AFRICASOUNDS Reviews the latest DVD Releases for African, Caribbean and Latin Music:

bulletThe DVD format is fast replacing VHS as the preferred medium for high quality images and sound.   More recently, the DVD medium has also been successfully adapted by the music industry.  A positive development has been the recent release of several DVDs of African, Caribbean and Latin music.  In some cases, the products below are adaptations of titles previously released on VHS, albeit with better sound and visual quality in the improved DVD format.  Several other releases, such as the Baaba Maal live DVD, were recorded strictly for this format and are trend setting.  

bulletFela Live - Fela Anikulapo Kuti and the Egypt 80 Band - Recorded Live at Glastonbury, England in 1984 - (Shanachie)  This past year has seen a re-awakening of interest in Fela, the father of modern Afro-beat music from Nigeria.  Record shelves, once somewhat barren of Fela releases, are now stocked due to a reissuing schedule by MCA that has seen 20 of Fela's historic works re-released.  Shanachie records, one of the US pioneers of Fela and his music, have reformatted their classic VHS release for the digital DVD format.  Fans of Fela will rejoice with this additional audio-visual look at the master.  Filmed on location in Glastonbury, England, during a massive outdoor summer festival in 1984, this DVD captures Fela at one of his many peaks of musical innovation.  The DVD begins with a fascinating look at the festival grounds and the arrival of Fela and his many wives and dancers.  The introduction, which reveals a "sea" of tents and fans camping out of the festival grounds, nicely sets the mood.  Fela's segment of the festival takes place at night, his band, Egypt 80, typically larger than life and assembled on the stage.  The video, which lasts over 70 minutes, captures C.B.C. - Confusion Break Bones - in historical live footage.  This live version has a truncated funeral march introduction, as compared to the studio version, although the somber mood and lyrics a very capturing.  After the first extended song, there is a five minute interview segment with Fela, followed by the second song selection, Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense, which clocks in around 40 minutes.  During this second number, the video focuses in on Fela's organ playing and the legendary dancing manuvers of Fela's dancers.  As can be expected from a recording made over 16 years ago, the sonic and image quality is not a crisp as more modern concert footage from the likes of Baaba Maal.  However, for a glimpse into one of Africa's top bands, ever, this DVD is unparalleled.

bulletLadysmith Black Mambazo - Live at the Royal Albert Hall - (Shanachie)  Ladysmith Black Mambazo is renowned the world over for their remarkable harmonies and vocal acrobatics.  This is an excellent recording of over 10 of the group's classic songs, live at the Royal Albert Hall in London.  A special bonus feature is a 10 minute introduction and interview with group founder and leader, Jospeh Shabalala, and a five minute video of the group in Venice Beach, California, strolling down the boardwalk singing to a township-jive beat.  The concert itself is expertly recorded, such that the rich vocal nuances are not lost to the ear.  Once again an excellent DVD release by Shanachie.

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bulletBaaba Maal - Live at the Royal Festival Hall - (Palm Pictures)  In contrast to the legendary Fela Live release, this live concert footage was shot with equipment specially formatted for the DVD release.  If you have been looking for a live video that provides the voyeuristic feeling of actually being at a concert, then look no further.  Although there is no replacement for witnessing Baaba Maal live and direct, this DVD does a fine job of showcasing his band, Daande Lenol (Voice of the People) as well as special guests Ernest Ranglin, Ira Coleman, and the Screaming Orphans.  The song choices are predictably from his most recent Mango/Palm Picture Releases, and include Gorel, Ca et La, African Woman and Souka Nayo.  The sound and image quality is spectacular, and it is nice to see Palm Pictures harnessing the technological capabilities of the DVD format to the maximum.

ONE OF THE FIRST AFRICAN CONCERTS FILMED DIRECTLY FOR DIGITAL DVD, THIS CONCERT CAPTURES BAABA MAAL AND HIS TROUP DAANDE LENOL LIVE AND DIRECT IN LONDON.  THE MAJORITY OF THE SONGS INCLUDED ARE NEWER MATERIAL, MADE MORE AUTHENTIC AND ROOTSY IN THE LIVE SETTING.  THE INCLUSION OF "AFRICAN WOMAN" FROM A PREVIOUS RELEASE IS A WELCOME ADDITION AND BRINGS THE LATIN FLAVORED TINGE TO MAAL'S WORK.  SONGS INCLUDE "GOREL," "CA ET LA," "KONI," "AFRICAN WOMAN," "DOUWAYRA," "SOUKA NAYO," AND "HAMADY BOIRO (YELE)."  There is also a wealth of interesting bonus features, as well as some marketing gimmicks, which adds additional intrigue to this release.  A photo gallery, interview with Maal, and additional "bonus" material provides one more dimension to an already exemplary release.  Highly recommended.

