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Awesome Tapes From Africa
Awesome Tapes From Africa is a record label and website operated by Brian Shimkovitz, based in Los Angeles, California. The site was founded in 2006 in Brooklyn, New York. History The site was created as a way for Shimkovitz to share music he had come across while on a Fulbright scholarship in Ghana. He was interested in the variety of genres and artists he found, distributed largely on cassette tapes at markets, but that he had not come across outside West Africa. In 2011, Shimkovitz transitioned the site from just a blog with posted recordings of collected tapes posted without the artists' permission to a commercial record label. The goal of the company is to seed and expand an audience for the artists presented as well as provide opportunities to sell albums and tour. Artists are paid every six months and receive 50% of the profits from an album. Tapes presented on Awesome Tapes come from a variety of sources: gathered in Ghanaian street markets, purchased in stores in the US, o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fulbright Scholarship
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of the United States and other countries, through the exchange of persons, knowledge, and skills. Via the program, competitively-selected American citizens including students, scholars, teachers, professionals, scientists, and artists may receive scholarships or grants to study, conduct research, teach, or exercise their talents abroad; and citizens of other countries may qualify to do the same in the United States. The program was founded by United States Senator J. William Fulbright in 1946 and is considered to be one of the most widely recognized and prestigious scholarships in the world. The program provides approximately 8,000 grants annually – roughly 1,600 to U.S. students, 1,200 to U.S. scholars, 4,000 to foreign students, 900 to fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nahawa Doumbia
Nahawa Doumbia (born ca. 1961) is a singer from Mali's Wassoulou region. Biography and career Doumbia, in a career that lasted for over four decades, was an important musician in the development and definition of Wassoulou music, the popular music from her area of Southern Mali, which in turn had a great influence on Mali's musical culture. Doumbia was born into a caste of blacksmiths and so wouldn't have been allowed to sing, but broke that taboo. Her career got started after she won a contest on the French-language radio station Radio France Internationale. Scholar Lucy O'Brien mentioned her as one of the women who created a music that gave voice to female expression, and praised her "high-tech poetry and metaphor" in a study of women in popular music. Her debut album, ''La Grande Cantatrice Malienne Vol 1'', was recorded with N’Gou Bagayoko, who played acoustic guitar and who later became her husband. After her first recording, as a duo, she moved toward playing with larger g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Independent Record Labels
American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, people who self-identify their ancestry as "American" ** American English, the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States ** Native Americans in the United States, indigenous peoples of the United States * American, something of, from, or related to the Americas, also known as "America" ** Indigenous peoples of the Americas * American (word), for analysis and history of the meanings in various contexts Organizations * American Airlines, U.S.-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas * American Athletic Conference, an American college athletic conference * American Recordings (record label), a record label previously known as Def American * American University, in Washington, D.C. Sports teams Soccer * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antoinette Konan
Antoinette Konan (born January 1, 1960) is an Ivorian singer. Born in Béoumi to musician parents, Konan is a member of the Baoulé people. She studied music at the conservatory in Abidjan. She is known for her eponymous debut album, published in 1986 and reissued by Awesome Tapes From Africa Awesome Tapes From Africa is a record label and website operated by Brian Shimkovitz, based in Los Angeles, California. The site was founded in 2006 in Brooklyn, New York. History The site was created as a way for Shimkovitz to share music he had ... in 2019, on which she was featured performing on the ahoko. She has been called the "queen of the ahoko" for her use of the instrument. She was named an Officer of the Order of Ivory Merit in 2013, having been previously named a knight in 1991. References {{Authority control 1960 births Living people 20th-century Ivorian women singers 21st-century Ivorian women singers People from Vallée du Bandama District Baoulé people ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Vinyl Factory
The Vinyl Factory is a large music company based in London, United Kingdom. It includes a record label, vinyl pressing plant, and a venue space. It also publishes ''Fact'' magazine and owns Phonica Records store. Overview The Vinyl Factory began as a pressing plant in 2001 after purchasing the manufacturing equipment from EMI. For two years, they completed orders left over from EMI's company, which helped keep and maintain a loyal customer base. In 2008, Vinyl Factory expanded into a record label. Commissions & exhibitions The Vinyl Factory has curated exhibitions and events at three spaces in London, The Vinyl Factory Soho, Brewer Street Car Park and Store Studios, 180 The Strand. Recent audio-visual shows presented by Store X The Vinyl Factory have included The Infinite Mix (2016), in partnership with Hayward Gallery; Everything At Once (2017) in partnership with Lisson Gallery and Arthur Jafa's Love is the Message, the Message is Death (2017), in partnership with the S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lala Belu
