Piranha Records, a Berlin-based independent record label, was founded in 1987 to produce and distribute mainly African, Gypsy and Jewish music. The label expanded its roster to include various projects by 3 Mustaphas 3 bass player and crooner Colin Bass. His work with Sundanese (West Javan) musicians, under his Asian moniker Sabah Habas Mustapha, produced several excellent albums and one much-covered popular love song, Denpasar Moon.
Worldbeat John Clewley
One of Piranha's first productions was an album of mbira (thumb piano or sanza) music from Zimbabwe by one of the only female mbira players in the country, Stella Chiweshe. The album, Ambuya!, brought to international attention Chiweshe and her singing and playing of the mbira dzavadzimu, the traditional instrument of the Shona people of Zimbabwe. Now, some 33-and-one-third years since its release (a nice turntable pun), Ambuya! has been remastered and reissued on vinyl, download and CD, the latter of which includes songs recorded for a John Peel Session on BBC radio in 1988.
A team from 3 Mustaphas 3 -- Colin Bass on bass, Nigel Watson on drums and Ben Mandelson as producer -- collaborated with Chiweshe and her then band Earthquake. Her album release drew attention to those African women working in the male-dominated world of music (both traditional and popular). Her music was instrumental in supporting independence from colonial rule by Britain; she also was a key innovator in the development and electrification of the mbira and its more modern repertoire.
As with Thomas Mapfumo, a long-time World Beat favourite, Chiweshe had to leave Zimbabwe after independence in 1980; she is now based in Germany from where she continues to tour, record and teach.
Ambuya! is one of those albums, like say, the Les Ambassador's Mandjou, Orchestra Baobab's Specialist In All Styles or Baba Maal's Djam Leeli, that you just must get for your music collection. First of all, it's a great introduction to mbira music, the songs have raw edge to them, in contrast to the smooth productions of so-called "world music" at the time she released the album. Right now, I'm enjoying the infectious beat of Kassaha and the foot-tapping Sarura Wako. If you like Thomas Mapfumo and the Bhundu Boys, both of whom popularised Zimbabwean popular music on the international stage, then this album is for you -- highly recommended.
Chiweshe continues to support mbira music and Shona culture in Zimbabwe; through her Chivanhu Foundation that she has established the Chivanhu Center in her home region in Southern Zimbabwe. More info from stellachiweshe.com.
The Habibi Funk label recently released a compilation of Sudanese jazz that is rarely off my turntable at the moment. The King Of Sudanese Jazz features a musician who won this title in the early 1970s, singer and guitarist Sharhabil Ahmed -- these amazingly dreamy jazz songs were recorded during the "golden era" of Sudanese music in the 1970s. The music which is labelled jazz isn't actually jazz as you would find it in the West; jazz was used to indicate modernity, so many bands added jazz to their band name, such as Franco's OK Jazz in the Congo. No, this music is a unique blend of traditional Sudanese traditional music with Congolese rumba, Arabic, rock'n'roll and funk, the odd surf sound and influences from the region, especially Ethiopia (Mulatu Astatke remains a popular jazz figure in Sudan). The sound has a harder edge to it than Ethiopian music but that may be down to the lack of quality recording equipment at the time. In any event, get this album and you'll be happily dancing around in no time.
Apichat Pakwan, the Dutch-Isan music collective, will release a new EP on March 30, Nam Ton Tad. The band released an EP in 2017 and then a full album, Esantronics, on the Dutch label Animist Records in 2019. The band toured the same year but since lockdown has been based in Holland. This new EP features on the A side two instrumentals, Nam Ton Tad, and one a slow dub; on the B side, the two songs featured are from live performances by the band: Improvisation from a gig in Singapore; and Reasonator Part II from a show in Amsterdam. More info from animistsound.bandcamp.com.
John Clewley can be contacted at clewley.john@gmail.com.
The King Of Sudanese Jazz.
Nam Ton Tad. John Clewley
