Africa Is a Country

Acoustic Guitar Break

Acoustic Guitar Break

By
Sean Jacobs

We thought it would be nice to compile a Bonus Music Break centered on acoustic guitar music. First up is Toronto-based Ghanaian Kae Sun with “Lion on a Leash”:

Another Ghanaian: Kesse (made his breakthrough on Ghana’s version of American Idol) was profiled by The Fader last year:

Then there’s German-Nigerian Ayo:

And video of a 23 minute live set by Asa, France-based Nigerian (credits: “Fire on the Mountain,” “Mr Jailer,”), recorded in San Francisco:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II668alI00g

Bez, the young Nigerian (remember him?) will be in New York City next week (Society HAE has the details)

You can’t say acoustic guitar music and not include Michael Kiwanuka, Ugandan-born British crooner. He is a big part of our regular Twitter #musicbreaks.

Stateside, there’s Cody ChesnuT. (BTW, while below he slows things down, I’ve seen him crank it up with The Legendary Roots Crew):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTuj3jYehtE

And Gary Clarke Jnr with a stripped down version of my favorite tunes (remember him?)

Further Reading

Fuel’s errand

When Africa’s richest man announced the construction of the continent’s largest crude oil refinery, many were hopeful. But Aliko Dangote has not saved Nigeria. The Nigerian Scam returns to the Africa Is a Country Podcast to explain why.

Fragile state

Without an immediate change in approach, Somalia will remain a fragmented country populated by self-serving elites seeking foreign patrons.

Coming home

In 1991, acclaimed South African artist Helen Sebidi’s artworks were presumed stolen in Sweden. Three decades later, a caretaker at the residential college where they disappeared found them in a ceiling cupboard, still in their original packaging.

Imaginary homelands

A new biography of former apartheid homeland leader Lucas Mangope struggles to do more than arrange the actions of its subject into a neat chronology.

Business as usual?

This month, Algeria quietly held its second election since Abdelaziz Bouteflika was ousted in 2019. On the podcast, we ask what Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s second term means for the country.

The complexities of solidarity

Assassinated in 1978, Henri Curiel was a Jewish Egyptian Marxist whose likely killers include fascist French-Algerian colons, the apartheid South African Bureau of State Security, and the Abu Nidal Organization.