A friend dragged me to a small arthouse cinema last Friday to see Kinshasa Symphony, a documentary about Orchestre Symphonique Kimbanguiste, a Kinshasa-based symphony orchestra. I thought it would be cheesy and all bleeding hearts, but it wasn’t. It shows the passion of some people who love classical music in a country that is not particularly known for it. It also shows some everyday experiences of some of the members of the orchestra. Sometimes the experiences are harsh; at other times they are joyful. It is just what it is – a well-made documentary about some people who go to some length for their passion.

The Trailer:

I woke up to it this morning. Enjoy!

Amadou and Mariam’s Welcome to Mali is number 6. The review by Spin’s Lindsey Thomas:

In 2005, Dimanche a Bamako served as this blind Malian couple’s international breakout, but producer Manu Chao’s contributions — found-sound snippets, liberal use of his own vocals — sometimes overshadowed them. The follow-up (without Chao) is a more straightforward Afro-pop record, with a few exceptions: Damon Albarn mans the controls for “Sabali,” a wonderfully strange bit of electro pop that floats Mariam’s voice high above waves of synth arpeggios; and on “Africa,” Somali rapper K’naan ogles his homeland’s curves over Amadou’s buoyant guitar line.

The full list is here. HT to Sean Jacobs of Africa is a Country.

Does anybody have any idea where I could get a CD by the Lijadu Sisters? I have been scouting the net but cannot seem to find it anywhere. Amazon lists a cassette and an LP but no CD.

Any info?

I know, I didn’t decide to learn to play the guitar but the sax, but that does not mean I cannot show my love for these two brilliant musicians.

I used to be a member of a jazz club when I was in the university. It was called the Jazz Nucleus. We didn’t play any music of our own, we just hung out together, organised open-air concerts where we played the old standards and some much newer stuffs. Ok, Grover Washington Jr., George Benson and Earl Klugh were not exactly new stuffs, but they were not Charlie Parker, Satchmo or the early Miles Davis either. I didn’t ‘discover’ jazz when I joined the club, but my love and interest in it deepened during that period. I owe a lot to Yemi Akande, Tunde Otubanjo and every other member of the club.

I remember an open-air concert – we really only played CDs and tapes on loud speakers – in front of the Alumni Centre of the University of Ibadan. It was the Christmas season and we had rented some lighting that we put around the top of a tree that was in front of the Centre. We started playing at about 7pm and we played till 10pm. In the last thirty minutes we put off the flood lights, left the Christmas lightings on and handed each person who was there a candle. We switched to some slow and smooth jazz renditions of standard Christmas tunes. I was behind the music desk and I could see the look, from the candlelight, on the faces of the people. It was one of those moments you kick yourself for not having a girlfriend.

Yea, yesterday I bought Absolute Benson, Miles Davis’ Mellow Miles and Earl Klugh’s Living Inside Your Love. I have since been thrown on a nostalgic trip….

I have now decided to learn to play the sax. I am a great jazz music lover, and I have put off learning to play an instrument since. Now, I decided that I could start it. Not like I never really tried to learn an instrument. I tried my hands on the flute a while ago but it didnt work out too well between us, partly because I didn’t have the right teacher, and partly because I wasn’t really motivated. Yes, the idea of playing a flute was appealing, but I guess the instrument itself didn’t do it for me. Now, I know it is a cliche for a jazz lover to learn to play the sax but who cares? One of my colleagues helped me take the first steps by lending me her old tenor sax – great thanks to her, really. A good Yamaha beauty costs a lot, just Google it – and I will buy mine in a couple of months into the lesson. The next step is to get an instructor. Well, I have started by doing what any self-respecting internet-savvy guy does: Google around. Discovered a couple of sites. Most of them try to sell me DVDs and guides etc etc, but I have decided to put that off for now. What I’m gonna do is to study the ones that are available for free online and then decide whether to go with the local €20 per lesson teacher in my town here or get a DVD/study guide, or do both. We’ll see, really.

Yeap, the fact that I am blogging about this shows how much excited I am about this. I will not let it go the way of the flute.

Image via Wikipedia

Sometime last year I blogged about Freshlyground, shortly after Dave Lucas drew my attention to them. I have been listening to Nomvula most of this week and I think they deserve another mention. I love the ease of their music, and the way it gently creeps up on you… and no, not in any cheesy way. One that I especially love is Doo Be Doo. You can watch it on Youtube here.

I woke up this morning with Nine Million Bicycles playing in my head, and I thought that it might be a good idea to share a bit about Katie Melua, the artiste who did Piece by Piece, the album that has the Nine Million Bicycles track. Ketevan ‘Katie’ Melua is a Georgian-born British musician. She has released two albums.The first one, Call off the Search, was released when she was 19, and Piece by Piece, the second one, was released two years later, in 2005. She was the biggest selling female British artiste of 2006.

I really enjoy her soft, almost carefree, style of singing. If you have the time you could check the video of the Nine Million Bicycles here. If you are interested in her taste in music – which, by the way, I find very nice – you can click here. And if you want to read more general things about her check her website and the wikipedia entry on her.

A friend introduced me to Asa’s music sometime ago – actually, I listened to her Bi ban’ ke and instantly liked the sound of her voice. I stumbled on her Myspace page today, and from there went to her website. I tried out samples of her songs and I really liked it. I tried to buy the album on iTunes, but it was only available in the French store. Someone should tell iTunes to make their stores available globally.

Asa (pronounced asha) is a Nigerian lady who was born in Paris but grew up in Lagos. She later returned to Paris, where, according to her bio, she played with Les Nubians, Manu Dibango, Doctor L, and Tony Allen. Her first album was released on 16 October 2007. Sometimes, her lyrics are unpretentiously didactic, like in Fire on the Mountain and Jailer, but then, even those who don’t like ‘preachy’ songs will find her melody enchanting. Here is her Myspace page, and here is her website. Let’s know what you think!

I woke up this morning with the song in my head, looked for it on Youtube, and decided to share it. He was recently interviewed by Larry King on CNN. I couldn’t find a link to the edition on the CNN website, but you can subscribe to the podcast through iTunes at the CNN podcasts page. Eric Clapton has an interesting story to tell. The text of the song is below.

Tears in Heaven
Would you know my name
If I saw you in heaven
Will it be the same
If I saw you in heaven
I must be strong, and carry on
Cause I know I don’t belong
Here in heaven

Would you hold my hand
If I saw you in heaven
Would you help me stand
If I saw you in heaven
I’ll find my way, through night and day
Cause I know I just can’t stay
Here in heaven

Time can bring you down
Time can bend your knee
Time can break your heart
Have you begging please
Begging please

(instrumental)

Beyond the door
There’s peace I’m sure.
And I know there’ll be no more…
Tears in heaven

Would you know my name
If I saw you in heaven
Will it be the same
If I saw you in heaven
I must be strong, and carry on
Cause I know I don’t belong
Here in heaven

Cause I know I don’t belong
Here in heaven