The deep linguistic, dynastic and artistic streams that have flown from South Asia to water other parts of Asia are less evident in Africa. Trade in commodities as wellas cultural assets like arts, crafts, vocabulary and music, did exist thousands of years ago but the impact of either place on the other was not substantial.
In medieval times, Africans were brought to the coastal regions of western India and their descendants continue to inhabit communities in Gujarat and the Makran coast of southern Baluchistan in Pakistan. And of course the Indian/Pakistani diaspora in East, Central and Southern Africa, while locally prominent and important, is an entirely recent phenomenon.
In even more recent times musicians from the subcontinent and Africa have begun to explore each other’s traditions and collaborate with each other, finding common ground not only in complex rhythms, but in a mutual love of western music and non-native instruments.
Bi Kidude
Pakistani
The dowager of taraab, the affectingly languorous folk music of East Africa’s Swahili coast, Bi Kidudewas an artist every bit as important to her tradition as OumKulthum of Egypt and Bessie Smith of the United States were to theirs. With her passing in 2013, the world of music lost a gem of truly global brilliance. Adored within her Zanzibar homeland, Bi Kudude’s international "coming out" happened in her old age. In this clip, made when she was over the age of 90, she demonstrates why her reputation as a powerful singer is so well deserved. Though this version of Pakistani is much truncated it swings in the tarabu fashion: part-Egyptian, part-African, part-Indian. The song speaks to the ties that continue to bind the subcontinent with Africa’s East Coast.
Sandeep Raval
Afro Indian (Gujarati Folk) Fusion
Born in India but long resident in Britain, SandeepRaval is a much lauded percussionist, composer and arranger. This composition works pretty well though in places it seems to come close to derailing itself. The Ugandan dancers dominate the visual space but the music is almost entirely non-African. Its fluted melody doesn’t seem quite powerful enough to carry the exuberant leaping performers, who themselves seem to be self-conscious and constrained. Rather than being truly fused, the Indian and the African seem to be happening in parallel. Still, given the context of Uganda and its troubled recent history, the attempt to create a fusion of the two cultures is definitely admirable.
Lionel Pillay
Blues for Yusef
Far more successful is this sexy and smooth modern jazz piece recorded for the album Deeper in Black (1980). South African jazz is full of mighty and accomplished musicians but as usual only a handful of names are known beyond the borders of the country. One of the more grossly under-appreciated artists, who was active within the politically-conscious and multi-racial jazz movement of the apartheid era, is the keyboardist Lionel Pillay. With the patronage of Rashid Vally’s Kohinoor Records, Pillay, a member of South Africa’s Tamil community, contributed sparkling accompaniment to some of the country’s biggest names. His own recordings, especially Plum and Cherry, which was very well received locally, bridged the gap between rural and more urban sounds. In Blues for Yusef, Pillay leads his group with some very tight and uplifting electric keyboard playing that in its time would not have been out of place in a upper crust Manhattan lounge. I love this guy.
Susmit Sen and Bombino
Jam Session
There is nothing like a late-night jam session as a space to bring out the "trueness" in musicians. Perhaps the playing is not always as polished and planned as on stage or record but the vitality that is created when like-minded artists settle in to share riffs and ideas is precious. Most such sessions, of course, are never captured but when Bombino, the Tuareg guitar sensation visited in 2012, the good folks at Amarrass were prescient enough to have the cameras ready. With him is Indian Ocean’s Susmit Sen. The conversation between acoustic and electric and, Asia and Africa is clearly not experiencing any communication challenges.
Trilok Gurtu and Sabine Kabongo
India’s famous ambassador of percussion, TrilokGurtu, is always searching for new ways to make sounds, as well as new people to make them with. His own band at times have included African singers and instrumentalists and his collaboration with the West African Frikiywa family is one of the highlights of his splendid career. This clip provides a window into the mad inventor’s laboratory (physical and mental) as he coaxes sound from a bewildering set of instruments and contraptions in a fascinating prelude to a grooving contemporary jazz anthem led by Belgian-African singer Sabine Kabongo. Bangalore’s AmitHeri on lead guitar is a true revelation.