''Lala Belu'' is the second studio album by Ethiopian singer-songwriter Hailu Mergia. It was released on 23 February 2018 under Awesome Tapes From Africa. Release On 22 November 2017, Mergia announced his first album in 15 years, along with the single "Gum Gum". Critical reception ''Lala Belu'' was met with "universal acclaim" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 81 based on 12 reviews. Aggregator Album of the Year gave the release a 73 out of 100 based on a critical consensus of 7 reviews. At AnyDecentMusic?, the release was rated 7.2 out of 10 based on 10 reviews. Timothy Monger of AllMusic described the album as a "lovely and deeply creative record", while explaining "touching on myriad emotions throughout its six tracks, the album is bright and joyful at times and occasionally funky while frequently veering into the more cerebral and introspect ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shaka Bundu
''Shaka Bundu'' is the debut album by South African musician Penny Penny released in 1994. Penny was discovered in a Johannesburg recording studio by producer Joe Shirimani, who was impressed by Penny's unique vocal style. Shirimani's record label Shandel Music enjoyed the demos he produced for Penny, and let the pair record an album together. Recorded over the space of one week using an Atari computer, Korg M1 synthesiser and reel-to-reel tape, the album blends the Tsonga disco style of music with American house music, reflecting the popularity of American and British electronic dance music in South Africa. It has been credited for pioneering a new style of Tsonga disco with its fusion of slow house rhythms, synthesised steel drums and Penny's modern vocal style atop traditional call-and-response female backing vocals. Released on cassette by Shandel Music, ''Shaka Bundu'' was a success in South Africa, selling over 250,000 copies in the country and being certified double platin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hailu Mergia & His Classical Instrument
''Hailu Mergia & His Classical Instrument'' (), also known as ''Shemonmuanaye'', is a 1985 studio album by Ethiopian jazz musician Hailu Mergia, formerly of the Walias Band. After the band split up in 1983, Mergia moved to the United States and began studying music at Howard University, during which time he discovered an accordion and began playing it. Initially intending to record a cassette of himself playing the accordion in a small studio belonging to an acquaintance at Howard, he also incorporated other instruments in the studio, such as a Rhodes piano and synthesiser. Using all three instruments and a drum machine, he recorded ''His Classical Instrument'' to showcase his mastery of the accordion, an instrument which reminded him of his youth – and which had lost popularity in Ethiopia since the 1950s – with the hopes of bringing it back to prominence. Via the inclusion of modern instruments, the album was also intended to mix the old accordion style with the modern techno ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Togo in the east.Jackson, John G. (2001) ''Introduction to African Civilizations'', Citadel Press, p. 201, . Ghana covers an area of , spanning diverse biomes that range from coastal savannas to tropical rainforests. With nearly 31 million inhabitants (according to 2021 census), Ghana is the List of African countries by population, second-most populous country in West Africa, after Nigeria. The capital and List of cities in Ghana, largest city is Accra; other major cities are Kumasi, Tamale, Ghana, Tamale, and Sekondi-Takoradi. The first permanent state in present-day Ghana was the Bono state of the 11th century. Numerous kingdoms and empires emerged over the centuries, of which the most powerful were the Kingdom of Dagbon in the north and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dur-Dur Band
Dur-Dur Band was a musical group from Mogadishu, Somalia. The band was formed in the 1980s and was one of the most well-known acts on the Mogadishu disco scene at the time. The band later performed and recorded based in neighbouring Ethiopia. Their unique sound encompasses funk and disco, with influences of soul. History Inspired by artists such as Michael Jackson, Bob Marley, and Santana, Dur-Dur Band emerged during a time when Somalia's distinctive contribution to the creative culture in the Horn of Africa was visible and abundant. Thousands of recordings made at the Somali National Theatre, Radio Mogadishu and other studios, were complemented by the nightclubs at Hotel Juba, Jazeera Palace Hotel, and Hotel al-Curuuba, creating a flourishing music scene. By 1987 Dur-Dur Band's line-up featured singers Sahra Abukar Dawo, Abdinur Adan Daljir, Mohamed Ahmed Qomal and Abdukadir Mayow Buunis, backed by Abukar Dahir Qasim (guitar), Abdillahi Ujeeri (Bass Guitar) Yusuf Abdi Haji A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walias Band
Walias Band (sometimes spelled Wallias Band; am, ዋሊያስ ባንድ) were an Ethiopian jazz and funk band active from the early 1970s until the early 1990s. Formed by members of the Venus Band, Walias backed up many prominent singers with a hard polyrhythmic funk sound influenced by western artists like King Curtis, Junior Walker and Maceo Parker. In 1977 they recorded one of the few albums of Ethiopian instrumental music in collaboration with vibraphonist Mulatu Astatke, whose role as a bandleader and composer was also a major influence on Ethiopian popular music. History Walias formed in the early 1970s in Addis Ababa, where they were the house band for the upscale Hilton Hotel. A civilian curfew made it dangerous for clientele visiting the hotel lounge to leave after 11:00 PM, and Walias would end up playing two or three sets until 6:00 AM the next day. The group's first album, ''Tezeta'', was released in 1975 on their own Ethio Sound label. In 1981 Walias became the first ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
