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BBC - African culture terms Category: History and Culture > African music Date & country: 25/09/2007, UK Words: 169

Afoxé
From Bahia, traditional Afro-Brazilian rhythm and dance movement. Also refers to the musical groups that play it, whose members generally practice candomble.

African Jazz
South Africa's unique blend of American jazz instrumentation and arrangement concepts with indigenous sources such as marabi. Many African groups such as Guinea's Bembeya Jazz and Zaire's T.P.O.K. Jazz incorporated 'jazz' in band names but did not have the same direct connection to American jazz as in South Africa.

Afrobeat
Term coined by Nigerian iconoclast Fela Anikulapo-Kuti for his fusion of West African and black American music.

Afropop
Contemporary African music in its wide variety. Usually refers to urban, electric dance music. Sometimes mistakenly used to signify one style or sound. Also refers to AFROPOP series launched in 1988 on National Public Radio in the U.S, the first national showcase in U.S. media devoted to contemporary African music.

agooda
Sierra Leone street music incorporated by Abdul T-Jay.

al-jeel
Modern Egyptian dance music, originally created by Egyptians and Libyan expatriates in Cairo. Fusion of Nubian, Bedouin and Egyptian rhythms.

ambass-bey
Cameroonian street music popularized by Salle John and others.

Andalous
From Andalusia, the region of southern Spain ruled by the Moors until late inthe 15th century, and renowned for its highly developed classical music tradition. Today, Andalous music survives mostly in Morocco.

apala
Yoruba vocal and percussion music from Nigeria popularized by the late Haruna Ishola.

asiko
popular music sung in Yoruba language in Nigeria during the 1920s and 1930s. Important influence on development of juju.

authenticité
French for 'authenticity'. Era-shaping policy decreed by Mobutu in early 70s Zaire to discourage European and colonial-era identity and to encourage indigenous sources in names, dress, and culture. Franco played key role in spreading the word about authenticite to the masses.

Axe
Yoruba word roughly translatable as 'life force,' now applied as a label for an Afro-Bahian pop style.

bachata
A Dominican dance and guitar-based song style with rhythm similar to the Cuban son; made internationally popular by Juan Lúis Guerra.

balafon
West African xylophone made of wood slats and calabash resonators. Variations appear throughout Africa such as the marimba in Mozambique.

batá
Family of three double-headed Nigerian drums played across the lap. Used in the Yoruba religious music of Cuba.

batucada
A drumming session in samba, or in a samba parade.

bendir
Northern African hand drum constructed from a circular wooden frame, 40-50 cm across,with a taut skin stretched over it. Used in many forms of traditional and modern music from this region.

benga
Musical style from western Kenya originally from the Luo people but now more widely used in the country

berimbau
Bow-shaped instrument with one steel string and a gourd resonator, brought from Angolato Brazil.

biguine
Dance rhythm from Martinique.

bikutsi
Popular Cameroonian folk-based rhythm from the Yaounde area.

Bloco afro
Contemporary Afro-Bahian carnival associations and drum corps. Best known is Olodum.

bolero
Slow ballad, popular in Cuba, Puerto Rico and Mexico.

bomba
Afro-Puerto Rican musical form from coastal towns, featuring call and response between lead singer and chorus, accompanied by maracas, sticks, and barrel-shaped drums.

boucher
Popular Congolese dance first introduced by Les Bantous de la Capitale of Brazzaville in 1965.

box guitar
Acoustic guitar.

bugalú
Black PuertoRican crossover sound of the mid-60's New York. Biggest hit was Joe Cuba's 'Bang Bang.'

cadence
French-Antillean dance music based, in part, on the compas-direct from Haiti.

Calypso
Trinidadian song often sung with topical lyrics. Calysonians compete at annual carnival.

candombe
Afro-Latin music from the River Plate, once present in both Buenos Aires, Argentina and Montevideo, Uruguay. Re-energized in the 70's by Uruguayan pop and rock musicians.

Candomblé
Afro-Brazilian syncretic religion. Venerates the Yoruba pantheon and incorporates Bantu elements.

Capoeira
Combination martial art/ dance in Brazil accompanied by berimbau, percussion, and chant.

