African Music : Journal of the International Library of African Music
African Music (ISSN 0065-4019, eISSN 2524-2741) is an annual, peer-reviewed, accredited, academic journal established in 1954 by Hugh Tracey, founder of the International Library of African Music. The journal publishes original articles, not previously published, pertaining to contextualized studies of African music and related arts. Since it was re-launched in 2007 it features a CD compilation of audio examples illustrating the articles in each edition, which generally consists of field recordings from the article authors' research.
International Library of African Music (ILAM), Rhodes University
Copyright (c) 2025 INTERNATIONAL LIBRARY OF AFRICAN MUSIC, Rhodes University https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Playing the Changes. Jazz at an African University and on the Road. DariusBrubeck and Catherine Brubeck. 2023. University of KwaZulu-Natal Press. 85 b/willustrations, bibliography, index, 321 pages.
The Land is Sung: Zulu Performances and the Politics of Place. Thomas Pooley. 2023. Wesleyan University Press. 21b/w illustrations, bibliography, index, 268 pages.
Zulu Performances and the Politics of Place
Sonic contours of modernity in Buganda, Uganda
In 1993, President Yoweri Museveni restored traditional kingship in Uganda following the abrogation of the 1962 independence constitution by Prime Minister Milton Obote in 1966. This development was in response to the return of relative but precarious peace after several military regimes, including that of General Tito Lutwa, which was overthrown in 1986 ushering in Museveni’s presidency. The restoration of traditional institutions in Uganda coincided with the liberalisation of the media in the early 1990s, giving rise to the proliferation of private radio and TV stations, as well as recording studios. In 1996, an elite group of men and women started Central Broadcasting Services (CBS) – a radio station owned by the Buganda Kingdom – to create a mediated forum of participation through talk shows.1 In addition, CBS started featuring, among others, Sir Paul Ssaaka’s educative choral songs about the kingdom, thus reinforcing the content presented on talk shows such as Mambo Bado (Things Are Still) in the cultivation of what became a modern and audible Buganda.2 Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Kampala, Uganda’s capital, this article discusses the emergence of radio talk shows and the airing of choral songs as forums of constructing an African modernity in Buganda. I analyse the musical structure of the choral song, “Omulembe Omutebi” (The Reign of Mutebi II), by Saaka, in order to demonstrate how traditional and foreign idioms and ideas are interactively employed to create a modern sonic entity that does not fully subscribe to either musical territory. I argue that choral music, radio, and TV created new forums of participation where an episteme of a sonic modernity in Buganda was cultivated.
Ghana’s choral music tradition has undergone significant changes since it was introduced to the region by Western missionaries in the nineteenth century. Originally rooted in Western-inspired hymnody and four-part harmony, its development has primarily been shaped by Ghanaian choral composers who have incorporated indigenous and popular musical styles such as asafo, adowa, agbadza, reggae, and highlife. Ghanaian choral highlife is a hybrid dance musical form that combines choral and highlife elements in simple quadruple time. However, in the second decade of the twenty-first century, this evolutionary process, driven by Ghanaian art musicians, took a new direction. Using digital and traditional ethnographic methodological approaches and resources such as YouTube, archival sources, interviews, and focus group discussions, this paper examines the evolution of Ghanaian choral highlife music, a sub-genre of Ghanaian choral music, through its hybridisation with Ghanaian hiplife. How was this process realised? How do secular artists navigate the sacred performance space of choral highlife? This paper argues that, since the first half of the twentieth century, Ghanaian choral music has developed alongside popular music by integrating its elements, resulting in a distinctive hybrid genre that reflects a modern musical synthesis. This hybridity further underscores the relationship between the sacred and the secular within the Ghanaian choral soundscape. I turn to “Ayeyi Dwom” and “Oye” for analysis and to demonstrate the cultural practices and processes at stake in the experimentation across genres.
Cultural dynamics and innovations in the construction of the gyil xylophone in Ghana
This paper investigates the impact of Western factory methods on the construction of the Dagara gyil (plural gyile) xylophone and how this has contributed to the secularisation and commercialisation of this otherwise traditional musical instrument for use in educational settings and the international tourism market. The paper focuses on Christopher Doozie, a prominent gyil maker in Accra, Ghana. It discusses how his production methods and innovations in the construction of the gyil not only transcend traditional methods but have also led to particular cultural disruptions. On the whole, the paper evaluates the broader impact of Doozie’s innovations in relation to the gyil as a musical instrument specific to Dagara culture, on the one hand, and as an emerging global instrument on the other. The paper is based on ethnographic research conducted from 2018 to 2021 and from 2022 to 2025.
