V.A. : "African Guitar"
Vest.Vid. V.A. / (Gerhard Kubik) :
African Guitar (w.book) (UG/CO/DRCO/MW/CAR/ZA,rec.1966-1993)****°
Since 1959 cultural anthropologist Gerhard Kubik has worked and lived in Africa and Europe. He is the author of several books and over 200 published articles dealing with cultures, oral literature and particularly the music of sub-Saharan Africa. This video, a collection of personal field recordings from 1966-1993, introduces some overview on some personalities that are generally labelled as African fingerstyle guitarists. He did spend time with these artists, sometimes delivered some guitars to some promising talents, and also came back again after some years to follow and record the results and evolutions. Gerhard plays the guitar himself, so he understands the artists like creative persons, plus he knows the anthropological and cultural contexts and therefore is able to see the complete picture, from the wider context to the personality, to the creative process, to the technical results which gives a very complete picture, which in his investigation tries not to leave out anything that matters in the reality surrounding the recording process.
Included is an 80 page book explaining all the biographical, cultural and technical backgrounds on seven talented artists, whom he also manages to convey how they hang together within the picture of Central Africa’s musical evolutions, with all the why’s and how’s thoroughly explained.
The book mentions how most traces from between the twenties and thirties were lost because there was no investigator for contemporary music, except for Hugh Tracey (1903-1977), who discovered an artist like Mwenda Jean Bosco. Further on he explains how he prefers how field recordings should happen, honestly and with respect to everything that happens within the whole context. He also says he noticed how recording with film facilities changed the performances a little bit, because the artists are aware of the filming, and chose locations or even make it a complete act before the camera, always aware of their environment. Then he explains in full detail an overview of the commonly used guitar playing styles and techniques. The book ends with the biographical backgrounds of the listed guitarists, and his personal experiences with them during the recordings, and the guitar techniques he discovered with the artists, and how he, in the video compilation, completed the hidden content behind the songs and personalities and their backgrounds with images mixed to the recordings.
I learned now also how one of the most influential guitarists in Africa, Mwenda Jean Bosco (from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which in his days was Belgium Congo and then Zaire, -for those few who don’t know : this the biggest country in the centre of Africa,) also was a successful business man. But never the less it took some years to trace him. Very interesting is that some people see a relation and some comparisons of his aristocrat distinctive behaviour and for some compositions (like the song “masanga”) with the Renaissance lute player and composer, William Byrd!? Bosco’s guitar compositions also existed before there were added words to them, to reach public attention better. He developed his complex new style mixture when looking hard for a way, like the local tradition says that you cannot repeat your father, to distinguish himself from his father, who was an organ player, with his own particular style of music, while having had a specific influence it took him to develop this extra creative effort.
From Faustino Okella (from Uganda, the North East country to the Congo republic,) I should mention that when Gerhard traced and visited this blind guitarist, who had his own share of influence from Bosco, at that time he was exploited for work, and did not even have a guitar because he could not afford one. They only managed to record some pieces after having given him a new guitar.
Further on Gerhard explains how in mining cities some people started to play the guitar which could bring them through songs to a different world, although much labour was so underpaid that little persons could afford an industrially manufactured guitar. Pierre Gwa (from Central African Republic, the country northwest of the Congo states) only had the kind of self-built primitive guitar that workers could get hold of (made from the same kind of African wood to build canoes, and with fishline as strings).
Daniel Kachamba (from Malawi, a little state pressed between Zambia, Tanzania, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, further South East of Congo) was more influenced by the electric guitar groups. He composed some instrumentals for himself, which, like Bosco, received only lyrics by demand of the public, later. He also learned to do something thorough with the electric guitar. Electric guitar in Africa had much more status compared to the acoustic guitar, no matter how fast acoustic guitar players could play compared to electric guitarists.