Cavacha
Zairian dance rhythm popular in the 1970's.

cavaquinho
Ukelele-like Portuguese instrument popular throughout the lusophone world.

cha cha chá
Cuban style, very popular internationally in 50s and still popular in Cuba today. The first cha cha chá was by Enrique Jorrín called 'La Engañadora'.

charanga
Cuban orchestra with violins, flutes, timbales, piano, and unison singing. Charangasled by Johnny Pacheco and others were very popular in Africa.

ChebChaba
Young man young woman. Algerian and Moroccan rai singers began using these titles in the '70s as a proud assertion of their own youth, and of their music's commitment to the concerns of youth.

Cheikh - Cheikha
Titles conferring honor upon male and female popular singers in pre-independence Algeria. Singing classical poetry and love songs, cheikhs and cheikhas preceded the bolder chebs and chabas of rai music.

chemko
The fast, final section of a Tanzanian dance band tune; analogous to the seben in Zairean music.

chimurenga
In Shona, means 'struggle.' Describes the mbira-based popular music of social protest pioneered during the 1970s by Thomas Mapfumo and the Blacks Unlimited, and taken up by others Zimbabwen pop musicians.

Chouval Bois
Traditional Martinique style featuring wooden flute, percussion (Ti Boi), and lead base drum.

chutney music
Indian classical singing to a soca beat, popular in rural Trinidad.

clave
Pair of polished, hardwood sticks struck together to produce a high-pitched sound;also refers to the two-bar rhythmic pattern underlying Afro-Cuban music. Incorporated in early Congolese music.

compas
Originally compas-direct.Haitian dance music developed by Nemours Jean-Baptiste in the 50's.

conga
Single-headed barrel-shaped drum of West African descent. Played in many Latin bands.

Congo music
Widely used term in Africa for dance music from Zaire and Congo. Also called 'rumba' or sometimes 'soukous.'

conjunto
Cuban orchestra with vocals, trumpets, piano, bass, percussion.

cuatro
Small ten-stringed guitar used in the country music of Puerto Rico.

cumbia
The most typical Columbian form, fusion of Andean Indian, African and European musical styles. Also very popular in Mexico.

danzón
Cuban salon dance, originally played by wind bands and subsequently by charangas. Characterized by the cinquillo rhythm of quarter-eighth-quarter-eighth-quarter. The danzón was modernized in the late 30's by Arcano y sus Maravillas,who added a section at the end for harder dancing, called the 'mambo'section, which developed into the mambo of the 50's.

didadi
Athletic dance rhythm from Wassoulou region of Mali.

disco
Generic term used for a music style popular in South African townships from early 80s to the present characterized by keyboards and heavy dancebeat. Also sometimes called 'bubblegum'.

DJ
Jamaican artist who talks over dub tracks. Influenced U.S. rap music. Early DJ's were U Roy and Big Youth.

djembe
West African hand drum often with metal sheets attached for amplification.

dry guitar
Acoustic guitar.

dub
Stripped-down mix of reggae tracks with echo effects.

extempo
Lyrically improvised calypso, a tradition that connects Trinidad to Africa.

firquah
Egyptian film orchestra consisting of traditional North African instruments and, from the 20's on, violins and other western instruments.

fuji
Yoruba voice and percussion style popularized by Sikiru Ayinde Barrister and Alhaji Ayinla Kollington. Currently very popular in Nigeria.

funana
Cape Verdean dance, typically with accordion and metal scraper.

gimbri
Common North African lute of sub-Saharan origin. Characteristics include a round, fretless neck, two or three strings, and a sound box with a drum-like hide face. Also called 'sintir.'

Gnawa
spiritual brotherhood in Morocco of people descended from slaves brought from Mali in 16th Century. Gnawa music--featuring three string sintir or gimbri, unison singing, and hand clapping--is played at healing ceremonies. .'

goje or goge
West African stringed instrument similar to violin.

gospel highlife
Highlife music with Christian themes played in the churches of Ghana. Now one of the biggest selling musics in the country.

griot - griotte
French words for male and female traditional bards and praise singers of West Africa. In Mandinka, a key language of the best known griot culture, they would be called jeli or jali, and jelimoussou, or jalimuso.

groaner
South African male singer who takes deep bass part in mbaqanga songs. Most famous groaner is Mahlathini.

