Congolese guitarist, singer, bandleader and composer Francois Luambo Makiadi (Franco) “the sorcerer of the guitar” was 20th century Africa’s most important musician; he was the greatest. My opinion is amply supported by the recent release of two double CD retrospectives Francophonic Volume 1(1953-1979) & 2 (1980-1989). The sets demonstrate Franco’s amazing longevity, prolificacy, and innovation. From 1950 until his death in 1989, he record over a thousand songs, created a dominate style of African guitar playing, trained generations of musicians, and attained a status equivalent in Africa to Elvis or the Beatles in the West. These collections allow the listener to discover not only the evolution of a musical genius, but also the history of one of the world’s great dance traditions, Congolese rumba.
1953-1979 charts Franco’s progression from hotshot Afro-Cuban guitarist to a master bandleader. 1980-1989 features fluid guitar work and the distinctive fully mature rumba sound of TPOK Jazz (Tout Puissant Orchestra Kinois or all-powerful Kinshanan Orchestra). Both collections include a 48-page booklet filled with photos, recording notes, translations, and biography. Compiler Ken Braun distilled Franco’s vast catalogue down to twenty-eight essential tracks on the first set and thirteen on the second; even the most fanatic Franco-philes have nothing but praise for his choices. I prefer the second for personal (memories of my lost youth working in Africa) and musical reasons. In the 80s OK Jazz stretched out in long complex jams (sebenes) of percussion, guitars, and horns, which build in tempo and rhythm, sounding a bit like an Afro-Latin Grateful Dead.
Franco was popular across Africa. Living in 1980s Cameroon, Franco’s music...
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...btleties, punctuated by horns, and occasional choruses by Franco’s favorite singers, culminating in the sebene, a race between drum and guitar. Guitar skills undiminished, the aging Franco began to use his rich baritone to admonish listeners on the social issues of the day. The complexity and depth of these epics earned him the nickname “the Balzac of Africa.” Braum’s tight selection insulates the listener from Franco’s later misses (drum machines and occasionally monotonous instrumentation). 1980-1989 is a triumph and amply demonstrates why OK Jazz was revered and all-powerful.
Franco and OK Jazz were one of the world’s greatest bands. Congolese music remains sadly under represented. You owe it to yourself to discover Franco’s musical legacy and these CDs. Franco’s music remains as vital and thrilling to me after thirty years of listening and dancing.
I will also show how he incorporates two of the most important folk music genres into his compositions such as “Joropo” and “Merengue.” These rhythms and musical genres are also the most common used by Jorge Montilla and Venez...
Latin Jazz is a style of music that blends rhythms and percussion instruments of Cuba and the Caribbean with jazz and its fusion of European and African music. Latin jazz, also called Afro-Cuban jazz, was the culmination of the long interaction between American and Cuban musical styles. A distinctive syncopated rhythm and the Cuban habanera rhythm were endowed to American jazz music in the early 20th century. In the following decades, Latin American melodies and dance rhythms permeated the United States, while American jazz made its way into the Caribbean and Central and South America. In the 1940's the swing era expanded their repertory to include rumbas and congas. The d...
Canciones de arargue, or songs of bitterness – was the original name for the creolized form Bachata. Many closely associate Bachata with the other Caribbean styles of the African diaspora such as merengue and son. In Intro to Music Cultures of the World we were tasked with attending a world music concert. I chose to attend a Bachata concert because I already had an interest in Caribbean music. The concert was not as I had expected, but was rather intriguing and thoroughly enjoyable. In this report I hope to analyze Bachata’s roots, report on its concert style, and compare it to another piece in the genre.
Music comes in many shapes and forms, and has been a magical element of inspiration and encouragement throughout time. The art of music derives from many different things, such as culture and traditions. One such type of music is mariachi music, deriving from Mexican culture and traditions. Mariachi music is often an upbeat rhythm, consisting of a band of up to six to eight violins, two trumpets and a guitar. Unlike modern music and other music bands alike, mariachi bands lack in numbers when it comes to band size. Though they are small, their music brings great significance and life to the places they perform and the people that they touch with their joyous music. In this paper, I will be comparing the culture and style of mariachi music to twentieth century modern music.
