A-List

A-List: Abdullah Ibrahim

Sep 18th, 2009 12:03 PM UTC
By Jessica Gomez-Duran

ONE is turning to its community of artists, friends, members and staff for their top picks on creative works that have enhanced their knowledge and understanding of the richness of African culture and arts. Here’s a recommendation from Dave Matthews.

The first time I heard Abdullah Ibrahim I was in my late teens or early twenties. It stopped my heart. The nearest thing I heard to it was on some of Keith Jarrett’s solo work and upon hearing Ibrahim I was sure that Jarrett had studied him extensively. The first recording I heard was “African piano” and Ibrahim was aka “dollar brand”. You can hear the crowd loudly talking but it remains one of my favorite albums.

He has many recordings now. Two more that I have purchased again and again so I might pass them on are “Water From an Ancient Well” and “African Dawn”.

Learn more about Abdullah Ibrahim here.

-Dave Matthews

A-List: Freshlyground

Sep 4th, 2009 11:24 AM UTC
By Jessica Gomez-Duran

ONE is turning to its community of artists, friends, members and staff for their top picks on creative works that have enhanced their knowledge and understanding of the richness of African culture and arts. Today we have a recommendation from Vusi Mahlasela.

I wanted to introduce you all to one of my favorite young bands hailing from South Africa. They picked up four SAMA (South African Music Awards) this year, including Album of the Year. They’ve been busy touring all over the world sharing their vibrant and fun sound.

Listen online at www.freshlyground.com.

-Vusi Mahlasela

A-List: Blood Knot

Aug 19th, 2009 4:34 PM UTC
By Jessica Gomez-Duran

ONE is turning to its community of artists, friends, members and staff for their top picks on creative works that have enhanced their knowledge and understanding of the richness of African culture and arts. Today we have a recommendation from Peter Griesar.

As an American teenager in the 1980’s the issue of apartheid loomed large, and related themes found their way from the news into the popular music and arts of the time. But I didn’t really begin to understand it until I saw Blood Knot by South African playwright Athol Fugard in 1986.

Fugard had opened the 2 man show in 1961 Johannesburg - but only once. Soon afterward the anti-apartheid call caused many artists, including Fugard, to boycott working in their home country.

In retrospect it is hard to believe 25 years of apartheid passed between the play’s debut and the revival I saw in 1986. But then, and still now, Fugard’s work holds up. And it is a stark reminder to those of us who fight for justice that change comes, but slowly.

-Peter Griesar

A-List: Mandela’s Favorite Folktales

Jul 29th, 2009 2:52 PM UTC
By Vusi Mahlasela

ONE is turning to its community of artists, friends, members and staff for their top picks on creative works that have enhanced their knowledge and understanding of the richness of African culture and arts. Today we have a recommendation from South African singer-songwriter Vusi Mahlesela

In honor of Nelson Mandela’s 91st birthday, ANSA (Artists for a New South Africa) has released a great audio book of Madiba’s favorite African Folk Tales. I was honored to lend some vocals on the project and it was fun to hear all the great stories as storytelling is so integral in preserving all of our cultures and history. Happy Birthday, Madiba!

You can learn more here: http://mandelasfavoritefolktales.com/

-Vusi Mahlesela

A-List Pick: Baaba Maal

Jun 2nd, 2009 6:11 PM UTC
By Virginia Simmons

ONE is turning to its community of artists, friends, members and staff for their top picks on creative works that have enhanced their knowledge and understanding of the richness of African culture and arts. Today we have a recommendation from our ONE team, Edith Jibunoh.

If there is something that has influenced or inspired you in this way, please leave a note in the comments of this post. We’d love to hear from you in the comments.

Edith Jibunoh:

Baaba Maal is an amazing Senegalese singer, guitarist and percussionist. The son of a fisherman, from Podor Senegal, his path to becoming one of the most famous Senegalese musicians was both improbable and inspiring. And on top of all that, he’s built a high profile in Africa as a public intellectual, and was named the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Youth Emissary in 2003. He joined in our effort to push the G8 to do more to fight poverty in Africa during the 2005 G8 Summit at Gleneagles, making a speech in support of the Make Poverty History Campaign in Edinburgh and addressing the Rally in advance of the Summit.

This past week, Baaba Maal and ONE co-founder Bono sang on stage together in London.

Check out his album Mi Yeewnii, which came out in 2001. He also has a new album called Television which just came out on June 1st. I highly recommend them both. http://www.baabamaal.tv/home.html

A-LIST PICK: Vusi Mahlasela Recommends

Apr 16th, 2009 12:42 PM UTC
By Herman Marin

In an effort to highlight the richness and beauty of African arts and culture, ONE is turning to its community of artists and friends and asking them to give us their top picks on the latest trends coming out of the continent. Our first guest contributor is Vusi Mahlasela - a South African singer-songwriter, poet-Activist and guitarist, who simply known as “The Voice” in his home country.

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I first met Nigerian author Chris Abani at a conference in Tanzania and was immediately captured by his amazing ability to tell a story and by his gift for finding a balance between good and evil– for finding the silver lining in bad situations. Abani has a lot of insight from his own experiences growing up as a refugee in exile and this insight is evident in his writing. He is one of the greatest authors from Africa and his voice should be heard throughout the world. I really recommend all of his novels, especially Graceland which I read last month.

http://www.chrisabani.com/

-Vusi Mahlasela