Guira
Metal scraper used in merengue.

Gwoka
Percussion and street rhythm from the Antilles that has influenced zouk.

highlife
Dance music from Ghana and eastern Nigeria. Very popular in West Africa in the 40s, 50s and 60s.

indlamu
Traditional Zulu dance where the dancer lifts one foot over his head and brings it down hard, landing squarely on the music's downbeat. Typically,two dancers in warrior's pelts perform indlamu routines together, shadowing each other's moves perfectly.

iscathamiya
South African a cappela singing style popularized internationally by Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

iskista
Ethiopian dance involving shaking shoulders and heaving chests. Very popular in Addis Ababa beerhalls.

jali
Court or wandering bard in Manding society responsible for keeping oral histories and family lineages. Plays instruments such as kora and balafon.

jalimusolu
Female griot singer in west Africa.

jit
Vocal and percussion music from Zimbabwe rural villages. The term was adapted by the Bhundu Boys during the 1980s,and has subsequently become associated with driving, electric pop music.

jive
South African urban electric pop music.

juju
popular Yoruba style from Nigeria, featuring talking drums, guitars, keyboards, and sometimes pedal steel. First juju star was I.K. Dairo. Top-selling juju star and international popularizer is King Sunny Ade.

kabosy
Traditional four-stringed instrument from Madagascar played by Dama, Rossy and others. Plays lively, strummed rhythms.

kalindula
Zambian pop music style. Originally named after a traditional one-string bass, kalindula has become a general term for much of this southern African country's homegrown pop.

kamele ngoni
Literally 'young person's harp.' A smaller version of the dosongoni, or 'hunter's harp,' this six-string harp-lute gives the Wassoulou music of southern Mali distinctive, funky,low lines that define its rhythm and harmony.

kiri kiri
Dance rhythm popularized by the late Doctor Nico in Zaire in mid-60s.

kora
21-string harp-lute played in Mali, the Gambia, Guinea, and Senegal. Central to Manding culture.

kpanlogo
Popular percussion rhythm developed in Ghana in 60s.

krar
Ancient Ethiopian lyre with five or six gut or nylon strings. A krar has a bowl-shaped,goatskin-covered resonator as well as a large wooden yoke heldin place by two wooden arms. Sometimes called Harp of Apollo.

kwassa kwassa
Dance popular in Zaire in late 80s. Later, in other parts of Africa, became a synonym for Zairean music following the success of Kanda Bongo Man's African tours.

kwela
Pennywhistle street music from South Africa in the 50s.

likembe
Lamellophone, or 'thumb piano,' from Congo.

Lingala
Trade language along Congo River between present day Congo and Democratic Republic of Congo. The language heard in modern soukous music.

macumba
Afro-Brazilian religion; term is used both for a specific religion and generically for Afro-Brazilian religions.

madiaba
Zairian dance craze in late 80s that succeeded kwassa kwassa.

Maghreb
The western-most part of the Arabic-speaking world, the Maghreb stretches from Egypt west across northern Africa to the Atlantic Ocean, Morocco being its furthest extremity.

makassi
rhythm popularized by Cameroonian star Sam Fan Thomas whose hits were key to launching international makossa boom in mid-'80s.

makossa
Cameroonian dance rhythm from Douala area.

makozouk
Fusion of makossa and zouk made primarily by Cameroonian composers in Paris

malhoun
Semi-classical poetry and music tradition dating back to the Moorish settlement of Andalusia in southern Spain.

mallem
Master of a brotherhood of musicians, specifically the famed group from the Moroccan village of Jajouka in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains.

mambo
Afro-Cuban musical form that became popular in the U.S. during the 50's. Mambo also refers to an instrumental section of a salsa or merengue tune.

Manding
Umbrella term for a related family of West African ethnic groups--including Mandinka, Bambara, Joula, Sousou, Malinke and others--and their associated cultures.

maqam
Any of approximately 120 scales used in Arab classical music and its popular descendants. Modern Arab music mostly uses about 20 maqams, sometimes moving through several in a single piece.

marabenta
Urban party in Mozambique featuring live music. Also a speeded up version of local majika rhythm.