Listen All Around: The Golden Age of Central and East African Music
Dust to Digital (2CD, 132 mins)
If it ain’t exquisite, it ain’t Dust to Digital. The record label is well-known for its high-quality compilations of remastered recordings, and Listen All Around is no exception.
This is a delightful collection of recordings made by archivist Hugh Tracey, exploring a range of popular music from modern day DR Congo, Kenya and Tanzania as it was in the 1950s.
Although Tracey didn’t exactly enjoy this type of music himself, his recordings are thankfully extensive. There’s tracks based on calypso, country, big band jazz, Cuban son, Ghanaian highlife, military bands and even French folk songs, all with more or less influence from traditional music of the various regions.
Each of the 47 tracks has an interesting story to tell, and there’s lots to arouse the curiosity, such as the massed kazoos of the Dar Es Salaam Jazz Band and ‘Chemirocha III,’ a song by Kipsigis girls in Kenya in honour of country legend Jimmie Rodgers. It’s useful, then, that the 84 pages of liner notes include detailed explanations of every track, as well as a fully-referenced essay about the music and culture of the time by the compiler, Professor Alex Perullo.
The wonderful variety of sounds and impressive depth of information make Listen All Around a great resource for world music fans and ethnomusicologists alike.