Music is the weapon of the future : fifty years of African popular music

From the unique voice of Salif Keita and the hard funk of Fela Kuti to the poignant blues of Cesaria Evora and the upbeat swing of South African township jazz, African music has shaken the planet. This book traces its history through 30 portraits. Instead of offering biographical summaries, Tenaille plunges straight to the deepest, most intimate, and most significant aspects of the life and work of each musician. In a compact form, this retrospective imparts all the information essential to understanding these complex pop stars, while putting them in a political and cultural context and spicing up the mix with generous helpings of anecdote.

• Map of Africa p. x
• Introduction p. xiii
• The Sweet Smells of Independence
• ... And Lumumba Was Dancing the Cha-Cha-Cha: Joseph Kabasele and the Rise of the Congolese Crucible p. 3
• E. T. Mensah: The King of Highlife: The Influence of Colonization on Music p. 11
• Miriam Makeba: The "Click-Click Girl": South African Music Between Silence and Exile p. 19
• Bembeya Jazz and the Syliphone Elephant: The Era of National Pride in Guinea p. 27
• Francis Bebey, Pierre Akendengue: The Metropolitans: The Children of Negritude p. 35
• Rakoto Frah: The Wizard Merlin of the Sodina: The Malagasy Musical Entity p. 43
• The Salt of the Earth
• Thomas Mapfumo and the Ancestors' Mbira in Zimbabwe: National Liberation Music in Southern Africa p. 51
• Franco: "You Go in OK, You Come Out KO": The Second Wave of the Congolese Sound p. 59
• Fela Kuti: "The Man Who Carried Death in His Pouch": The Quest for the Nigerian Afrobeat p. 67
• Mahlathini, "King of the Groaners," and Johnny Clegg, "The White Zulu": The Soweto Stewpot on the Hot Coals of Apartheid p. 77
• Roots
• Granmoun Lele and Danyel Waro: The Pulse of Reunionese Maloya: The Memory of the Maroons and the Return of Identity p. 87
• Doudou N'Diaye Rose: The Messiaen of the Dakar Medina: Africa and the Return to Rhythm p. 93
• The "Strange Niger Blue" of Mali's Ali Farka Toure: The Roots of the Blues p. 99
• Bi Kidude: "The Little Thing," Soul of the Zanzibar Taarab: East Africa Between Bantu and Arab Colors p. 105
• Crisis of the Signs
• Toure Kunda and the "Dance of the Leaves": African Immigration and the Vogue for Black Music p. 113
• Salif Keita: The Treason of the Albino: The Contradictions of the Modern Griot p. 121
• M'Pongo Love: The Feminist Who "Tickles" Men: African Diversity's Unspoken Matter p. 131
• Zao: "Mr. Corpse": The Spices of Humorous Music p. 139
• Alpha Blondy: "i Am a Rastafoulosophe, You Know!": The Rooting of Reggae in Africa p. 147
• Mamadou Konte's Little Hat: The Activists of Black Showbiz p. 157
• The Eskista of Mahmoud Ahmed: The Case of Ethio-Jazz p. 163
• World Sound
• Mory Kante: The Electric Griot: The Mutations of the Instrument p. 173
• Papa Wemba: The Elegant Rumba: The Third Congolese Wave p. 179
• Geoffrey Oryema, or the Sorrow of the Great Lakes: What Music After Rwanda? p. 185
• From Kode di Dona to Cesaria Evora: Sodade in A Major: The Music of Cape Verde p. 191
• Anne-Marie Nzie: "The Golden Voice of Cameroon": When "Country" Music Is Invited into World Music p. 199
• Leaving the Twentieth Century
• Manu "Papa Groove" Dibango: The Pastor and His Flock: From Sidney Bechet to Techno p. 209
• Abidjan--Dakar--Johannesburg: What's All This Gnama-Gnama?: Rap, Zouglou, Kwaito: The New Generation p. 217
• The Youssou N'Dour Connection: The Prototype of the African Artist of the Future? p. 227
• Ray Lema, or the Great World Band: When Music Is Humanism p. 235
• Afterword: The Duty of Memory p. 241
• Appendixes
• Musical Areas: Africa in Ethnomusicolor p. 249
• Musical Genres and Styles p. 259
• Glossary of Instruments p. 267
• Selected Discography p. 277
• Selected Bibliography p. 289
• Acknowledgments p. 295
• Index p. 297