 

 

bulletRoots Rock Reggae - Inside the Jamaican Music Scene - (Shanachie)  Yet another Reggae classic has been reissued on DVD.  This is another must-have, as it features live performances and interviews with many of Reggae's legends.  The artists that star in this release include Jimmy Cliff, Lee Scratch Perry, The Congos, Joe Higgs, The Gladiators, the Mighty Diamonds, Bob Marley, the Abyssinians, Third World, and Jacob Miller with Inner Circle.  The remarkable aspect of this hour documentary is that it caught Kingston and Reggae exactly in 1977, right in the heart of the roots Reggae movement.  We see the artists in their prime, performing in their environment, all within Jamaica.  This video is a crucial time capsule of a significant period of musical history.  Reggae was never the same shortly after this video.  

bulletLucky Dube - Live in Concert - (Shanachie)  This Lucky Dube concert was released several years ago in VHS format.  With this DVD release, we get few additional features, although the image and sound quality is enhanced.  The result is an excellent live show by South Africa's reigning Reggae star, featuring many of his greatest hits.  The footage includes hits Back to my Roots, Prisoner, House of Exile, Dracula, War and Crime, and many others.  With over 16 songs, this is an excellent release.

bulletDancehall Queen - featuring Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, Grace Jones, Sugar Minott, Chaka Demus and Pliers - (Palm Pictures)  Dancehall Queen is a very fun movie, both musically and in the story line.  Adapting the rags to riches story to modern day Jamaica, this film offers a glittery and showy contrast to the other Jamaican DVD releases reviewed on this website.  The musical soundtrack is strictly modern dancehall, which may or may not bode well for you.  However, although I am not a huge fan of modern dancehall music myself, even I find the rhythms included on this DVD extremely exciting.  The story is full of well developed characters, and the film is set almost entirely within Kingston Jamaica.  

  * * * *  EDITORS PICK !

bulletRockers - featuring Burning Spear, Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer, Third World, Jacob Miller and Inner Circle, the Heptones, Gregory Isaacs, Junior Murvin and the Abyssinians - (Blue Sun Film Co.)  One of the all-time classic Reggae films is released in DVD format.  It just does not get any better than this film, The Rockers.  In this Reggae film, shot in 1977, not only do the classic roots Reggae artists sing and perform, but they are the actors as well.  In many ways, this film dwarfs the Harder They Come by the sheer number of artists that actively participate.  The film stars the excellent actors Leroy Horsemouth Wallace and Richard "Dirty Harry" Hall and guest stars Jacob Miller, Gregory Isaacs, Burning Spear, Kidus I, Robbie Shakespeare, Leroy Smart, Big Youth and Dillinger.   For example, Spear's singing by the river is revelatory.   The pleasant surprise is that these musicians are all really great actors!  Not to mention the fact that the Rockers soundtrack is one of the better collections of roots classics you will find.  Not only recommended, but crucial.     

bulletBob Marley and the Wailers - Catch A Fire - The songs and the story of this classic album with contributions by Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer and Chris Blackwell - (Image Entertainment)  If you like Bob Marley and Reggae music, or if you are interested in the production of albums in the studio, then this DVD is essential.  With it, we gather a glimpse of a very different Bob Marley and the Wailers than what we might expect.  This documentary examines the production of Catch a Fire, the classic Bob Marley album that launched his career with Chris Blackwell and Island Records.  This DVD is significant for several reasons.  First, it offers some unique footage of Bunny, Peter and Bob that we have not seen before on video format.  Second, it examines in depth one small -but very significant - part of Bob Marley's career, rather than skimming over his entire life's story as so many other videos have done.  By retaining its focus, we are able to learn and grasp much more of the reality than ever before.  Third, we realize that Bob Marley and the Wailers were willing to compromise to gain acceptance and popularity in Europe and America.  We see the initial Catch a Fire tracks being laid down in Kingston, Jamaica.  Then we see the immense studio manipulation that took place, in painstaking detail, before one arrived at the finished product that we own today.  The goal: to gain crossover exposure and a greater audience for the music.  More than ever before, we are made aware of the marketing and strategies that were put into play to help guide Bob Marley's career into international stardom.  If anything, we are made more aware of the immense talent below the surface, while factoring in the quirks and realities of the recorded music business.  A fascinating study, and a highly recommended video.

bulletHommage a Noir - a film by Ralf Schmerberg - (Palm Pictures) We have had a relatively hard time classifying this release, because we have both positive and negative feelings about it.    Our initial reaction, before viewing the film, was one of excitement.  Finally, an audiovisual documentary on the people and environment of this diverse country in Central Africa.  However, beyond our initial reaction, our overall opinion is one of disappointment.  The photo shots, on their own, are all artfully done, with immense skill and time obviously taken to shoot the video.  However, the majority of the photo subjects are chosen and shot in perspectives the evoke a somewhat somber approach.  In fact, the entire film exudes a feeling of an outsider looking in.  There is always a sense of looking through the lense, as an outsider, and peering at something distant and foreign.  Some of Cameroon's strengths is in its diverse cultures and warmness of its people.  In this film, the images are shown through odd perspectives that takes the warmness out, and distills the countryside into that of an alien landscape.  The music soundtrack is also, in our opinion, very poorly chosen.  The sounds are cold and electronic, with absolutely no relation to the wealth of sounds and musical styles from Cameroon.  If anything, these strange electronic sounds and noises only play into the film's sense of an outsider looking in.  At the completion of the film, there is a feeling of having just completed a very long and strange journey.  Oddly enough, when the credits are rolling, the consensus is that the the film presents a world far away from the reality of Cameroon.