Customer Reviews

Africa: Never Stand Still

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
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I have maybe 25 CDs of music from the continent, and this is still far and away my favorite. The one-disc "sampler" is like a "Best of..." -- very good, but as many listeners will know from first hand experience, some of the finer, and more subtle pieces are in the original complete recordings. True here in spades. If you only own one set of discs to represent Africa and all its nations and sounds, this is it.

If you're interested in listening to some African music and don't know where to start, you can't do better than this. It's got modern and traditional stuff on it -- mostly modern -- from all over the continent. My tapes of this set live in my cassette road case, and I listen to them when I go on long trips. The variety and quality are both excellent.

The booklet's a nice touch, too.

Africa is a vast continent, the second largest in fact, and home to an infinite variety of languages, cultures and ethnic groups; each with their own style of music. With the growing popularity of Afro-Pop the newcomer is likely to be overwhelmed with the sheer variety of music available even from mainstream stores and websites in the west. Where to begin? What artists and styles sound best? Unfortunately, few CDs can give a good overview of African music, but if your willing to drop the money for this one, your off to a very good start.

On three CDs, we are given an astonishing array of tracks by 39 artists from over 29 different countries. This does a great job of shwoing the incredible diversity of African music. We get Arabic-tinged taarab from Zuhura Swaleh of Kenya, Zulu isicathamiyalmbube from Ladysmith Black Mambazo of South Africa, Nigerian Fuji music by Chief Dr. Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, Moorish dancing music from Mauritania's Dimi Mint Abba, Mbalax from Baaba Maal of Senegal, Malagasy music from Tarika Sammy of Madagascar, Algerian Rai from Bellemou & Gana el Maghnaoui, Ethio-pop from Seleshe Demassae and so much more. The focus is on pop, but you get a good helping of traditional and folk styles like the Mande music of Mali, polyrhythmic drumming from Ghana, Sufi music from the Gnawa musicians of Morocco and traditional dances from Uganda's national performing troupe.

Many of the continent's legendary artists on included on this CD, though obviously not all of them (as doing so would likely be impossible). Oumou Sangare, Salif Keita and the late Ali Farka Toure of Mali; Oliver Mtukudzi, Stella Chiweshe and Thomas Mapfumo of Zimbabwe; Ladysmith Black Mambazo and the Soul Brothers from South Africa; Papa Wemba from the Congo; Abdel Gadir Salim of the Sudan; Yossou N'dour and Baaba Maal of Sengal and many more. Alongside them are many equally great performers, perhaps less known in the US but many times equally famous in their home countries. Dr. Sikiru Ayinde Barrister of Nigeria is regarded as one of the greatest Fuji performers, while Remmy Ongala is probably Tanzania's most famous pop singer.

Don't feel bad if some of your favorite artists got left off of this vast and staggering compilation. It's only a broad survey of Africa's musical styles. If your a newbie to Afro-pop, or even a life-long fan, this CD is an essential buy. Its one of the few compilations that covers EVERYTHING, from the Arabic tinged music of the Sahara to the the neo-traditional songs of South Africa, from traditional drumming in West Africa to modern pop styles from the Congo and Swahili coast. If you've got the money and are willing to spend it, this is a great buy. If your on a budget, theres a smaller sampler available that's equally exciting, though nowhere near the size of this monster. I strongly recommend checking this CD it. Odds are it will expand your musical horizons.

Not only is this one of the most fabulous and indispensable compendiums of music I have ever bought, I see the previous customer reviews are also wonderful to read. Some things just bring out the best in people. I take this music with me wherever I go.

Great collection of phenomenal music and musical styles totally unknown to Western listener. Absolute must for any lover of World Music! Highly recommend it!

What can I say...this collection is a classic. I had recently returned to the U.S. after a nine month treck through Africa and, as a film student, needed to produce some great montages of the footage I had taken there. This collection was like a gift from god, chock full of the best of the continent's music. Nearly twenty years later I still find myself playing these songs like a visit from my best friend. My African friends marvel at the collection..as a timepiece ...as many of these tracks are only available on this collection. I have literally bought this thing three times and since it's on my hard drive now its forever...if you love or are interested in African music this is a MUST HAVE!