Hold Your Ears: Bams and "Please, Tends L'oreille"

Feminist rapper Bams gives us our random tune for today, called Please, Tends L'oreille. Mixing rap, electronic and afro sounds and adding her voice to the equation, Bams' goal is to spread positivity and kindness through her music. Of Cameroonian heritage, Bams formed the rock band Shuka Gang, performed high level sports in the triple jump and received a degree in mathematics before settling in to concentrate on her music in 1996. She released her first album in 1999. You can find Please, Tends L'oreille on the 2003 album The World According to RZA, where to which she was invited to contribute by the American rapper RZA. You can also find the song on her 2005 album De Ce Monde.

Listen to songs like this and more on the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.

Source: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bams; https://afropunk.com/2013/10/bams-spreads-positivity-and-kindness-with-new-album-dereglement-climatique-climatic-disorder/

Solstice Sweetness: Children of Cameroon and "Jeux du solstice de décembre : Mbolo"

Today's random song is the product of the work of Francis Corpataux, an associate professor at the University of Sherbrooke in Quebec, Canada. He traveled the world, visiting more than 25 countries, to observe and listen to children and teenagers in their daily lives. From his recordings, a number of songs featuring those children were compiled into a 17 disc collection called Le chant des enfants du monde. This song, Jeux du solstice de décembre : Mbolo, is a song for the December solstice and is sung by children in Cameroon. It can be found on Le chant des enfants du monde, Vol. 13 : Cameroun, compiled by Francis Corpataux and released on the Arion label in 2010.

Listen to songs like this and more on the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.

Source: https://www.franciscorpataux.com/

She's Your Venus: Mau Mau and "Venus Nabalera"

Today's random song is Venus Nabalera by Mau Mau.  They are a group that formed in Turin, Italy in 1991, and they have released seven albums, two EPs and seven singles to date.  Their name, in the Piedmont region dialect, can mean "one who comes from afar."   The name also references the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya that challenged the British colonial rule. The band mixes African and Latin musical traditions. Venus Nabalera is from their 2000 release Safari Beach and can also be found on the various artists compilation Putumayo Presents: World Lounge (2002).

Listen to songs like this and more on the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mau_Mau_(band)

Pretty Chill: Dady Mimbo and "Bouba (Cool)"

Dady Mimbo brings us the random song for today, called Bouba (Cool). Originally from Cameroon but now living in France, Dady Mimbo is percussionist, author, composer and interpreter. He is particularly passionate about the djembe, which he taught himself. Prior to becoming a musician, he was a successful dressmaker and designer who employed 12 people, but he moved to France at 22 to pursue music. He released his first album in France in 2001. You can find this version of Bouba (Cool) on the 2003 compilation Putumayo Presents: African Groove - he has a new version of the song on his 2015 album Djambo Way.

Some Day: Franck Biyong and "We Shall Overcome (Yoruba Soul Remix)"

The random song for today is by Cameroonian musician, bandleader and record producer Franck Biyong. A multi-instrumentalist (guitar, bass, percussion, keyboard) who made his name first in Afrojazz, he is also an innovator - creating a new genre that fuses rock, electronica and African beats that is known as Alternative Afro-Electro Rock or Afrolectric. He was born in France, but grew up in Gabon, Nigeria and the Ivory Coast. His interest in guitar stems from his fondness for American jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery. At age 14, he moved to England where he played with various rock bands. The death of Fela Kuti in 1997 spurred his return to France at age 24, where he sought to honor Kuti's death by forming a 15 piece band called Massak, but which also began to create Afrolectric. This song, We Shall Overcome (Yoruba Soul Remix) can be found on his We Shall Overcome (Yoruba Soul Remix) - EP (2009)

Winter Lightning: Baka Beyond and "I See Winter"

One of the more established "world" groups brings us our random tune for today. Baka Beyond, formed in 1992, calls themselves "the original Afro-Celtic dance band," probably to distinguish themselves from the Afro Celt Sound System which formed around the same time. Baka Beyond fuses Celtic and other western styles with the traditional Baka music of Cameroon. It started when vocalist Su Hart and her husband, Martin Cradick (guitar, bazouki and mandolin), went to Cameroon to live with the Baka pygmy tribe to record their music. At first Hart and Cradick worked with English musicians to try to recreate the Baka music sounds and integrate it into their music. However, as the group evolved it began to include more musicians from African countries such as Senegal, Sierra Leone, Congo, Ghana and Cameroon. The group has also kept its relationship with the Baka people, returning regularly to record their music and integrate with the music created by the band. The band donates much of its profits to rainforest preservation and at the request of the Baka tribe, has built a music recording studio in their tribal area and has helped the tribe deal with various social and health issues in their villages. The BBC's Andy Kershaw has said that Baka Beyond's music may be the definition of world music. This song, I See Winter, can be found on their 2008 CD Sogo (the album's title refers to a drum used to call the lightning spirit during droughts).

