The Whole Music Experience

Samite Mulondo, Charles Evans, Jr., & Tony Cedras Trust Independent  I admit that I have sat on the recording Trust by Samite, Charles Evans, Jr. and Tony Cedras for over a month because I didn’t know how to frame the music on the CD.   First, and most important, Trust acts as a fundraising album for Samite’s nonprofit Musicians for World Harmony which brings music and music therapy to at-risk groups in Africa, mainly East Africa.   Second, the CD comes with a warning that the music that appears on the recording is from the movie Addiction Incorporated in which Samite composed the soundtrack.   And with all that gravity, you probably expect sad ballads with social messages, none of which you will find on this CD. The musicians mention in the press notes that they wanted to create a danceable African recording without drums.   And darn if you don’t want to get up and dance listening to these polyrhythmic songs that feature acoustic ...

Oka! (Listen) Film Soundtrack Oka Productions I first became acquainted with the music of the Central African pygmies (Congo, Cameroon), when I discovered the music of the Afro-Celtic band Baka Beyond.  I felt fascinated with the pygmies’ music because these indigenous people learned to make music from the natural environment of the deep forest.  From exotic bird calls, to complex poly rhythms, and vocals not easily described, the pygmies celebrate life via music.  Not only that, even with strange and exotic sounds, the pygmies’ music is accessible. The feature film Oka! (listen) , brings us hybrid music that combines a movie soundtrack with a field recording sensibility.  And in fact, the movie revolves around ethnomusicalogist Louis Sarno, a leading expert of the pygmies music.  He ignored a life-threatening illness, according to the press notes, and stayed on with the pygmies for three decades, recording their music.  In a life imitates ...