All the above are great LPs/CDs. When I was a young dude, my older brother brought home an LP called "... of Oooga Booga". It might have been The Education of Ooga Booga, I don't remember. It had Grazin' in The Grass on it and some other tunes which slowly infiltrated into my consciousness. To this day I love African music- it's rhythms, textures, syncopation in layers of colorful sound.
All of this actually started in Africa using the drum, brought to the Americas, then some of it lost in Africa, only to be "rediscovered" by some of the Zimbabwan and Mali musicians when they went to Cuba.
It is also interesting how the guitar is used to shape their music. Many of the African rifts and tunes are "folk" tunes and rifts adapted from the ubiquitos Mbira, or finger piano- an extremely compact and rhythmic instrument used for generations of sheperds and travelers and bush people. The guitar is a true "revolutionary" instrument.
If you can get a hold of The Indestructible Beat of Soweto, Shanachie Records (CD). This is one of those compilations which grow on you.
Another is Oliver Mtukudzi, get Tukudzi Music, Putamayo lable.
These 2 are a start. Of course, if you can catch some of the Africans groups in concert, they are usually fantastic and hypnotic.
Ooga-Booga!
All of this actually started in Africa using the drum, brought to the Americas, then some of it lost in Africa, only to be "rediscovered" by some of the Zimbabwan and Mali musicians when they went to Cuba.
It is also interesting how the guitar is used to shape their music. Many of the African rifts and tunes are "folk" tunes and rifts adapted from the ubiquitos Mbira, or finger piano- an extremely compact and rhythmic instrument used for generations of sheperds and travelers and bush people. The guitar is a true "revolutionary" instrument.
If you can get a hold of The Indestructible Beat of Soweto, Shanachie Records (CD). This is one of those compilations which grow on you.
Another is Oliver Mtukudzi, get Tukudzi Music, Putamayo lable.
These 2 are a start. Of course, if you can catch some of the Africans groups in concert, they are usually fantastic and hypnotic.
Ooga-Booga!