CD: Owiny Sigoma Band - Owiny Sigoma Band | reviews, news & interviews
CD: Owiny Sigoma Band - Owiny Sigoma Band
CD: Owiny Sigoma Band - Owiny Sigoma Band
The most natural African/UK fusion album in a long time
Friday, 06 May 2011
Four London musicians join some Nairobi hip-hop artists, and don’t mess it up
When Western musicians add their bit to traditional African music it can be disastrous: a programmed beat awkwardly forcing sinuous, sensual music to conform to its rigidity, or some dreadful rock vocalist doing a Bono all over some exquisite interplay of mbira and talking drums. But here we have a London collective working with a bunch of musicians from Nairobi, and refreshingly their presence doesn’t for one moment seem unnatural or intrusive.
When Western musicians add their bit to traditional African music it can be disastrous: a programmed beat awkwardly forcing sinuous, sensual music to conform to its rigidity, or some dreadful rock vocalist doing a Bono all over some exquisite interplay of mbira and talking drums. But here we have a London collective working with a bunch of musicians from Nairobi, and refreshingly their presence doesn’t for one moment seem unnatural or intrusive.
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