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In medieval times, Africans were brought to the coastal regions of western India and their descendants continue to inhabit communities in Gujarat and the Makran coast of southern Baluchistan in Pakistan. And of course the Indian/Pakistani diaspora in East, Central and Southern Africa, while locally prominent and important, is an entirely recent phenomenon.
In even more recent times musicians from the subcontinent and Africa have begun to explore each other’s traditions and collaborate with each other, finding common ground not only in complex rhythms, but in a mutual love of western music and non-native instruments.
Bi Kidude
Pakistani
The dowager of taraab, the affectingly languorous folk music of East Africa’s Swahili coast, Bi Kidudewas an artist every bit as important to her tradition as OumKulthum of Egypt and Bessie Smith of the United States were to theirs. With her passing in 2013, the world of music lost a gem of truly global brilliance. Adored within her Zanzibar homeland, Bi Kudude’s international "coming out" happened in her old age. In this clip, made when she was over the age of 90, she demonstrates why her reputation as a powerful singer is so well deserved. Though this version of Pakistani is much truncated it swings in the tarabu fashion: part-Egyptian, part-African, part-Indian. The song speaks to the ties that continue to bind the subcontinent with Africa’s East Coast.
Sandeep Raval
Afro Indian (Gujarati Folk) Fusion
Born in India but long resident in Britain, SandeepRaval is a much lauded percussionist, composer and arranger. This composition works pretty well though in places it seems to come close to derailing itself. The Ugandan dancers dominate the visual space but the music is almost entirely non-African. Its fluted melody doesn’t seem quite powerful enough to carry the exuberant leaping performers, who themselves seem to be self-conscious and constrained. Rather than being truly fused, the Indian and the African seem to be happening in parallel. Still, given the context of Uganda and its troubled recent history, the attempt to create a fusion of the two cultures is definitely admirable.
Lionel Pillay
Blues for Yusef
Far more successful is this sexy and smooth modern jazz piece recorded for the album Deeper in Black (1980). South African jazz is full of mighty and accomplished musicians but as usual only a handful of names are known beyond the borders of the country. One of the more grossly under-appreciated artists, who was active within the politically-conscious and multi-racial jazz movement of the apartheid era, is the keyboardist Lionel Pillay. With the patronage of Rashid Vally’s Kohinoor Records, Pillay, a member of South Africa’s Tamil community, contributed sparkling accompaniment to some of the country’s biggest names. His own recordings, especially Plum and Cherry, which was very well received locally, bridged the gap between rural and more urban sounds. In Blues for Yusef, Pillay leads his group with some very tight and uplifting electric keyboard playing that in its time would not have been out of place in a upper crust Manhattan lounge. I love this guy.
Susmit Sen and Bombino
Jam Session
There is nothing like a late-night jam session as a space to bring out the "trueness" in musicians. Perhaps the playing is not always as polished and planned as on stage or record but the vitality that is created when like-minded artists settle in to share riffs and ideas is precious. Most such sessions, of course, are never captured but when Bombino, the Tuareg guitar sensation visited in 2012, the good folks at Amarrass were prescient enough to have the cameras ready. With him is Indian Ocean’s Susmit Sen. The conversation between acoustic and electric and, Asia and Africa is clearly not experiencing any communication challenges.
Trilok Gurtu and Sabine Kabongo
India’s famous ambassador of percussion, TrilokGurtu, is always searching for new ways to make sounds, as well as new people to make them with. His own band at times have included African singers and instrumentalists and his collaboration with the West African Frikiywa family is one of the highlights of his splendid career. This clip provides a window into the mad inventor’s laboratory (physical and mental) as he coaxes sound from a bewildering set of instruments and contraptions in a fascinating prelude to a grooving contemporary jazz anthem led by Belgian-African singer Sabine Kabongo. Bangalore’s AmitHeri on lead guitar is a true revelation.
