CARDRUNNERS

What's Your Edge

Zimba's Blog

November 03, 2007

One of the aspects that I enjoyed most in owning my African art gallery for 12 years was playing African music all day. It was one of the great joys and comforts for the long hours I spent waiting on customers to walk in and enjoy the art. It's been 11 months since it closed and I've hardly played any African music since its closure. Tonight, I was wandering on You Tube and decided to pull up a couple songs to share with members. Consider it a cultural immersion into something very different from the normal music you listen to. There is such a variety of different music styles throughout Africa. What has always struck me about the music is that it was often sung in language I didn't know and yet it still conveyed tremendous feeling and emotion.

While I have over 100 cds in my collection, the samples I could choose from on You Tube were quite limited. I chose one from my favorite singer in Zimbabwe - Oliver Mtukudi. He is the most popular artist in the country and has an incredibly soulful voice.

The second video is a montage of several Malian artists. It also shows some of the beautiful landscape of Mali. It is much more mellow guitar based music from artists like Habib Koite and others. I'll share some more music and videos in the future if people enjoy them.