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POETRY AND LANGUID CHARM: Swahili
music from Tanzania and Kenya from the 1920s to the 1950s
VARIOUS ARTISTS TSCD936
Text and compilation by
Janet Topp Fargion
As recorded music developed in the early part of the 20th century,
there was more and more pressure on commercial record labels to capitalise
on indigenous music in Africa, Asia, South America and the Caribbean.
This was not some sort of altruistic exercise, rather a market that was
open to exploitation. On the East African coast, site of the present day
Tanzania and Kenya, there was a “gold rush” fever in the 1930s
to record the local music stars.
The music recorded was mostly “taarab”, sung poetry accompanied by an ensemble that played with both traditional African rhythms with Arabic influences and used Arabic and Indian instruments. This exciting music is being here released on CD for the first time, and has been remastered to produce outstanding sound quality from the original 78 rpm recordings.
• "Drawn from the extraordinary collection of original recordings at the National Sound Archive, this project, overseen by Dr Janet Topp-Fargion, is, quite simply, a delight from the first second to the last. Wonderfully readable and enlightening notes, historic illustrations and full recording details, this new release presents an engaging portrait of its targeted time and place. The packaging and sound quality are faultless, the programme both enlightening and entertaining, and there’s almost nothing else like it available. Need any more hints?" fRoots
icon to hear a streamed audio sample of a selected track from the
CD.