Responsive pedagogies and access pathways in Kenyan music education
Kenya has a vibrant and diverse musical heritage that holds significant potential for fostering inclusive cultural, social, and educational development. However, formal music education in Kenya, particularly at the tertiary level, remains largely informed by colonial legacies that historically marginalised indigenous knowledge systems. Drawing on both personal experience and empirical findings, this article examines the music education landscape within the formal education system in Kenya. Special attention is given to the higher education sector, the influence of which could easily constrain the integration of local music practices. This article presents an evaluative account of a collaborative music programme initiated by Moi University in partnership with the Utafiti Foundation and implemented by means of a public–private framework. The programme adopted participatory and experiential pedagogies to conceptualise music education in a manner that is culturally grounded and engages with the community. Using qualitative methods, including a longitudinal cohort study implemented by means of tracer studies of selected participants, the article illustrates how transgressive pedagogies can enhance access to African music education while simultaneously bridging the divide between academic institutions and broader society. The findings suggest that culturally responsive workshops may serve as viable alternatives for expanding music learning opportunities in African contexts, thereby affirming the value of societal knowledge and practice in contemporary higher education.
This paper explores the influence of social media on music creation, consumption, and promotion in Zimbabwe. It examines how platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube have democratised access to audiences, enabling artists to bypass traditional gatekeepers and achieve independent recognition. Employing a qualitative approach, the paper draws on publicly available data from social media platforms, online newspapers, personal reflections, and interviews with musicians and industry professionals. Key findings reveal that social media fosters direct interaction between artists and fans, facilitates viral marketing, and enhances creative collaboration. However, while these platforms present unprecedented opportunities, challenges remain, including inequalities relating to digital accessibility, fleeting virality, and economic barriers that hinder long-term sustainability. The paper argues that while social media has reshaped Zimbabwe’s music industry, strategic and contextually informed approaches are necessary to fully harness its potential for sustained artistic and economic success.
Inventing the Ghanaian political subject
In this article, I explore how Kwame Nkrumah strategically employed borborbor (bɔbɔɔbɔ) music in Ghana’s pre- and early post-independence political landscape. I argue that borborbor music played an important role in mobilising support for the independence movement by promoting themes of unity, resistance, and cultural pride. Using a historical and ethnographic approach, I analyse archival materials, interviews, and song texts to trace how Nkrumah integrated this music into political activities. I draw on Turner (1987), Schechner (2002), and Conquergood’s (2002) cultural performance theories to frame borborbor as a performative act that constructs political subjectivity and fosters national identity. My findings suggest that borborbor music played a pivotal role in mobilising support for Nkrumah and the independence movement. Through the agency of individual borborbor practitioners, the music was used to communicate political messages and galvanise public sentiment, effectively shaping the Ghanaian political subject. The music’s themes of unity, resistance, liberation, and cultural pride resonated with Ghanaians, fostering a sense of national identity and solidarity. I also examine how borborbor practitioners after the Nkrumah era have continued to use borborbor music as a tool for political engagement and nation-building. I conclude that when consciously and strategically harnessed, indigenous cultural forms such as borborbor music can serve as a powerful medium for cultivating national identity and political consciousness.
Harnessing community musicians as living archives for “sustainable” teaching and learning of Ugandan musics at Makerere University
At the Department of Performing Arts and Film at Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, there is a growing trend of integrating community musicians into music and dance education through workshops on Ugandan musical traditions. These musicians, who play a vital role in the creation, preservation, and transmission of traditional music, function as living archives within their communities. Drawing on research conducted at Makerere University from 2021 to 2023, this article examines how engaging community musicians as key contributors to teaching and learning Ugandan musics has the potential to decolonise music education in Uganda. In describing the benefits of this inclusive approach, I critique the persistence of elitist frameworks in Ugandan university music and dance departments, which often prioritise engagement with PhD holders and published materials over community-based knowledge. I argue that community musicians, as living archives, offer invaluable insights that can foster the sustainable teaching and learning of Uganda’s diverse musical heritage. Sustainable teaching and learning, as conceptualised in this article, involve educational practices that acknowledge and integrate the contributions of all stakeholders in the production, dissemination, and appreciation of knowledge, thereby ultimately benefiting educational institutions, students, and the communities to which students may return after graduation.
