Soul Makossa
Manu Makossa
We lost the legendary Emmanuel N’Djoké “Manu” Makossa on 25 March to Covid-19. He was eighty-seven. A musician and songwriter originally from Cameroon, he played the saxophone and vibraphone and was Africa’s best-known musician for these two instruments. He developed his own musical style from elements of jazz, funk and traditional music from his country. The name Makossa means “dance” and stems from a Douala dance called kossa, the most popular music in the largest city of Cameroon, where Manu grew up. “By the 1980s, makossa had moved to Paris and formed a new pop-makossa that fused the fast tempo zouk style popularized by Kassav from the French Caribbean. Prominent musicians from this period included Moni Bilé, Douleur, Bébé Manga, Ben Decca, Petit Pays, and Esa.” Makossa later went on to conquer mainstream audiences all over the world. (sgs)
Makossa International Records, February 2018
Bowmboi
Rokia Traoré
Rokia was on hunger strike in a French prison from 10 to 25 March, to be extradited to Belgium for alleged child abduction. Her bad luck: she was the partner of a powerful white man. Many artists worldwide have stood up for her, including Damon Albarn, Angélique Kidjo and Youssou N’Dour. The government of her home country also supported the French-Malean dual citizen and diplomat’s daughter, whose passport was not recognized, even though she had travelled in and out of France with it for years. The roots of the award-winning singer, songwriter and guitarist lie in the Mandingo culture, but she spent most of her childhood outside of Mali. Actually, she should not have been allowed to make music as a Bambara noblewoman and broke many taboos in traditional Mali. In the meantime, she was provisionally released thanks to present circumstances. (sgs)
Label bleu, February 2018
Kyagulanyi
Maulana and Reign
Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (born 12 February 1982), known by his stage name Bobi Wine, is a Ugandan musician, actor, businessman, politician and philanthropist. As of 11 July 2017, he serves as the member of parliament representing Kyadondo East constituency in Wakiso District, in Uganda’s Central Region. Kyagulanyi began his music career in the early 2000s. His first singles “Akagoma”, “Funtula”, and “Sunda” (featuring Ziggy D) brought him success in the East African music scene. His music has been characterised as reggae, dancehall, and afrobeat, often with a socially conscious message. He has released more than 70 songs over 15 years. (Wikipedia) Bobi has recently released a single to support his government in the fight against the coronavirus
Germaica Digital, February 2020
Oxygene
Schaltkreis Wassermann
PJ Wassermann took the work of another electronic pioneer and skillfully covered Jean Michel Jarre: “Schaltkreis Wassermann had already started a design for a cover version of Oxygene in the studio about ten years ago. Stella Wassermann breathed the word Oxygene into the microphone at that time, and I strongly alienated these samples. This sketch was left until two years ago, when I released the song on the EP 2600noise. Now I reworked it again, the intro with the spherical wind was much too long for today’s impatient listeners, who prefer to hear the chorus during the first bars. Here come the CO2 mix of Schaltkreis Wassermann’s Oxygene, a homage to Jean-Michel Jarre, who inspired us many years ago.”
HyperMusic, March 2020
Murder Most Foul
Bob Dylan
This brilliant late work, seventeen minutes long, is filled with historical allusions to a time when, with the Kennedy assassination, the world lost its innocence for an entire generation. Performed with a delicate and nuanced voice, it is a musical ballad that captures an entire era, a lament or lullaby that returns to the day when America’s misery began, even though the hippie era brought new optimism for a while. Politically, however, spirits were henceforth divided, and hardly anyone was able to summon up the unity with which John F. Kennedy had called on his fellow countrymen not to ask what their country could do for them, but was they could do for their country – what today sounds like sheer utopia. Just listening to all the titles Dylan refers to fills many hours. The speculations about this comforting new release, his first since 2012, will fill entire volumes. What Dylan says is: Music will pull us through these devastating times. (sgs)
Columbia, March 2020