The iPhone 6 Song Guy: Blick Bassy and "Donalina"

Today's Leap Day random tune is by Blick Bassy, a Cameroonian musician living in France and who sings exclusively in his native Bassa language in order to help preserve it. Bassy was born in 1974 and formed his first band, The Jazz Crew, in 1996 at the age of 22. He then went on to help form the band Macase, which went on to win numerous African music awards. He released his first solo album, Léman, in 2009 and his second solo CD, Hongo Calling, in 2011. His song Kiko was recently chosen to accompany the ads for the release of the iPhone 6, which has given him new exposure and fans. This song, Donalina, is from Léman and is also included on the compilation CD Putumayo Presents: Jazz Around the World.

Ramblin': Baka Beyond and "Wandering Spirit"

Well, I know that anyone who reads this little blog of random world tunes waits with bated breath every day for my little bon-mots and homespun wisdom. Unfortunately, there are times like yesterday and today when I don't have the luxury and only have the time to bring you the random tune with the meticulously researched background (cough, cough...Wikipedia) of the bands that I write in each post. To those of you who wait for my ramblings, I apologize that I cannot always provide them.

Speaking of ramblings, today's random tune is by one of the more established "world' groups. Baka Beyond, formed in 1992, calls themselves "the original Afro-Celtic dance band," probably to distinguish themselves from the Afro Celt Sound System which formed around the same time. Baka Beyond fuses Celtic and other western styles with the traditional Baka music of Cameroon. It started when vocalist Su Hart and her husband, Martin Cradick (guitar, bazouki and mandolin), went to Cameroon to live with the Baka pygmy tribe to record their music. At first Hart and Cradick worked with English musicians to try to recreate the Baka music sounds and integrate it into their music. However, as the group evolved it began to include more musicians from African countries such as Senegal, Sierra Leone, Congo, Ghana and Cameroon. The group has also kept its relationship with the Baka people, returning regularly to record their music and integrate with the music created by the band. The band donates much of its profits to rainforest preservation and at the request of the Baka tribe, has built a music recording studio in their tribal area and has helped the tribe deal with various social and health issues in their villages. The BBC's Andy Kershaw has said that Baka Beyond's music may be the definition of world music. The group has released 11 albums, including one this year in 2014. This song, Wandering Spirit, can be found on their 2002 CD East to West.

Speaking in Tongues: Blick Bassy and "Donalina"

Not being able to speak another language often makes many people not care about other traditions, other cultures and other peoples.  That's been a salient criticism of the United States - our citizens tend to not speak other languages and therefore we take a very Ameri-centric view of the world and don't place a lot of value on cultures and peoples that aren't like us.  Of course, it doesn't hold in all instances.  Germany and France and other European cultures have their share of nationalism and xenophobia, not to speak of the rest of the world.  But it seems to me there is an expectation in most countries that they will learn more than one language.  Many people in Africa speak French as well as their own native language.  Many in Europe speak more than one language, even if the second language is English.  Yet in the US, speaking a second language is hardly the norm unless you are an immigrant who has to learn English.

Language, however, is the key to understanding and learning about cultures different than our own.  The reason that so many other cultures seem so cosmopolitan, at least to me, is that they have the understanding of other cultures and countries that comes with knowing other languages and being generally open to other experiences.  When a language is lost, or worse, a language is denied, then a wealth of understanding is lost.  Blick Bassy, who is the artist behind Donalina, our song of the day, addresses this problem in an interview he did in 2012 with National Public Radio.  Bassy, who is from Cameroon, sings specifically in his native language Basso.  Basso is one of 250 or so languages that is spoken in Cameroon, and Bassy is doing his contribution to keep the language alive.  The interviewer, Guy Raz, asked Bassy (who now lives in Paris) if he would ever make an album in French (his second language) and he said no.  It struck me that here is a man who is raised in a language, learns French (probably because he had to) but also does his interview in English!  How much cultural knowledge he must have - and as a musician he probably is doing himself and his career a favor by having that knowledge that comes from language.

Some more information about Bassy.  He was born in 1974, and formed in first band, The Jazz Crew, in 1996 at the age of 22.  He then went on to help form the band Macase, which went on to win numerous African music awards.  He released his first solo album, Léman, in 2009 and his second solo CD, Hongo Calling, in 2011.  This song, Donalina, is from Léman and is also included on the compilation CD Putumayo Presents: Jazz Around the World.