World music, compiled by Bas Springer.
African music, collected by Stan Rijven
Concerts and festivals, we had to miss them for a year of pandemic. With yet another extension of the lockdown and curfew, the missing gets worse. That is why we dedicate this programme exclusively to live music.
Tonight, live music from two historical festivals in Africa: Soul to Soul in Accra, Ghana (6 March 1971) and Festac ’77, the second ‘Festival of African Culture’ in Lagos, Nigeria (January/February 1977). In addition to Soul Power (Kinshasa/Zaire-1974), these pioneers illustrate the renewed interaction between Afro-American and African pop. In Accra performed, besides the local artists like Kwa Mensah, also Wilson Pickett, The Staple Singers, and Ike & Tina Turner. In Lagos, Gilberto Gil, Sun Ra, and Stevie Wonder performed among great African acts like Bembeya Jazz, Franco, Miriam Makeba en Tabu Ley Rochereau.
Meanwhile, these festivals manifested themselves as distant precursors of the Black Lives Matter movement. They fitted perfectly into the post-colonial Négritude philosophy that advocated an African cultural consciousness of its own.
As encore: a tribute to Bas Springer, the programme maker who passed away last year on 28 March. A live performance of his favourite band Baobab. This Senegalese orchestra sublimely combined the transatlantic feedback of Latin with their own afro-roots, which resulted in their pièce de résistance Utru Horas.
* Soul to Soul Festival (6 March 1971-Accra/ Ghana)
CD: V/A- Soul to Soul (Atlantic 2004)
- The Kumasi Drummers- introduction
- Ike & Tina Turner- Soul to Soul
- Ishmael Adams & The Damas Choir- ?
- The Staple Singers- Are you sure
- The Staple Singers- He’s Alright
- Kwa Mensah- Yaa Amponsah
- Ike & Tina Turner- Ooh Poo Pah Doo
- Wilson Pickett- Land of 1000 Dances
* 2nd Festival of African Culture (Festac ‘77- Lagos/ Nigeria)
CD: Tabu Ley Rochereau, Congo Classics 1961/1977 (Sterns Africa 2007)
- Tabu Ley Rochereau & Onaza- Adeito
- Tabu Ley Rochereau & Onaza- Likambo ya Mokanda
* Baobab live in Dakar/ Senegal (1982?)Baobab- Utru horas (source: youtube* Baobab live in Dakar/Senegal 1982?)
