Time With an African music icon.

MBILIA BEL

They are gone now but during the 70s and 80s, Africa's two great dance music masters, Franco and Tabu Ley Rochereau were in a friendly rivalry (sometimes strained) for the title of best Congolese artist.

Franco, the child guitar prodigy, whose band defined the rumba Congolese sound with his band OK Jazz, came first; Rochereau, whose sweet tenor was honed in choirs, favoured a softer more international sound.

By the early 80s, the two stars were fronting huge orchestras that toured the continent, and increasingly Europe. While Franco added more guitars and a bevy of singers to supplement his singing and guitar pyrotechnics, Rochereau brought in young musicians, expanded his brass section and added both Caribbean rhythms and features from US soul music. You could argue that Rochereau was the one to internationalise the Congolese dance music but at the same time you'd have to admit that the young generation, led by Zaiko Langa Langa, was already doing that with their stripped-down, brass-less, smaller combo sound. 

More: Bangkok Post

Jazzamba’s jazz nights - Ethiopia.

Jazzamba’s jazz nights still alive in Addis Ababa

Heaps of twisted iron, piles of ash and a charred microphone are all that remains of Jazzamba, the iconic Addis Ababa nightclub that revived Ethiopian jazz after it had all but disappeared under Communist rule.

The fire that destroyed the venue in January has left the country’s vibrant and growing jazz scene in disarray.

“I still do not believe it,” says musician Misale Legesse, who was a regular performer at the wood-panelled club, inside the Taitu Hotel.

The Nile Project at Boston University.

The Nile Project

Forget about the Charles River. This week, everyone’s going to be buzzing about the Nile River.

The Nile Project, a collaborative enterprise that combines music, education, and leadership and innovation programs to promote sustainability of the Nile River’s ecosystem, begins a five-day residency on campus today. The BU Arts Initiative, in conjunction with the African Studies Center (ASC), the College of Fine Arts School of Music, and World Music/CRASHarts is sponsoring the visit, which will include panel discussions, educational workshops, and musical performances.

SXSW Live Shot: Africa/Caribbean Night

Two-way cultural pollination.

Just outside the Palm Door, a steel drum band from Trinidad marched down Sixth Street in the rain Friday night. It proved the perfect prelude to a dual showcase that was “all about the waist,” as Congolese-British comedian/emcee Eddie Kadi put it.

Two-way cultural pollination was very much in evidence as one walked from the indoor African music stage to the outdoor Caribbean stage. Sets changed, but the rhythms never ceased and the connections between traditional West African sounds and its diasporic offspring were always in sharp focus.

Seychelles Carnival in pictures.

Seychelles Carnival

5 of The Greatest Socially Conscious African Musicians…EVER!

5 of The Greatest Socially Conscious African Musicians.

Fela Kuti (NIGERIA)

Miriam Makeba (SOUTH AFRICA)

Egyptian Singer Meet Burundi Bassist.

Egyptian Singer, Meet Burundi Bassist. Play Among Yourselves!

Late one night, Dina el-Wadi, a singer and musician from Cairo, arrived in Kampala, Uganda. She'd come for a gathering of musicians who live in countries along the Nile River.

She went to bed and woke up to pure enchantment: "I found a very beautiful woman singing in the morning in a very, very, very magical way. So I said, 'Oh, who is this girl that's going to sing with us?'"

More: KASU

South African Artists Are Now Using Music to Address Social Ills

Serious Messages

On any given Saturday night in Johannesburg, the trendy place to be is Braamfontein, a gentrifying, hipster-friendly neighborhood downtown, where pulsing dance beats of house music take over the clubs. It’s something of a stunner to hear a DJ segue to “Ghetto” by The Muffinz, a Johannesburg-based five-man band whose 2012 debut, “Have You Heard,” was played on conventional instruments, not built in the studio from electronic beats and samples.

More: Atlanta Blackstar

Nigeria Set To Hit High Note

Nigeria: High Note

The industry produces over 550 albums of different kinds of music annually, record sales have more than tripled in the past five years and industry stakeholders have projected that the country’s entertainment industry would hit one billion dollars by 2016.

Read more: Nigeria: High Note  By: Dara Rhodes

Asa - Jailer (Live Deezer Session)

Asa - Jailer - Live Deezer Session

Asa - Dead Again (Live Deezer Session)

Asa - Dead Again - Live Deezer Session

Ousmane Award to be re-launched at ZIFF

ZIFF

PROF Martin Mhando.

ORGANISERS of the Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF) have agreed to re-launch the Sembene Ousmane Film Prize competition this year.

The award structure has been designed ‘to reward excellence’ in short film production and to encourage the production of new short films, including short documentaries.

2013 was the last and fifth time this prize was awarded to filmmakers at the festival, which is also known as the Festival of the Dhow Countries.

Festival Director, Prof Martin Mhando, told the ‘Daily News’ that they have also decided to award not just one but three films, in the event which starts from July 18 and closes on July 26.

“This is to ensure that as many filmmakers as possible are encouraged to make creative films through the Sembene Ousmane Prize,” he said.

“We at ZIFF are proud to announce that this prize, which invites Africans on the continent and those in the Diaspora, to enter their short films before the end of next month.”

It will be followed with 15 out of all the films sent being nominated to compete for the three prizes during this year’s nine days of the festival.

Each of the three winning films will be awarded 2,000 US dollars as cash prize. This is specifically earmarked to produce a new short film, which is to be ready by next year’s edition of the festival.

The scripts and a production plan for the new films will have to be submitted to the festival within four months of the award and funds will then be released.

It is the organisers’ belief that the on-going process will simultaneously acknowledge and reward filmmakers for their efforts, whilst contributing to the sustainability of the shortfilm format.

To be eligible, intended candidates must ensure that their fiction, documentary or animated films meet certain stipulated criteria. The first of these requirements is that the five to 20 minutes production must not exceed 28 minutes.

All entries must be produced, or have their first public exhibition after July 2013. They are also to be available for screening on a specific format.

Although entries can be in any language, they must have English subtitles. All films entered for the prize have to be directed by an African or a person of African descent.

The same applies for films co-directed with an African or person of African descent.

Written by IMAN MANI (Daily News)

Vitali Maembe on constitution.

KATIBA - Vitali Maembe