Safarini in Transit: Music of African Immigrants

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Total Tracks: 12   Total Length: 66:59

eMusic Review

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Chris Nickson

eMusic Contributor

04.22.11
A gloriously diverse selection of immigrants celebrating their homelands.
Label: Smithsonian Folkways

In the late 20th century, many Africans moved to the Pacific Northwest for economic reasons, bringing their music with them. So you get Congolese rumba from Wawali Bonane and Frank Ulwenya (the latter is Kenyan, but the rumba is still huge there) and Zimbabwean mbira music from Lora Chiora-Dye nestling next to Afrobeat from Ghana's legendary Obo Addy. The sounds might be transplanted, but they remain real and rooted, and not in the least diluted by distance. Ulwenya, for instance, might have come to the States to work for Boeing, but he still cuts a powerful figure leading a band. The music might be pan-African and gloriously diverse, but it's unified by geography, immigrants celebrating their homelands — which, these days, are only hours away. Incisive and frequently brilliant, this is a joy, and a reminder of how small the modern world is.

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A wonderful experience

Jazzistry

I first heard this album when working at Smithsonian Folkways 3 years ago. It has been the single most influential piece of music in my life since. At times complex, beautiful, and overwhelmingly optimistic, it has broadened the palette of emotions that I have come to recognize through music. Listen to any of the first 3 tracks. For those unfamiliar with afropop, this will open your eyes, and for the returning friend, it will remind you why you love music so much.

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They Say All Media Guide

This 12-song, 67-minute compilation is devoted to the music of African musicians who have immigrated from their homelands to the United States. Specifically, it’s devoted to African musicians who have settled in Seattle, WA, and Portland, OR, with five acts — Wawali Bonane with Yoka Nzenze, Frank Ulwenya & Afrisound, Lora Chiorah-Dye & Sukutai, Kofi Anang, and Obo Addy (the best-known artist of the group) — contributing two or three songs apiece. Although the experience of African musicians establishing themselves in America is a nominal theme of this collection, there’s little influence to be heard from American music. In fact, if you told people that these songs had been recorded in Africa by musicians who never left the continent, very few would be surprised. The musicians represent styles from various African regions: Zimbabwe, Kenya, the Republic of the Congo, and Ghana. The Afropop contributions of Bonane, Ulwenya, and Addy are competent and well recorded, though they don’t really stand out — in terms of either style or quality — from typical, late 20th century Afropop. Care is taken, however, to represent some diversity within these performers’ repertoires: One of Addy’s tracks is a solo piece of voice and percussion, and one of Ulwenya’s features only his voice and guitar. Chiorah-Dye & Sukutai play rhythmic music built around multiple marimba, mbira, and vocal parts, while Anang mixes xylophone and environmental sounds on “Ko (Forest),” and plays kalimba in collaboration with didgeridoo and flute players on “Hail.” – Richie Unterberger

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