Mbaraka Mwinshehe was one of the most popular guitarists and singers in East Africa in the late '60s and early '70s. It's beautiful music, and obviously heavily influenced by the rumba drifting East along the Congo, but this music lacks the fluidity and suppleness of someone like TPOK Jazz, it feels slightly more rigid or regimented. Or maybe its my ears.Tracklist:
01 Expo 70 No. 1
02 Expo 70 No. 2
03 Bivelina
04 Sarakasi Ya Yasinta
05 Urafiki Mwisho Wa Mwezi
06 Afrika Tuko Tayari Kufa
07 Pole Dada
08 Watalii
Get it HERE.
7 comments:
Thank you. I was introduced to MM through some Dutch friends many years ago. I picked up 'Shida' in Nairobi and loved it but have since lost the tape. So looking forward to reconnecting with his guitar and singing again. Thanks.
Thanks for this Beauty, and YES IT ARE YOUR EARS. Mbaraka is one of the greatest. If you expect to hear fluid easy swing subtility, expect nothing, start with new ears. Do your homework, and listen again.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH for one of the best albums I could wish for
Richard
Hello all,
Thanks for the comments. Richard, I'm glad you're appreciating this one.
So many thanks!!!
first, let me thank you for posting this LP, if you have any more of his I would be overjoyed to hear them, as Mwinshehe is one of my favorite artists. I am surprised by your comments about a lack of fluidity or regimentation though. I find the interplay of the guitar and horns, particularly, fantastic. I think if you listen again to passages such as the end of Expo 70 (#2), you'll hear the improvisation around a rhythm that I personally love
Hi all. I suppose I better clarify my comments in the original post. I have not heard as much '60s & '70s East African music, but am fairly familiar with the Congolese Rumba of the period, especially the beautiful music of TPOK Jazz. Now, I have played this Morogoro LP a number of times and am enjoying it very much - the quality of the musicianship is outstanding. What I was commenting on was something in the rhythmic quality of East African music more generally, in that most of the East African guitar music I have heard has a slightly more rigid rhythmic feel than the very fluid rhythms that characterise much Congolese music. Does anybody know what I mean or am I out on my own here?
It is unbelievable i can find this LP when I google the Morogoro Jazz Old School. 1974 was the last time I had the music played. It is my favorite music back then when I was in Lagos, Nigeria. Now in U.S. I thank you for uploading the full LP on your site.
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