As we get ready to fly out to Ghana to meet with local music studios, it is very inspiring to listen to Baaba Maal singing in Kirina, Mali. He’s there with the Playing For Change foundation, who have started building music schools in Africa. In their own words:
“The Playing For Change Foundation is building a new music school in the Village of Kirina, Mali. Kirina is a village of musicians, some of whom can trace their musical ancestry back over 75 generations! In this very special episode West African music legend Baaba Maal and friends perform for the village elders in honor of the new “Playing For Life” music school that is just beginning construction.”
My name is Catherine Barnes, and I’ll be contributing a series of articles to this blog on Angolan semba and Brazilian samba. I’m a percussionist and armchair ethnomusicologist fascinated by all rhythms African and of the African diaspora. I recently returned from studying samba in Rio de Janeiro, which is also where I encountered Angolan semba music for the first time. I became interested in the similarities and differences in the two styles, and what better place to explore them than here at Akwaaba Music?
Angolan semba and Brazilian samba share a common ancestor: the massemba dance from central Angola. Known as umbigada, or “belly-bumping” in Portuguese, the dance is characterized by a hip thrust meant to mimic the act of procreation. (source)
Here’s a Brazilian umbigada group performing at the First Forum in Defense of Popular Traditions in Piracicaba, Brazil:
Now check out this recent video of couples dancing semba in Luanda, Angola. Notice the “belly-bumping” movements at 1:40.
Although samba is usually danced without a partner, samba da gafieira, or ballroom samba, has become very popular, especially in Rio de Janeiro. Seu Jorge even featured it in the video for his hit song “Carolina” :
Keep checking back for more information on the similarities and differences between Angolan semba and Brazilian samba!
Not sure why you would CHOOSE to make a youtube video non-embeddable… hopefully this won’t scare you away, and you’ll make the daring decision to click here and watch the video – you won’t regret it!
“The 12th installment of the FADER/Southern Comfort 7-inch series is an upbeat one, with MNDR’s electronic fizz pop and loud and grimy kuduro straight from Angola’s Os Mais Potentes. We’ve been a fan of MNDR’s hyper energy for a long time and have long loved the releases on Akwaaba Music, so to pair two exclusive tracks from the realest dance music makers from New York and Africa, respectively, together on one 7-inch is a pretty exciting and special thing. We’ve also got some wild Egyptian-inspired artwork by Keren Richter on the cover.”
You can download both tracks for free on the Fader’s website. And if you want a copy of the vinyl, leave a comment on their page!
Moemdi runs Ruff Riddims, a music production studio located in Palapye, Botswana. Botswana’s national animal is the zebra, wicker baskets with geometric motifs are a national staple, and we think how Moemdi incorporated both into his studio design is PRETTY EFFIN COOL. Stay tuned for our first collaboration with Ruff Riddims, Skeat’s debut album Basimanyana Mamela Meropa.
As for the studio… Moemdi wanted to make sure we thank John Sayers and Glenn Stanton who helped him conceive the studio.
Blast from the (not so distant) past! No real reason to post this today, except we’re on our way back to Ghana and Togo, and this brings us back to our last trip to Ivory Coast, Ghana and Togo…