Considering it in relation to the earlier musical culture of kwaito, this article aims to begin a historicisation of the Black, township music of amapiano. “Kwaito as history,” much like the musical cultures in question, is ambiguous in that it considers kwaito and the musics that preceded it as part of amapiano’s history and as a tool to study the history of the latter musical form. I do this by positioning amapiano within a longer history of Black township music, focusing mbaqanga, bubblegum, and kwaito. In this article, I demonstrate how amapiano’s emphasis on dance; the role of the township; and broader conceptions of a Black South Africa no longer divided along ethnic lines can be traced back to earlier forms such as marabi and mbaqanga. I show how the music’s new modes of politics; the broad influence of Euro-American styles; and use of new technologies (specifically synthesised sounds) show a clear connection with bubblegum. Concerning kwaito and amapiano, I compare the issues of the date and place of origin; the role of international sonic preferences; the innovative approaches of young, Black township residents to music-making and dissemination. I have used existing historical accounts of Black, township dance music to demonstrate the multivocal and ambiguous nature of these histories.
Andalusi music traces its origins to the development of distinct musical and poetic forms (nubat, zejel, and so on) on the Iberian Peninsula since the ninth century. Andalusi music continues to be performed in various Mediterranean countries, predominantly Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. This article examines how Andalusi music links the precolonial imaginary, the colonial past, and postcolonial narratives of Spain within an Afro-Asian context. By focusing on performative commonalities across a vast region that have origins in al-Andalus, this article explores the concept of convivencia (coexistence) in relation to the intercultural rhetoric of Andalusi music. The article also considers its interaction with other modal systems such as haul from Mauritania, music associated with the Mande Empire in West Africa, the Middle Eastern and North African maqamat, Persian dastgah, and Hindustani raags. In the course of this exploration, the article broadens the understanding of the historical and contemporary circulation of music across continents. In addition, this article explores the afterlives of Ziryab, an African musician and a contested founder of Andalusi music, whose legacy emphasises the significant role of Africa in the musical development of al-Andalus.
Adaptation of indigenous approaches to music pedagogy
Currently, music education in Ghana emphasises Western models, thoughts, content, practices, and pedagogy. Conversely, musics that may use alternative transmission practices, express elements of music differently, or utilise indigenous learning systems have only a marginal place in the curriculum. Over the past decades, there have been several attempts to decolonise the study of music in African higher institutions. Yet, such efforts have largely been limited to adding local content to the curriculum. In the Ghanaian context, brass bands constitute one of the major musical legacies of the colonial enterprise and are a clear enactment of decolonisation, yet they are considered mere entertainment bereft of deeper significance. Little is said about them in the discourse of decolonisation. Drawing on indigenous learning systems, frameworks, and methodologies used by local brass band musicians in Cape Coast and Elmina, I argue that indigenous knowledge systems of music instruction are as valuable as Western methods. Th e notion of the university as the only place for the advancement of thought and knowledge production — at the expense of indigenous knowledge systems as these pertain to music — should be challenged by African music scholars. Community ensembles must be valued for their contribution to musicological knowledge and discourses as well as for their preservation and transformation of music knowledge. I conclude that such valorisation will be an important step towards decolonising the music curriculum at universities in Ghana.
Efficacy of Sound, Power, Potency and Promise in the Translocal Ritual Music of Cuban Ifa-Orisa
AfroAsian Musical Imaginaries: Of Circulations and Interconnections
Music and Urban Youth Identities. A Study of Ghetto Youth Identities in Contemporary Culture and Politics in Zimbabwe
A Multimodal Critical Discourse analysis of Peter Tosh’s “Mama Africa” album
Reggae music is known for its celebration of Africa as the ancestral homeland, a place of pride, liberation, and cultural identity. One reggae album in particular that contributes to this discourse is Peter Tosh’s Mama Africa, released in 1983. This article explores Mama Africa as a multimodal work to ascertain how the various modes of communication on the album combine to project it as a tribute or an ode to Africa. Attention is given to the album’s sounds, cover artwork, lexical items, literary devices, and other aesthetic matters, such as the length and arrangement of songs. The findings reveal that the album’s sounds and cover design, including the choice of colours and other symbols, suggest that Africa has a profound meaning for Tosh. Present participles loaded with emotional content, coupled with evocative noun phrases, also serve as conduits for this thematic expression. Literary devices such as personification, used in tandem with apostrophe, parallelism, allusion, rhyme, and illeism, contribute to this ode to Africa. The length and arrangement of the songs of the album tell a story in support of this tribute, revealing nuances that unearth Mama Africa as a work of virtuosity. The study suggests that a multimodal critical discourse analysis can be an effective tool for the study of music and foregrounds Tosh as an important figure who has contributed immensely to reggae’s celebration of the African continent and its people worldwide.
