RE: More Excellent Music

As promised, some new tracks (traditional) have been from Sudan, Mali, Ethiopia, South Africa, Tanzania, Trinidad, Brazil, Angola and more.

Stay tuned as more new music is coming to the 'fusion' playlists sometime later this week.


Enjoy listening to Kemet Music Radio

RE: KMR Website Launch Coming Soon

There've been a few slight delays regarding the debut of our website, but rest assured that the launch of the KMR website will happen soon. I can't say exactly when, at the moment, but I will state that it'll be a matter of days rather than weeks.

In the meantime, there will be plenty of new tracks coming your way this week. Stay tuned.

And thank you for listening to Kemet Music Radio

RE: KMR Website Launch

It feels like forever since I've posted a msg. on KMR's MySpace blog, but I've been busy @ getting the website together plus a whole bunch of related activities. It's taken a little longer than I expected but now the launch is on the horizon. The intended scheduled date for the launch of the website is for Sep30' 07. I will keep you posted on any changes to this date.

In August' 07 we added about 70 new tracks. Towards the end of September look out for more, incredible African music , from countries like: Tanzania, Ethiopia, Mali, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Algeria, S.Africa, Brazil, Cuba, Martinique, Antigua and more....

I'll will also like to thank the small, but committed team of people that are helping me put it together.


Thanks for listening to Kemet Music Radio

Website For Kemet Music Radio Under Construction

Please bear with us as we make improvements to our business infrastructure. The construction of a our website is also a part of this, and is expected to be launched sometime in late September ' 07.

In the meantime, there have been some new drum tracks that have been added to our 'Spiritual Drums' play lists. There will be new songs added to the other main play lists sometime later this week.

Thanks for listening to Kemet Music Radio

Asnaqètch Wèrqu: Krar player and poet

Asnaqetch Werqu was born an orphan who went on to become the first actress to appear on the Ethiopian stage. However, her musical talent garnered her attention that outshone her acting career in the National Theatre. Reportedly, she initially worked as an actress and dancer in the Haile Sellassie I theatre troupe and was actually the first woman to be part of this troupe. At an early age Asnaqetch taught herself to play the krar and eventually went on to become famous as a master of the krar (lyre) and a singer who was considered to be the last great storyteller to engage in the tradition of poetic jousting, following in the traditions of the Azmaris or artist caste.


A five (sometimes six) stringed lyre with a gut resonator, the krar was an ancient Ethiopian instrument frequently used by the Azmari or musician class. It has been said the the Japanese koto has a sound similar to that the krar. Azmari, can be male or female, and are skilled at singing spontaneous verses while playing the krar or masenqo (one-stringed fiddle). They play in drinking establishments known as 'tejbeit' that serve 'tej' (honey mead). They are also often invited to perform at private parties where they would improvise lyrics based on a theme suggested by the host. This poetic jousting not only relies improvisation but the art of poignant verses, wit, imagery and sarcastic puns.


Following Haile Selaissie's removal from office by the Derg in 1974, artists in Ethiopia were often forced underground to perform or had to attempt to create their music in a very hostile environment. This repressive regime slaughtered hundreds of thousands and fuelled subsequent unrest. Nevertheless a brief period of artistic freedom existed in the 70's between Selaissie's imperial rule and the military junta of the Derg.


The French label Buda Musique, was able to select 22 songs to compile an album for Volume 16 of the acclaimed Ethiopiques series - named The Lady With The Krar. These songs were chosen from two LPs recorded in 1974 and 1976. Buda Musique acquired them from their previously-acquired Kaifa Records archive (1973-77). Apparently, the first 12 songs on this album were released during the beginning of the revolutionary disorder and were banned almost immediately afterwards, as many records were simply taken off of store shelves. It didn't help that the krar was often regarded as a 'devil's instrument' by certain segments of the population.


Werqu's verses evoke epic tales and her love ballads are tinged with longing and melancholy. Surprisingly, during her time as an musician and actress, artists in general were frowned upon, and this was especially true for female ones. This contributed to many hardships and suffering in Werqu's life, which she often expressed in her music, as she recorded her struggles against the conventions of established society. Ironically enough, it is from the depths of this emotional angst that we see the emergence of a profound spiritual beauty that resonates with her
'serenely-emotional' vocals as they meld with the hypnotic melodies of the krar.

