make suggestions and comments.
Insingizi "Voices Of Southern Africa, v.1" (Arc Music, 2004)
Insingizi "Voices Of Southern Africa, v.2" (Arc Music, 2009)
(Produced by Hubert Weninger)
Exquisite a capella vocals from a Zimbabwean trio singing in the same style as South Africa's fabled Ladysmith Black Mambazo. It's amazing that there are only three voices making such as rich, expansive sound; even the finest doo-wop trios would have been hard pressed to create such rich harmonies. If you like Ladysmith or other Mbube vocals, you'll want to check these guys out, too. With lyrics in Ndebele, with a peppering of religious words such as "hallelujah." Lovely stuff.
Haruna Ishola "Apala Messenger" (IndigeDisc, 2001)
Compelling drum music from Nigerian bandleader Haruna Ishola (1919-1983) one of the best-known proponents of apala music, a style which rejected European instruments such as guitars, in favor of a sort of spiritual/etho-musical nationalism. Ishola's recording career dated back to the late 1940s, and continued on through several decades. Shorn of all the modern, newfangled, reverb-y highlife guitars, Nigerian talking drum music certainly retained its full power, as these captivating, spiritually rich percussion-heavy recordings from the late 'Sixties able demonstrate. The call-and-response vocals, along with the unhurried, lulling rhythms, are recognizable as the foundations of the poppy juju sounds of King Sunny Ade and his crew -- kudos to IndigeDisc for uncovering these excellent old recordings from the Decca vaults! For drumming fans, this one is a must.
Haruna Ishola "Haruna Ishona Collections: Mon 2 Baba Ngani Agba" (Master Disc, ????)
Not sure of the provenance of this digital-era collection, though it was released on a label from Lagos and seems to be part of an archival series devoted to Haruna Ishola's work. A few tracks (not many) overlap with the IndigeDisc CD above. Ishola released countless singles and over two dozen LPs in Nigeria -- but good luck finding any in wild, or sorting out any duplications, etc.
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