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Franck Biyong
Franck Biyong (born 3 December 1973) is a Cameroonian musician, bandleader and record producer. He plays the electric guitar, bass as well as percussion and keyboards. After a string of AfroJazz albums, Franck is breaking new ground with a genre called "Alternative Afro-Electro-Rock" or "Afrolectric Music" that fuses Rock, Electronica and African-flavoured beats. His music leans towards the new sound of Black Rock and Biyong is notable for his African "Guitar Hero" musical alternative and aesthetics. Early life and education Franck Biyong was born in France but grew up in Gabon , Nigeria and Ivory Coast. His father went to France as a student, graduated, became an English teacher and moved his family back to West Africa . Franck and his siblings attended the Institut National Supérieur des Arts et de l'Action Culturelle in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. He originally studied piano but dropped it in favour of drums, percussion and eventually, guitar. Franck's fondness for African-American ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alternative Rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstream or commercial rock or pop music. The term's original meaning was broader, referring to musicians influenced by the musical style or independent, DIY ethic, DIY ethos of late-1970s punk rock.di Perna, Alan. "Brave Noise—The History of Alternative Rock Guitar". ''Guitar World''. December 1995. Traditionally, alternative rock varied in terms of its sound, social context, and regional roots. Throughout the 1980s, magazines and zines, college radio airplay, and word of mouth had increased the prominence and highlighted the diversity of alternative rock's distinct styles (and music scenes), such as noise pop, indie rock, grunge, and shoegaze. In September 1988, Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' introduced "alternative" into their charting ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Onyeabor
William Ezechukwu Onyeabor (, ; 26 March 1946 – 16 January 2017) was a Nigerian funk musician and businessman. His music was widely heard in Nigeria in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Despite his success, he remained an enigmatic, private and reclusive figure. Overview Onyeabor's songs are often heavily rhythmic and synthesized, occasionally epic in scope, with lyrics decrying war. Onyeabor himself and female backing singers provided vocals. In the 2010s, some of his songs appeared on various compilations, most frequently his biggest hit, "Better Change Your Mind", which appeared on ''Africa 100'', ''World Psychedelic Classics 3: Love's a Real Thing – The Funky Fuzzy Sounds of West Africa'', and ''Nigeria 70: The Definitive Story of 1970's Funky Lagos'', through labels such as Luaka Bop. Biography Onyeabor was born into a poor family, but became financially successful enough to travel to Europe to study record manufacturing. Some biographies claim that he studied cinematogr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pat Thomas (Ghanaian Musician)
Pat Thomas (born Nana Kwabena Amo Mensah; August 14, 1946) is a Ghanaian vocalist and songwriter. He is widely known for his work in highlife bands of Ebo Taylor. Early life and education Pat Thomas was born in the Ashanti region of Ghana. His father was a music theory instructor and his mother a bandleader. Career He started his musical career in the 1960s where he collaborated with Ebo Taylor. In 1974, he formed the band "Sweet Beans" and with them, he recorded his first album ''False lover''. He recorded his second album "''Pat Thomas Introduces Marijata"'' with the band Marijata. After the coup in Ghana in 1979, he relocated to Berlin and later settled in Canada. He is now touring worldwide with his Kwashibu Area Band. In June 2015 they released the album ''Pat Thomas and Kwashibu Area Band'' to mark 50 years of his musical career. Thomas is known as “The Golden Voice Of Africa”. Awards In the year 2015, Pat Thomas and Kwashibu Area Band self-titled album was list ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ebo Taylor
Ebo Taylor (born 1936) is a Ghanaian guitarist, composer, bandleader, record producer and arranger focusing on highlife and afrobeat music. Career Ebo Taylor has been a pivotal figure on the Ghanaian music scene for over six decades. In the late 1950s he was active in the influential highlife bands the Stargazers and the Broadway Dance Band. In 1962, Taylor took his group, the Black Star Highlife Band, to London. In London, Taylor collaborated with Nigerian afrobeat star Fela Kuti as well as other African musicians in Britain at the time. Returning to Ghana, Taylor worked as a producer, crafting recordings for Pat Thomas, C. K. Mann, and others, as well as exploring solo projects, combining traditional Ghanaian material with afrobeat, jazz, and funk rhythms to create his own recognizable sound in the 1970s. He was the inhouse guitar player, arranger, and producer for Essiebons, founded by Dick Essilfie-Bondzie. Taylor's work became popular internationally with hip-hop pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ornette Coleman
Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter, and composer known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation''. His pioneering performances often abandoned the chordal and harmony-based structure found in bebop, instead emphasizing a jarring and avant-garde approach to improvisation. AllMusic called him "one of the most important (and controversial) innovators of the jazz avant-garde". Born in Fort Worth, Texas, Coleman began his musical career playing in local R&B and bebop groups, and eventually formed his own group in Los Angeles featuring members such as Ed Blackwell, Don Cherry, Charlie Haden, and Billy Higgins. In 1959, he released the controversial album ''The Shape of Jazz to Come'' and began a long residency at the Five Spot jazz club in New York City. His 1960 album ''Free Jazz'' would profoundly influence the di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SOB's
SOB's is a live world music venue and restaurant in the Hudson Square neighborhood of Manhattan. S.O.B.’s is an abbreviation of Sounds of Brazil. Larry Gold started SOBs in June 1982, and he currently still owns the space. Gold opened the venue with the purpose of exposing the music of the Afro-Latino diaspora to as many people as possible. It has a standing capacity of 450, and a seating capacity of 160. In its early days, SOBs existed on a barren stretch at the corner of Varick Street and Houston Street, just above the Houston Street subway station. The area, now known as Hudson Square, soon became trendy due to its proximity to the SoHo neighborhood. The venue's reputation began to grow with performances from Latin legends like Tito Puente, Marc Anthony, Celia Cruz and Eddie Palmieri. Brazilian artists including Seu Jorge, Ben Jorge, and Astrud Gilberto have performed at the venue, as well as more contemporary artists such as Isaac Delgado, Orquesta Aragon, Los Papines, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Electronica
Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to refer to electronic music generally. History Early 1990s: origins and UK scene The original wide-spread use of the term "electronica" derives from the influential English experimental techno label New Electronica, which was one of the leading forces of the early 1990s introducing and supporting dance-based electronic music oriented towards home listening rather than dance-floor play, although the word "electronica" had already begun to be associated with synthesizer generated music as early as 1983, when a "UK Electronica Festival" was first held. At that time electronica became known as "electronic listening music", also becoming more or less synonymous to ambient techno and intelligent techno, and was considered distinct from other em ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AfroBeat
Afrobeat is a Nigerian music genre that involves the combination of West African musical styles (such as traditional Yoruba music and highlife) and American funk, jazz, and soul influences, with a focus on chanted vocals, complex intersecting rhythms, and percussion.Grass, Randall F. "Fela AnikulaThe Art of an Afrobeat Rebel". ''The Drama Review: TDR''. MIT Press. 30: 131–148. The style was pioneered in the 1960s by Nigerian multi-instrumentalist and bandleader Fela Kuti, who is responsible for popularizing the style both within and outside Nigeria. Distinct from Afrobeat is Afrobeats – a sound originating in West Africa in the 21st century, one that takes in diverse influences and is an eclectic combination of genres such as hip hop, house, jùjú, ndombolo, R&B and soca. The two genres, though often conflated, are not the same. History Afrobeat was developed in Nigeria in the late 1960s by Fela Kuti who, with drummer Tony Allen, experimented with different c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Egypt 80
Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti (born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti; 15 October 1938 – 2 August 1997), also known as Abami Eda, was a Nigerian musician, bandleader, composer, political activist, and Pan-Africanist. He is regarded as the pioneer of Afrobeat, a Nigerian music genre that combines West African music with American funk and jazz. At the height of his popularity, he was referred to as one of Africa's most "challenging and charismatic music performers". AllMusic described him as a musical and sociopolitical voice of international significance. Kuti was the son of Nigerian women's rights activist Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti. After early experiences abroad, he and his band Africa 70 (featuring drummer and musical director Tony Allen) shot to stardom in Nigeria during the 1970s, during which he was an outspoken critic and target of Nigeria's military juntas. In 1970, he founded the Kalakuta Republic commune, which declared itself independent from military rule. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Africa ′70
Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti (born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti; 15 October 1938 – 2 August 1997), also known as Abami Eda, was a Nigerian musician, bandleader, composer, political activist, and Pan-Africanist. He is regarded as the pioneer of Afrobeat, a Nigerian music genre that combines West African music with American funk and jazz. At the height of his popularity, he was referred to as one of Africa's most "challenging and charismatic music performers". AllMusic described him as a musical and sociopolitical voice of international significance. Kuti was the son of Nigerian women's rights activist Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti. After early experiences abroad, he and his band Africa 70 (featuring drummer and musical director Tony Allen) shot to stardom in Nigeria during the 1970s, during which he was an outspoken critic and target of Nigeria's military juntas. In 1970, he founded the Kalakuta Republic commune, which declared itself independent from military rule. The c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