Next artist listed is Moya Aliya Malamusi (also from Malawi). He had already been recruited as a musician from age 8 (rattler instrument), then learned, after school, one string bass and guitar. After many years it seems that he himself in the end also had become a cultural anthropologist.
Gerhard explains further how thoroughly in most Central and South-central African countries no acoustic guitars were sold any more, with the exception of Namibia (and of course, South Africa). In Namibia only few guitarists remained, but Erasmus N.Ndrara seemed to be the most gifted and most independent character of them all. When they met him he played a 5-string guitar, and this only because one tuning peg was lost.
Last listed artist is Mose Yotamu (from Zambia, the country in the South East borders of the Congo Republic). He had shown already lots of talents since a young age : he knew over 10 languages (including English, French and Portuguese), was a gifted dancer, then a visual artist for masks and such (with some important commissions), all before his musical talent emerged. He explored this first on a home-made banjo, until he was given an acoustic guitar by Gerhard, which was mostly only played for his own satisfaction. During his career he played mostly in groups, in different styles.
With the explanations in the booklet I was so much prepared for the video I could almost imagine beforehand, and understand the significance of every detail. On the Mwenda Jean Bosco recordings I could notice the charming personality of this guitarist. It was recorded in a bit windy place, but it was the artists who chose the locations, which near the end of the recordings I began to fully understand and appreciate well, after having seen some villages, with some children being creative, having made small musicians on wheels on the Daniel Kachamba recordings, and ending with Mose Yotamu’s recording in the forest where he fought with mosquito’s, walked with his guitar while singing, and many other details in the way that the awareness of these surrounding was left in, and how complete it made this awareness. The second very strong character was of course Erasmus N.Ndara, who looked a bit like a hippie compared to the others with that inner quest for freedom, and with a remarkable technique. There is much more to say about what is there to see but I will not give away all. Just go and see this or buy this. It is a real charming historical document.
Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshop John Low :
African Fingerstyle Guitar (w.booklet) (US,2007)***''
Stefan Grossman, very known from the 60s for his fingerstyle research in blues, bluegrass and American folk also established a guitar workshop with a label, which pretty much explores further new territories, with other specialists in different fields. Published amongst a few other things are various instructional fingerstyle guitar videos dedicated to several styles. John Low grew up in Kenya, has worked in Guinea, Somalia and Sudan and has been playing African guitar styles for over twenty years. He did some research in East and Central Africa and met most of the important musicians. This video shows a resume of what he learned. He picked out some tunes to learn by these artists, of which some were never recorded before.
The introductive booklet tells how the golden age of African fingerpicking guitar was in the 50s and 60s with artists like Jean Bosco Mwenda, Losta Abelo (Zaire/Congo), and George Mukabi (Kenya). From these artists and a few others the arrangements have been worked out well. There’s a tablature booklet of 56 pages which set out the guitar, vocal and bottle rhythm parts. Difficulties for playing them (left hand finger movements can be very quick, and sometimes move because they also deal with pitches of surrounding strings), are explained well, and there are taught a few tips how to learn them. Also thoroughly explained is why some of the playing is like it is. African guitar playing for instance often is played by only two fingers : the thumb mostly for the bass string rhythms, and the forefinger mostly for the higher notes, also within the same rhythmical patterns. This 2 fingers-style has a reason. First of all much of the African guitar style derived from thumbpiano ideas, played with a certain rhythmical directness. By playing the tunes with two fingers the finger can make a much more clawed hammer style that fits best with these kinds of rhythmical evolutions. The guitar pieces usually are accompanied by rhythms on a bottle (also to show the dancers where to come in), where the fanta bottle has a different sound and place to a normal small bottle. The screen is split in two in parts where you can see better how John Low moves both hands. Before the songs a bit of background on the listed artists is also provided, so that the material isn’t too dry and a part of essential background opens up just a little with the listed songs.
No doubt that for guitarists who want to get an introduction into how African Guitar playing must be performed, this is a valuable starter.