The effect can be seen in the autobiography of Dizzy Gillespie, where he writes ‘‘very early, the tunes I wrote, like ‘Pickin’ the Cabbage’ sounded Latin oriented or expressed a Latin feeling, like putting West Indian hot sauce in some black-eye peas or hot Cuban peppers in a dish of macaroni.’’ (Moreno 80) When be-bop music and Afro-Cuban music merged it form a time in jazz that was “mostly exciting, varied and constantly changing” with even the least “Cu-bop” style bands playing at least one “Latinish” song in their shows. (Roberts 91) Dizzy Gillespie’s work with Luciano ‘‘Chano’’ Pozo is considered “one of the germinal moments in the history of intercultural music making of the second half of the twentieth century” and followed “distinct lineage [in jazz] of Pan-African music making”. (Garcia 196) This Latin effect on be-bop was not easy or natural as most Afro-Cuban musicians were used with playing with larger ensembles like Stan Kenton, Machito and even Duke Ellington. We can see the innovation and difficulty in the Dizzy Gillespie’s recollection of allowing Pozo into his small jazz band “Chano was the first conga player to play with a jazz band, and he was very unusual about playing with an understanding. There were certain things about our music that he didn’t understand.” Pozo “wasn’t a writer, but stone African. He knew rhythm—rhythm from Africa’’. This lead to Gillespie’s music being more important on a multicultural and personal level. Some seminal recordings from Gillespie’s collaboration with the Cuban conguero player would be “Woody’ n You”, where Pozo moves from solos to jazz rhythms that were very new to him, and the song “Manteca”. “Manteca” was the product of Gillespie’s band, the composer and arranger Walter Fuller and Pozo collaborating together. Although Fuller became frustrated with Pozo’s inclination to make the song “strictly Afro-Cuban,
The jazz band I observed played a series of six different songs. Although all the songs were categorized as jazz, each song had its own special style and sound to it. The band consisted of three different players. Paul Meyers, the guitarist and composer, Andy Eulau, the bassist, and Dave Rataczak, on drums. The songs performed were entitled “Love for Sale” by Cole Porter, “Once I Loved” by Antonio Carlos Jobim, “Stars” by Paul Meyers, “Blues for Mel” also by Paul Meyers, “Last Night When We Were Young” by Harold Arlen, and “Samba Novo” by Luis Eca.
Vladimir Bogdanov. All Music Guide to Jazz. Forth edition. Ann Arbor, MI: All Media Group, 2002
The word “jazz” is significant to America, and it has many meanings. Jazz could simply be defined as a genre or style of music that originated in America, but it can also be described as a movement which “bounced into the world somewhere about the year 1911…” . This is important because jazz is constantly changing, evolving, adapting, and improvising. By analyzing the creators, critics, and consumers of jazz in the context of cultural, political, and economic issue, I will illustrate the movement from the 1930’s swing era to the birth of bebop and modern jazz.
Teachout, Terry. "John Hammond's jazz." Commentary 122.3 (2006): 55+. Academic OneFile. Web. 16 Nov. 2011.
Jazz is referred as “America’s classical music,” and is one of North America’s and most celebrated genres. The history of Jazz can be traced back to the early era of the 20th century of the U.S. “A History of Jazz” presents From Ragtime and Blues to Big Band and Bebop, jazz has been a part of a proud African American tradition for over 100 years. A strong rhythmic under-structure, blue notes, solos, “call-and response” patterns, and
The Fusion of Acid Jazz and Funk: A Critical Musical Analysis of Jamiroquai’s "Emergency On Planet Earth"
Monson, I. (2010).Freedom sounds : civil rights call out to jazz and Africa. New York Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Gottschalk’s unique blend of exotic cultures was key to perpetual fame during his time. By examining the compositions Bamboula (Op. 2) and Souvenir de Porto Rico (Op. 31), I will demonstrate how Gottschalk’s musical style represents an integration of Creole, New Orleans, West Indian, and Afro-Caribbean backgrounds he was exposed to throughout his life.
The Latin American music scene is an amazingly diverse, engaging and entertaining music culture. Thomas (2011) explains, “…Latin American music has engaged in ongoing dialogue and cultural exchange that has profoundly affected music making in Europe and the United States and, more recently, in Africa and Asia as well”. This paper will be describing different aspects of the music culture from its musical features, to the historical aspect of this interesting music culture. Also, I will discuss a personal experience with Latin American music. After researching the music culture, I attended a concert performed by Boogat, an Emmy award nominated Latin American musician from Quebec who has toured all over North America. Latin American music culture
Andrews, John. (1998). What bebop meant to jazz history. A review of Scott Deveux’ book “The Birth of the Bebop: A Social and musical history.”