McIntire Department of Music

"Zairean soukous is a lilting, rippling, dance groove that seems to smile from every register, with melody and rhythm inseparable. Kanda Bongo Man himself sings melodies that curl through the patterns like vines on a trellis."
-The New York Times

"I blend my own style with new impulses...I don't forget my style, but it is important to continue developing the whole time."
- Kanda Bongo Man (from an interview with Bjorn-Erik Hanssen, November, 1997)

"Soukous is THE pop sound of Africa. It was originally blended from Cuban rhumba, Congolese rhythms and stripped down disco production values in the clubs and funhouses of mid 1970s Kinshasa, capital of what was then Zaire. The name comes from the French 'secouer', 'to shake', which is just about all you can do when you're under its spell. Its hallmarks are a tub-thumping all-consuming groove, mesmerizing guitar work and gorgeous close harmony vocals."
-Wrasse Records

"His live shows transfix the audience, taking them to his plane of musical spiritual possession; they dance until the lights come on, and go home smiling. The electric mbiras lay the beat for the guitar, bass, and drums, which pulse out the Chimurenga style, both masters and creators of a unique musical genre. The full band explodes with energy, the smaller groupings smolder and ignite." (www.anonymousweb.com/bio.html)
- A. Green, November 1999

"Known as the 'Lion of Zimbabwe' and the 'Voice of the Zimbabwean People,' the African expatriate has spent the better part of his career fighting the power. He is credited with creating the musical style of 'chimurenga' (derived from the Shona word meaning 'struggle'), which has served as a political mouthpiece for the oppressed masses of Zimbabwe.
- Jon Niccum, Entertainment Editor, April 2003

"Instrumentally, the Blacks Unlimited strike a delicate balance of spiky mbira plink, singing and stabbing guitar melodies, bass pump, deep melodic ngoma (Shona hand drums) and a relentless downbeat and sizzling high-hat play from one busy drummer. When the mix is right, the music has a nearly medicinal effect on audiences."
(www.vh1.com/artists/news/1122113/07142000/mapfumo_thomas.jhtml)
- Banning Eyre, VH1

"In the 1970s Zimbabwe's people fought a war of independence againt their white Rhodesian rulers. Out of that grew chimurenga which is based on the Shona majority's chiming, cyclical rhythms, patterns and melodies of the mbira resulting in a hypnotric almost trance-like music. Mapfumo took that traditional music and added electric guitars, horns, and a drum kit. With his electronic interpretations of traditional mbira music he became a huge star in Zimbabwe."
- www.africanmusic.org

Abdoulaye's voice has an undefinable, penetrating quality that touches deep into one's heart and soul and lifts the spirits of the listener. It is very sweet and beautiful as well as powerful.
- www.bluemonsterrecords.com

ABDOULAYE DIABATÉ, also known as Buru Djoss, was born in 1956 in Kela, Mali. Raised in the heart of the Mandé tradition from a long line of djelis (griots), he has also spent some twenty years performing contemporary and popular music, and his musical career has led him to a fusion of these styles. In 1973, he joined Tenetemba Jazz in Bamako, Mali and then became the lead singer of the Koulé Star Band of Koutiala. In 1975, he moved to Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire where he formed his own twelve-piece band, Super Mandé. In this band some of the greatest luminaries of West African music circulated as members: Salif Keita, Mory Kanté, Kanté Manfila, Ousmane Kouyaté and others. In 1992, Abdoulaye joined Les Ballets Koteba, led by Souleymane Koli, as a singer and guitarist . Since coming to America he has been an active member of the East Coast African music scene as a free-lance singer/guitarist, with his group Super Mandé, as well as with Source and other ensembles.
- www.ps1.org/cut/short/ligeti.html

The Super Manden band combines kora; balafon, tambin, guitar, bass and percussion for a danceable sound that packs the city's African parties.
- www.ctmd.org/pages/gbbafrica.html

Malian Abdoulaye Diabate and his group Super Manden are an excellent band working in the Manding electric roots-rock style, based in postindependence Francophone West Africa, something completely new to New York.
- Rob Weisberg, New York Press

"Born in Denver, Colorado in 1969, Harris always knew that Africa lay behind the music he grew up loving--R&B, funk, reggae, blues--the whole ball of wax he thought of as 'black music.' Harris bravely wanders the edge between African-American and African folk sounds. Hauntingly primitivist and intellectually exhilarating."
- Scott Alarik (The Boston Globe)

"I really feel that as humans we all have one soul. We got one heart. We got one blood. As the world's getting smaller, we've really got to learn about each other, and part of that is knowing where you're coming form. So I think that by trying to figure out what's inside of me musically and the heritage that I've got, that I can better live with others."
- Corey Harris (www.afropop.org)

"'To me, the blues is the blueprint,' says maverick guitarist and singer/songwriter Corey Harris. 'You can go from that blueprint and build whatever house you want.'"
- www.coreyharrismusic.com

"This is world music with a black American twist, displaying how comfortable in the world a blood knowledgeable of all his roots and assorted branches can be. Too long pigeonholed and boxed in by adoring reactionaries, the blues has been waiting like a left-behind bride for a worldly messenger like Harris to build her her own rainbow bridge."
- Greg Tate, Rolling Stone