Check out our new player!
African and world music specialists since 1983. First British record label to release recordings by among others, Salif Keita, Youssou NDour, Franco and OK Jazz, Mblia Bel, Tabu Ley and many more.
6 Oct 2010
26 Sept 2010
Sterns Release - Swinging Swahili Rumba
Release
date: 8th March 2010
Issa
Juma & Super Wanyika Stars
"World
Defeats The Grandfathers - Swinging Swahili Rumba 1982-1986"
For
nearly thirty years, the "Wanyika" bands dominated Nairobi’s
nightclubs and recording industry.
Their music was propelled by light percussion and made sweet with a delicate
interplay between rhythm and solo guitars. The sound was sparse, but a rich bass
filled the gaps and on top were catchy melodies sung in a Swahili that could be
easily understood across East Africa.
This
was the defining sound of Kenyan Swahili rumba in the late 70s and early 80s, and Issa Juma was a pivotal figure in both
creating and giving it new directions. His powerful baritone voice was
indisputably the best of the Wanyika clan and, constantly experimenting, his
style could change with each producer and session.
Carefully
re-mastered, full-length recordings that include bona fide hits alongside rare, never-before-released tracks, this album
is a long-overdue homage to a brilliant vocalist and band-leader, an innovative
and accomplished musician who today is sadly missed.
17 Sept 2010
Sterns Release - Classic 1970s Benga Beats From Kenya
Release date: 12th July 2010
D.O. Misiani & Shirati Jazz
The King Of History – Classic 1970s
Benga Beats From Kenya
D.O.
Misiani was Shirati Jazz… Shirati Jazz were D.O. Misiani: it
was his band, he - in the nicest of ways - called the shots and without him it
simply would not have existed. Moreover without Daniel Owino a.k.a “Mwalimu”
(teacher) at the helm, benga, the energetic and hypnotically involving music of
the Luo-speaking people of Kenya, would not be where it is today. Misiani and
Shirati were the first stars, their success set a standard that others could
only follow.
Misiani
wrote songs on all sorts of subjects, not least
Love and Politics. Both got him into trouble; the first required that he leave
his village, the second that he go to prison. But he remained undaunted and
unsilenced, and although he didn't live to see the election of Barack Obama, we
can imagine the fun he would have had with the fact that a Luo man's son can
become President of the United States, while the Presidency in Kenya has so far
eluded any Luo, the 3rd largest language group of that country.their fans –
Wenge Musica, Zaiko Langa Langa and more – but whose line-up seems to change as
frequently as their clothes, always a vital ingredient of the scene.
In the
first flush of ‘world music', the
record labels did not ignore D.O. & Shirati and beginning with Discafrique
in 1988, Globestyle, Earthworks and World Circuit (albeit without D.O. himself)
all released recordings of this key group. Rare though those albums may now be,
Sterns are proud to add to the list and present, with comprehensive notes by
Doug Paterson, intimate photos and tracks mastered to their full-length for the
first time, a selection of hits and scarcities from 1973 – 1979: crucial years
when Shirati’s series of hits defined the classic benga sound.
Buy here at:
Sterns Music [CD]
Boomkat [MP3/
FLAC]
Amazon UK [MP3]
Amazon US [CD]
iTunes UK [AAC]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)