Tune in to Kemet Music Radio to listen to Asnaqetch Werqu and many other original African artists

Selected Discography:

Album: Ethiopiques 16: Asnaqetch Werqu : The Lady With the Krar

Label: Buda Musique

Year: 2004

Mahmoud Fadl: Nubian Master Drummer

Quote
"A few years ago, at the Love Parade in Berlin, it took a very special form-a drum & DJ project called UNITED NUBIANS that spread the message of the "Black Pharaohs" to the club circuit. The project survived the occasion and today, on the dark stage, I sometimes travel home on a tribal house beat to the rhythms of my childhood. "
Mahmoud Fadl

Mahmoud Fadl, the celebrated Nubian Master Drummer was born in 1955. He was raised in the cities of Assuan and Cairo in Egypt, and his Nubian background is rooted in the Griot culture of the "Battikol" people. Mahmoud started out as a musician at Nubian and Arabic wedding events as well as a limbo dancer. He soon became a much sought after commodity, playing with the likes of Ahmed Adawia and Nubian legend Ali Hassan Kuban. After a number of international tours, Mahmoud Fadl secured a place for his music in Europe and started to develop an international portfolio.

The Nubian people's legacy extends far into antiquity, predating Egyptian civilization. Some recent finds by French archaeologists have suggested that Nubia pre-dated Egypt by as much as 3,000 years and is, in all likelihood, the source of Egyptian civilization. The flooding of the Aswan dam, forced Mahmoud Fadl and thousands of Nubians to leave their homeland in Nubia, which is located today in Northern Sudan and Southern Egypt and drowned old Nubia and countless Nubian monuments and historical sites.

As a musical director, Mahmoud Fadl contributed to a four album project called "Salamat", released on Piranha records, which focussed on the music of the legendary and suppressed Nubian culture. He has four albums released under his own name and on one of them pays a Nubian homage to deceased pan-Arabian diva Umm Kalthoum, showcasing the voice of Salwa Abou Greisha from the famous Greisha family of Nubian musicians, with accompaniment from the Cairo Opera. Mahmoud's album "Drummers of the Nile", features ancient music from along the nile, and he collaborates with fellow drummers Gaafar Hargal and Hamdi Matoul, Nubian wedding diva Salma and many more musicians. He has also collaborated with The Klezmatics (New York), Orientalist piano player Maurice El Medioni (Marseille/Oran) and the famous gypsy saxophone player Ferus Mustafov (Skopje). Mahmoud also introduced western audiences to the distinguished grandmaster of oriental trumpet, Samy El Bably, on an alluring album called "Love Letters from King Tut-Ank Amen."

Today, Mahmoud travels between Cairo and Berlin working on various projects. His current tribal house project entitled "United Nubians" has earned him much international acclaim in the vibrant Berlin club scene. In addition to his work as a musician, film actor and fashion designer, Mahmoud Fadl frequently performs with the West-African Griot Ensemble, "Saf-Sap" on oriental wedding and musical workshops.

You can listen to Mahmoud Fadl and many more African musicians at Kemet Music Radio.

Selected Discography:


Album: Drummers of The Nile In Town
Label: Piranha
Year: 2003

Album: Drummers of The Nile Go South
Label: Piranha
Year: 2001

Album: Umm Kalthoum 7000
Label: Piranha
Year: 2000

Album: Love Letters From King Tut-Ank Amen
Label: Piranha
Year: 1998

Album: Ezzayakoum
Label: Piranha
Year: 1998

Album: Drummers of the Nile
Label: Piranha
Year: 1997

Album: Nubiana
Label: Piranha
Year: 1996

Album: Salam Delta
Label: Piranha
Year: 1995

Album: Mambo El Soudani
Label: Piranha
Year: 1994

Another Hot, New Music Review

We've done it again!


More incredibly sizzling music has been added to our active playlists. As promised there is some Afro-Brazilian berimbau music for Capoeira by masters like Mestre Bimba, Candomble and Samba drumming as well as a little battucada.

Other new music includes Gnawa music from Morocco from Mustapha Baqbou, and we will be adding more Gnawa music in the not too distant future. More tracks include: Kalimba (thumb piano) & Kalimbu (berimbau) music from Zambia, Shona Mbira music from Zimbabwe, music from the Nguni people of South Africa with the Uhadi (gourd bow/fiddle) and flutes, Malian artists Sissokho Yakhouba & Lansine Kouyate on the Kora and Balafon.

More superb M'balax tunes from the likes of Fatou Guewel & Groupe Sope Noreyni, and Mbaye Dieye Faye, as well as unique South African Marimba music and fanatastic drums from Mamadi Bagayogo of the Ivory Coast, Nyanyo Addo of Ghana, Mamoudou Kante of Mali and much more...

Please tune in toKemet Music Radioand enjoy...