TEACH KIDS ABOUT BURUNDI: The Music Of Burundi
This week we go to the tiny, interminably roubled East African nation of Burundi. The Kingdom of Burundi ruled the nation for almost two hundred years before Germans arrived in the mid-1800s and enveloped the land into their African empire. After World War I Belgium took over and ruled until independence in 1962, though years of war between members of two major ethnic groups, Hutu and Tutsi, have followed. Because of this instability many Burundians, including Burundian musicians, have spent most of their creative years abroad, some in other parts of Africa and others in Europe. You’ll find evidence of all this in Burundi’s music, which ranges from from ancient Burundian sacred drumming and traditional zither playing to smooth French-language pop. Throw in a little German schlock and a healthy dose of Congolese guitar and you’ll find yourself in an African nation whose music is seamlessly, though perhaps unwillingly, global. Listen on Spotify.
— Kidum:
Veteran singer-songwriter Jean-Pierre Nimbona (a.k.a. Kidum) is a leading voice in his native Burundi despite his spending many years in Kenya and other East African nations to stay clear of local violence. He has become increasingly popular around Africa and in the continent’s 2012 “Kora Awards” was recognized at the year’s Best East African Male artist. Watch him play one of his most songs just for you:
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— Khadja Nin:
Khadja Nin grew up in Burundi but has lived most of her adult life abroad, first in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), then Belgium, and more recently in Monaco. Her music clearly has African roots but it also has an international flair, weaving in sounds from Brazil, Cuba and elsewhere throughout the musical world. Having lived internationally, she sees her art as international as well: “My music should not be classified as ‘white’ or ‘black,'” says Nin — it’s coffee-coloured!”
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— Jean-Christophe Matata:
Jean-Christophe Matata’s music fused zouk, reggae and afrobeat with traditional music to create a unique global-Burundian sound. He recorded in many languages like French, English, Kirundi, Kinyarwanda and Kiswahili. His death in 2011, alleged to be the result of a poisoning, set off an international scandal. (A link for grown-ups only: the sordid details). In the below video Matata is young, vibrant and wearing a fabulous suit.
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— The Royal Drummers of Burundi:
Traditional drumming is Burundi’s most energizing, most theatrical form of music. The Royal Drummers of Burundi, the most accomplished Burundian drumming ensemble, tour internationally, bringing their dramatic performances to a global audience. Meet them in these videos below. (doesn’t this performance make you think of Japanese taiko?)
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[wpspoiler name=”Teach Kids About Burundi: Drumming in Burundi” open=”true” style=”aatw-video”][/wpspoiler]
— Inanga:
The inanga, a “trough-zither,” is an instrument popular with traditional Burundian musicians. It consists of an oblong wooden plank, dug out slightly (resembling a raft), and a single long string that runs from end to end several times, looping back and forth through notches, giving the appearance that there are actually six to eight strings for a musician to plan. Below we hear it accompany a “Burundian whisper song,” a type of music unique to Burundi in which the performer, usually solo accompanied only by an inanga, sings in a throaty whisper.
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— Eric Baranyanka:
Eric Baranyanka, a member of the Burundian royal family based in Belgium, performs African music for both kids — apparently, while carrying a woman wrapped around his neck, as De Choco Gang — and adults. If you’re in Belgium and you want to book Branyanka to perform go to this page. You may decide to bring Branyanka to your school to perform “De Babbelboomverhalen,” translated as “the patter tree stories,” a program for 6-14 year olds in which Branyanka tells traditional African stories.
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— Burundi Black:
“Burundi Black” was an intercontinental song that was popular in dance clubs in the early ’80s. In 1971 French pianist Michel Bernholc, going by the pseudonym Mike Steiphenson, added Western instruments to an anthropologists’ field recording of Burundian drumming; the track became an unexpected international hit. In 1981 drummer Rusty Egan remixed the track for dance clubs, bringing Burundian drumming to an international audience of young club goers. Artists performing in a wide range of styles like Joni Mitchell, Echo and the Bunnymen, Def Leppard and the Beastie Boys all went on to sample one version or another of the song.
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