26 Dec 2009

From The Crate to the Cradle

From RNZ Music, 12:15 pm on 26 December 2009

Auckland-based DJ and musician Barnie Duncan spent three months wandering around Africa, in order get to know his record crates a bit better - a collection of the various musical styles from the late 60s and 70s post-revolution Africa.

What is fascinating about this period in particular is the re-appropriation of various musical styles like funk and soul by African musicians - styles that originated in Africa but evolved and mutated upon arrival in the Untied States.

When taken back to the Motherland these styles took on a blistering rawness that proved addictive to this intrepid collector - and thus, a pilgrimage was born: Morocco, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana and Ethiopia.

Barnie Duncan's interviews cover the likes of a sound engineer from the booming heyday of Ghana's afro-soul explosion, the man who started Ethiopia's first record label, Highlife band-leaders from Ghana, various superstars of the world music scene at a festival in Morocco, a psychedelic Islamic blues band in Mali, up and coming hip hop talent from the streets of Accra in Ghana, and even Fela Kuti's old percussionist.

This audio is not downloadable due to copyright restrictions.

 

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