Culture
Kenya's diversified and fragmented culture has myriad sources and influences both new and old. Successive migrations and invasions, until the British colonisation in the late 19th Century, have left their mark in the rich mixture of tribes, race and customs seen in Kenya today. Kenya has well over 40 different ethnic groups with different languages and dialects, traditional arts & crafts, architecture in homestead designs, clothing and jewellery, food, social and economic activities.
Languages
The average Kenyan therefore speaks at least three different languages. The Kenyan official national language is English, which is widely spoken, as well as the national language Swahili - the most widely spoken African language. Many other tribal languages are spoken by each of Kenya's 40+ ethnic groups, including Kikuyu, Luhya, Kalenjin, Luo and Kikamba. A more modern language spoken amongst younger people is Sheng - a mixture of Swahili and English, with words of other languages.
Traditional Song and Dance
Songs and dance have always played an important role in African culture, used especially to mark important events and ceremonies. For example, the Maasai had the Engilakinoto, sung after a victorious lion hunt. Structured around a deep rhythmic chant it is accompanied by a spectacular dance in which warriors display their strength and prowess by leaping directly and vertically into the air.
The Luhya of Western Kenya developed a very distinctive dance style called Sikuti after the local name for a drum. This extremely energetic dance is usually performed by paired male and female dancers, and accompanied by several drums, bells, long horns and whistles.
The Kamba and Chuka people both developed a distinctive drumming style, in which a long drum is leant forward and clasped between the thighs. The Kamba were well known for their athletic, almost acrobatic dancing.
Taarab
On the coast, the growth of Swahili culture saw the growth of a unique style of music, called Taarab. Combining elements of African percussion with Arabic rhythms, Taarab become a popular form of music that remains a coastal favourite today.
Benga
When Kenya's first recording studio opened in 1947, local musicians set about creating a distinctive 'Kenyan' music - 'Benga'. A hybrid of South African Jazz, Zimbabwean 'highlife' guitar and the distinctive rumba rhythm of Congolese pop, vocalists sang in their tribal language, creating strong ethnic followings.
Contemporary Benga artists include:
Daniel Owino Misiani (Luo)
· Benga Blast (1993) Based on an interplay between bass and guitar lines, with choral vocals. Repetitious. The guitars have a distinctive sound that I can't place.
· Club Oasis (2003). Resembles Benga Blast, but the songs are more differentiated and complex. Still that distinctive guitar sound. The guitar style is influenced strongly by King Sunny Ade.
Daudi Kabaka (Luhya)
· The Very Best Of … (1983). 17 tracks which put me in mind of 1960s pop - very simple bass-drums-guitar-vocals (with some polyrhythmic exceptions) recorded more-or-less 'live'. Three 'Twist …' numbers are great!
Kamaru (Kikuyu)
(i-Tunes only has an unremarkable dance single - 'Aarrggh' (2010).)
Guitar pickers had long mimicked the quick, syncopated melodies of the Luo's eight-string nyatiti lyre. As the electric guitar emerged in the 60's, the nyatiti's push-and-pull character also influenced electric bass players. Notable artists include:
Daniel Owino Misiani (see above)
Collela Mazee
· Jessica (2006). Very similar to Misiani.
· Hera Mar Mbese (2013). No real advance on Jessica. I think you need to understand the lyrics! (Incidentally, i-Tune's samples are of shocking sound quality.)
· Thum D*g Mor (2013) (with the Victoria B Kingz). Ditto.
· Victoria B Kingz (2013). Ditto (again, i-Tune's samples are of shocking sound quality.)
Ochieng Nelly Mengo. Unsure - try Ochieng Nelly:
· Komala Express. (1998) Equator Heritage Sound. Nicely recorded versions of the same old thing as Misiani and Mazee.
H. N. Ochieng' Kabeselleh
· Achi Maria (1999) Equator Heritage Sounds. King Sunny Ade goes to the Caribbean! A strange mixture that doesn't really work.
· Sanduku Ya Mapendo (2000) Equator Heritage Sounds. More lilting rhythms - 'Millicento' is almost ska - and a Hammond organ has appeared!
· From Nairobi With Love (2012) Equator Heritage Sounds. He's discovered echo and the mellotron, but otherwise nothing's new. 'Matthews Anyumba Juma' is positively Pacific Islander!
Gabriel Omolo:
· Lunch Time (2005/2010). Tamasha Corporation Ltd. Some differences around a common (rhumba?) rhythms - 'Nairobi' and 'Wed Today Divorce Tomorrow' - each benefit from some staccato horns.
In the 1950s, stars George Mukabi and John Mwale popularized the nimble sukuti guitar sound of the Kamba and Chuka people from the western Luhya highlands. In the '60s, Luhya guitarist and singer Shem Tube and his group Abana Ba Nasery ("Nursery Boys") recorded hits with dueling acoustic guitars, three-part vocal harmonies, and ringing Fanta-bottle percussion. Since the '80s, Sukuma Bin Ongaro has remained Benga's top Luhya star.
The godfather of Kikuyu pop Joseph Kamaru burst onto the scene in 1967 with a Kikuyu take on benga that also nods to country-and-western music. Kamaru rejects love songs to focus playfully but pointedly on a variety of social topics using masterful 'deep Kikuyu', full of proverbs and metaphors. Peter Kigia and the Chania River Boys also take on social themes, while Councilor DK sings love songs popular with young people.
Kamba people inhabit the parched highlands south and east of Nairobi and play music close to the Benga/rumba mainstream, but with distinct local melodies. Popular acts include Peter Mwambi and his Kyanganga Boys, Kakai Kilonzo's Kilimambogo Brothers and the Katitu Boys, who also sang in Swahili and achieved mainstream success.
Afropop
The arrival of better and more easily accessible instrumentation and recording facilities is continuing to strengthen and diversify the Kenyan music scene. In the late twentieth and early twenty first centuries, a new wave of popular Kenyan musicians is fusing traditional elements with many external/western influences and adopting rap, reggae, rhythm and blues and swing. Notable artists include:
Gidi Gidi Maji Maji
Kalamashaka
Necessary Noize
Nazizi
Poxi Presha
Mercy Myra.
Lao Kouyate Porquoi tout ça? (2008) Felmay.
A very different approach to the kora, which can sometimes make it sound like the koto and at others like a rock (-ish) guitar. His voice is rich and jazzy and while he attempts to play in non-traditional 'waves of notes', this can sometimes result in very fidgety playing.
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