Sound Fragments: From Field Recording to African Electronic Stories
Review of: Sound Fragments: From Field Recording to African Electronic Stories. Noel Lobley, 2022. Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press. 16 illustrations, bibliography, index. 348 pages. ISBN: 978-0-8195-8077-1
Copyright (c) 2023 INTERNATIONAL LIBRARY OF AFRICAN MUSIC, Rhodes University https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Necessary Noise: Music, Film, and Charitable Imperialism in the East of Congo
Review of: Necessary Noise: Music, Film, and Charitable Imperialism in the East of Congo. Chérie Rivers Ndaliko, 2016. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. 30 b/w illustrations, bibliography, index, filmography, companion site, 285 pages.
Jazz Cosmopolitanism in Accra: Five Musical Years in Ghana
Review of: Jazz Cosmopolitanism in Accra: Five Musical Years in Ghana. Stephen Feld, 2012. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press. 78 b/w illustrations, bibliography, index, 311 pages.
Sing and Sing On: Sentinel Musicians and the Making of the Ethiopian American Diaspora
Review of "Sing and Sing On: Sentinel Musicians and the Making of the Ethiopian American Diaspora. Kay Kaufman Shelemay, 2022. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 57 b/w illustrations, bibliography, index, 432 pages."
This article examines the historical and sociological processes that led to the electronification of traditional Acholi musical repertoires in the northern region of Uganda. Akena P’Layeng Okella, also known as Leo Palayeng, is presented as a leading figure in this transformation of traditional music to electronic music, which has become known as Acholitronix. Palayeng is also my main interlocutor. Through Palayeng’s biography, the influence of digital technology in the production, distribution, and reception of musical traditions is discussed. The new, digitised repertoire was first integrated into wedding ceremonies, and then played in bars and clubs in the city. It finally reached the international, alternative electronic club scene. This process of transformation in the repertoire is part of a long history of local and international musical influences in Uganda. The extent to which information and communication technologies have played a decisive role in the dissemination of musical genres, the adoption or adaptation of musical instruments and techniques, and the creation of local, national, or even pan-African musical identities since the 1980s, is described in the article. The place that these forms of digital musical traditions have on online platforms is also discussed. Based on these observations, the contours of the transformation and switch from the acoustic to the electronic – while being considered by the actors as being the same music – are described.
Among Muslim women in predominantly Islamic societies, music-making remains a contested subject. At the core of these contestations are questions of boundaries, agency, taboos, resistance, and generalisations of the socio-musical experiences of Muslim women. This article explores the development of senwele music, a socio-religious music form of the Ilorin in northern Nigeria, from its origin as orin-kengbe (calabash music) to its transition into a translocal music form. Given influences of the Yoruba, Hausa-Fulani, and Islam, senwele music is examined as a compendium of history; one that is not only reflective of the Ilorin traditional music scene, but also the north-south dualism in Ilorin, tensions in music-making and Islam, and regio-political remapping in Nigeria. Based on fieldwork with a major exponent of senwele, Alhaja Iya Aladuke, and her music group in Ilorin, the article explores the practice, ambivalences, convivialities and sustainability of senwele music performance within its predominantly Islamic context. I argue that while established societal conventions, such as those in Ilorin, function as a standard for the acceptance of music, a woman musician such as Alhaja Iya Aladuke continues to thrive through a musician-community exchange that takes into cognisance the sensibilities of the people while retaining their patronage and her artistic autonomy. Beyond its sonic, textual, and entertainment prerogatives, the sustained practice of senwele music in Ilorin presents a continuum for interrogating and negotiating cross-cultural encounters, socio-religious binaries, gender boundaries, and the multiplicity in the socio-musical experiences of Muslim women.