- artist:various artists
- featured artist:Jean Bosco Mwenda
- region:Central Africa
- release year:2008
- style(s):Ethnic
- country:Congo (Democratic Republic of the)
- formats:CD (Compact Disc)
- record posted by:SWP Records
- label:SWP Records
- publisher:Sharp Wood Music Publishing
- buy this record
With one track from each of the 21 cds, plus 6 bonus tracks from the original session with Jean Bosco Mwenda in 1952, this album is the perfect introduction to the series 'Historical Recordings by Hugh Tracey'.
Englishman Hugh Tracey (1903 – 1977) dedicated his life to recording African music. In an era that no one else took African music seriously at all, HT crisscrossed central, eastern and southern Africa recording what he found. In so many cases we are lucky to have his recordings of so much amazing music — no one else recorded it. His archive constitutes the musical memory of half a continent. And, as well as being one of the pioneers of ethnomusicology, he was a damned good recordist! In this series we have been able to present many of the foremost musicians of the 20th century from the African subcontinent — and that is a gift. It is especially a gift to the peoples involved, for the legacy as played by their forebears belongs to them.