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viewing 1 To 5 of 5 items
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CD
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BNOW 2023CD
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Bholoja, born Mbongiseni Ngubane in 1979 in Hhohho, Kingdom of Eswatini (former Swaziland), is considered to be one of the most relevant figures of the contemporary African music scene. With an infectious sense of humor and optimism, Bholoja's voice has become a mouthpiece for the underprivileged. Singing in Siswati and English, his music, Swazi Soul, blends alternative soul, gospel, jazz, blues, and African traditional rhythms. After the success of his debut album Swazi Soul I, released in 2009, Bholoja became Eswatini's rising symbol of its native rhythms, melodies, and culture. In 2015, he completed Swazi Soul II in South Africa, setting him as one of the few genuine innovators on the Swazi music scene. Since his first gig at House on Fire 2004, Bholoja shared his music at numerous venues including festival performances such as MTN Bushfire, Standard Bank Joy of Jazz, Azgo Festival, and Moshito Festival. His African and European tour with Cameroonian artist Kareyce Fotso in 2010 placed him as an influential symbol of his home country. Appointed a member to the Entertainment Committee in Eswatini by King Mswati III in 2008, he founded the "Bholoja Arts Technology and Educational Foundation" (BATEF) in 2010. His powerful lyrics combined with a striking multi- colored voice has won respect and expanded his music internationally. Also featuring Wally Badarou.
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OMONEV 123LP
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LP version. Vida is the latest album release by Omara Portuondo, the grand Cuban Lady of Feeling. In 1997, at the age of 67, Omara became The Diva of Buena Vista Social Club, crowning her fame after half a century of a huge national and international solo career. Omara won her first Latin Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Tropical Album along with a Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009. She received three Grammy Award nominations in 2019, and in 2021 was awarded with the Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts by the Spanish Ministry of Culture and Sports, and then won the prestigious Songlines Pioneer Award for her life-long contribution to Cuban music and culture. At the age of 90, Omara found herself stuck in Havana due to the pandemic, and had to put the tours on hold. Known for her compassion and her sense of humanity, Omara naturally chose to express herself through music in those historically significant times, inviting life-long friends and colleagues to participate in the long-distance project. Omara's son, Ariel Jiménez Portuondo, organized the recordings and found the perfect artistic producer, the recently Grammy nominated Guatemalan singer-song writer Gaby Moreno. This album is a tribute to Omara's musical legacy. On Vida, Omara sings together with a stellar line up of legendary singers. Anyone who has loved Cuban and Latin music of the last 50 years will recognize the beauty of the timeless songs that reflect Omara's thoughts and feelings during this heavy period. Like so many others, she found herself mourning dear friends lost to the pandemic, and the ballads "Silencio" and "Duele" reflect this "melancolía". Besides Covid, the year 2020 brought to the surface another pandemic: the one of systemic racism and violence. "Now" was originally song by Lena Horne in 1963, and in the '70s, Omara made it famous in Cuba. Gaby Moreno's "Bolero a la Vida" won them a Latin Grammy Nomination, "Honrar la Vida" was sung beautifully together with Ruben Blades, "Se Feliz" with Keb 'Mo and "Gracias a la vida" with Natalia Lafourcade; all reflect Omara's eternal positive spirit. The "Con 2 que se quieran", sung together with Amaury Pérez and Alexander Abreu, is an explosion of a party to leave you with a smile, dancing down your road of life. Also features Andy Montañez, Rapahel & Orchesta Faild, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Susana Baca, Carlos Rivera, Nathalia Lafoucade, and Amaury Pérez & Alexander Abreu.
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OMONE 123CD
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Vida is the latest album release by Omara Portuondo, the grand Cuban Lady of Feeling. In 1997, at the age of 67, Omara became The Diva of Buena Vista Social Club, crowning her fame after half a century of a huge national and international solo career. Omara won her first Latin Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Tropical Album along with a Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009. She received three Grammy Award nominations in 2019, and in 2021 was awarded with the Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts by the Spanish Ministry of Culture and Sports, and then won the prestigious Songlines Pioneer Award for her life-long contribution to Cuban music and culture. At the age of 90, Omara found herself stuck in Havana due to the pandemic, and had to put the tours on hold. Known for her compassion and her sense of humanity, Omara naturally chose to express herself through music in those historically significant times, inviting life-long friends and colleagues to participate in the long-distance project. Omara's son, Ariel Jiménez Portuondo, organized the recordings and found the perfect artistic producer, the recently Grammy nominated Guatemalan singer-song writer Gaby Moreno. This album is a tribute to Omara's musical legacy. On Vida, Omara sings together with a stellar line up of legendary singers. Anyone who has loved Cuban and Latin music of the last 50 years will recognize the beauty of the timeless songs that reflect Omara's thoughts and feelings during this heavy period. Like so many others, she found herself mourning dear friends lost to the pandemic, and the ballads "Silencio" and "Duele" reflect this "melancolía". Besides Covid, the year 2020 brought to the surface another pandemic: the one of systemic racism and violence. "Now" was originally song by Lena Horne in 1963, and in the '70s, Omara made it famous in Cuba. Gaby Moreno's "Bolero a la Vida" won them a Latin Grammy Nomination, "Honrar la Vida" was sung beautifully together with Ruben Blades, "Se Feliz" with Keb 'Mo and "Gracias a la vida" with Natalia Lafourcade; all reflect Omara's eternal positive spirit. The "Con 2 que se quieran", sung together with Amaury Pérez and Alexander Abreu, is an explosion of a party to leave you with a smile, dancing down your road of life. Also features Andy Montañez, Rapahel & Orchesta Faild, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Susana Baca, Carlos Rivera, Nathalia Lafoucade, and Amaury Pérez & Alexander Abreu.
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ZR 2023001CD
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As a bass guitarist, composer and initiator, Teun Creemers has always had a broad interest in different musical genres, which has never limited him to playing only one genre. After years of experiences and discoveries within different bands and genres like jazz, funk, and West African music, it was high time to take the lead himself and record his experiences in the form of his debut album Naamu. For this album, Teun combined his passion for West African music with his acquired experiences in jazz and groove music to create an adventurous repertoire he himself calls "Malinke Groove Jazz". After having played bass in the bands of various virtuoso West African musicians, he felt the need to delve further into the West African music and all its possibilities. Without neglecting his own built-up experiences within the Dutch jazz scene, he pursued his dream to combine the best of two worlds; creating his own unique blend of tradition and innovation. Naamu was recorded in studios in the Netherlands, Mali, United States, and France. The album was mainly recorded and produced at the Galloway Studio in Nijmegen (NL) where Teun collaborated with co-producer Sebastiaan van Bijlevelt. The additional recordings made abroad were with various African musicians including the great kamale n'goni player, Harouna Samake, and the talented upcoming Malian singer, Kankou Kouyaté, among others. The lyrics on the album are sung in Bambara, one of the many languages of West-Africa. The various singers this album features, like Kankou Kouyaté and Yacouba "Bloffou" Sagara, sing poetically about themes like war, friendship and a celebration to women. The powerful lyrics of the album's first single, "A Nyininka", mysteriously leave much to the imagination while blending perfectly with the raw, thunderous playing of the various musicians on the album. Guests featured on the album include some of the best musicians of the West-African music scene like Harouna Samake (kamale n'goni), Mamadou Diabate (balafon), Sefoudi Kouyate (kora), Yacouba Sagara (vocals), Kankou Kouyaté (vocals), Lassine Diarra (vocals), Bah Kouyaté (vocals), Eva Dembeler (vocals), and Ami Dante (vocals). Also participating were Dutch musicians such as Jesse Schilderink (tenor), Miguel Boelens (alto/tenor), Mete Erker (bass clarinet), Yoran Vroom (drums), Antoine Duijkers (drums/percussion), Yariv Vroom (percussion), Fantison Araby O'Bryan (percussion), Yannick van ter Beek (percussion), and Teis Semey (guitar).
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AAONE 2022CD
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The Nigerian singer and guitarist's third album, Yoruba Odyssey, is a project that goes back to the very core of Adédèji's roots. The result is a progressive jazz-funk record, influenced with vintage Afrobeat and Yoruba eclectic sounds, that greatly reflects Adédèji's up-bringing in the metropolitan city of Lagos. A ten-track educating, entertaining, feel good, funky album, that chronicles his interpretation of the music and artists that influenced him. From soul, to jazz, to blues, to funk, to the traditional Yoruba music he grew up with. Yoruba Odyssey was recorded during three days in Lagos, Nigeria, at the legendary Afrodisia/Decca Studio, that has housed giants like Fela Kuti, King Sunny Ade, and Ebenezer Obey, to name a few. The album presents authentic and personal ideas with tremendous harmonies and tight arrangements. The line-up includes some of Nigeria's most skilled musicians; the grooviest rhythm section and a splendid horn section, adds to the Afrobeat-influenced sound together with powerful female and male backing vocals, that clearly reference Adédèji's gospel upbringing. The lyrics are song in Yoruba, English, and Pidgin English. In the texts, Adédèji's reignites the traditional identity of Yoruba culture using riddles and proverbs, as well as talking about the society. "Every aspect of the human life, depicts a form of sojourn or the other. From the previous albums Ajò through the double dose of Afreekanism to this point of the Lagos experience, let your mind transverse the cosmos," Adédèji says. Adédèji started singing in a Church Choir in Lagos, and by the age of ten, he became the leader of the choir. His first album, Ajo, featuring Lionel Loueke, got great international reviews and won the VNO NCW Noord Talent Award, The Netherlands, in 2012. His second album, Afreekanism, won him the LBM Awards for "Best Afro Fusion Artist" in Nigeria in 2017. Adédèji shared stages with Tony Allen, Lionel Loueke, Gene Jackson, Ayo Bankole, Paco Sery, FraFra Sound, and many more.
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