afrominimalism: 1966-1978

afrominiamlism: 1966-1968 (merely an introduction)

Minimalism as a musical form is typically applied to a small coterie of "Western art music" composers who employed the "innovations" of cyclically repeated motifs, melodic simplicity and clarify, a heightened rhythmic emphasis, drone and phasing in lieu of traditional harmony, the collective ensemble voice over individual virtuosity, etc. I love, or at least admire, a lot of the music made within that musical sphere. But minimalism in music does not originate in the "Western art music" traditions (or in Modernist ideologies, whose minimalism tends to be superficial and sterile). Instead, musical minimalism at its most profuse and most profound is heard in non-Western, non-white music. And inasmuch as musical minimalism has shaped the lion’s share of the great music in the last half-century around the world, its foundations, apex, and influence are found in the music of African and Afrodiasporic people. Minimalism at its best is Black music, and this set of mixes, 'Afrominimalism: 1966-1968' is intended as the briefest of explorations of the many ways Black artists brought musical minimalism to the fore for the whole world.

In the music on 'Afrominimalism,' minimalism takes different forms with different emphasis, but in ways that (I hope the mixes pursuasively demonstrate) have a common core. Minimalism can mean any or all of the following: giving the sound not made equal weight to what is played; employing space between sounds with care; utilizing restraint as a means of heightening sustained impact; using intentionally fewer and simpler elements but intermingling them in complex ways; emphasizing the whole over its constituent parts. Or put more simply: minimalism is music where less is absolutely more. In the late 1960s and the 1970s the individual forms these qualities shaped were incredibly varied and transnational: Jazz and Fusion in New York or Brazil or South Africa; stripped-down proto-Punk in Zambia or Michigan or Germany; futuristic Dub or timeless spiritual Rastafarian music in Jamaica; rekindled Southern blues in new sonic contexts; auteur-driven R&B from Detroit and the West Coast; to, perhaps most iconic of all, stripped-to-the-bone funk, born in the South of African roots, expanding around the world and returning to Africa to inspire new music across the continent. Unifying these many approaches was a burgeoning sense of Afrocentrism, pride in being Black and African or of African heritage, which fueled both artistic expression and political action that mutually reinforced each other.

Black minimalism beyond the years in this mix would also grow into Disco, Boogie, electronic funk and pop, House music and myriad offshoots, multiple waves of streamlined R&B, punk/post-punk/new wave (often white but deeply indebted to Black music), endless forms of electronic dance and art music, and forty years of hip-hop evolution. Without the Black artists represented here (and the thousands not) music and what’s good in the world would be unrecognizable. Without Black minimalism’s essential proofs that "less is more," we would all be a lot less. Fortunately though, this music isn't good because it's important; it's important because it is so incredibly good. Some of it is likely very familiar, some less-so. But I hope you find that tying it together with the common thread of its minimalism, you'll hear it in new ways, and be inspired to follow (and financially support) the many musical paths that were and are created by Afrominimalism.

- Musicophilia (August, 2018) sunlight 01. sunlight

[00:00] 01. roy ayers ubiquity: "Everybody Loves the Sunshine" 'Everybody Loves the Sunshine' (1976)

[03:55] 02. Augustus Pablo: "King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown" 'King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown' (1976)

[06:25] 03. nite-liters: "drumology" 'a-nal-y-sis' (1973)

[13:55] 04. chrissy zebby tembo: "i've been losing" 'my ancestors' (1976)

[17:10] 05. boscoe: "he keeps you" 'boscoe' (1973)

[21:30] 06. soul throbs: "little girl" 'millie come back' (1975)

[24:05] 07. death: "politicians in my eyes" 'politicians in my eyes' single (1976)

[29:50] 08. fatback band: "keep on steppin" 'keep on steppin' (1974)

[34:05] 09. ramsey lewis: "my love for you" 'funky serenity' (1973)

[39:15] 10. last poets: "e pluribus unum" 'chastisment' (1972)

[43:55] 11. the meters: "cardova" 'the meters' (1969)

[48:25] 12. fela kuti & africa 70: "fefe naa efe" 'gentleman' (1973)

[56:30] 13. can: "thief" 'delay' (1968)

[61:30] 14. kool & the gang: "summer madness" 'light of worlds' (1974) sunset 02. sunset

[00:00] 01. marvin gaye: "'t' plays it cool" 'trouble man' (1972)

[04:20] 02. nina simone: "funkier than a mosquito's tweeter" 'it is finished' (1971)

[09:25] 03. sly & the family stone: "just like a baby" 'there's a riot goin' on' (1971)

[14:25] 04. don cherry & jon appleton: "don" 'human music' (1970)

[16:30] 05. james brown: "ain't it funky (parts 1 & 2)" 'ain't it funky' (1970)

[25:20] 06. unknown kenyan folk musicians: "lukuji" 'africa: witchcraft & ritual music' (1975)

[28:05] 07. milton noscimento: "a felicidade" 'milton' (1970)

[30:50] 08. batsumi: "itumeleng" 'batsumi' (1974)

[41:25] 09. stevie wonder: "look around" 'where I'm coming from' (1971)

[44:15] 10. alice coltrane: "the ankh of amen-ra" 'universal consciousness' (1971)

[50:15] 11. exuma: "dambala" 'exuma' (1970)

[55:45] 12. gibson kente: "saduva" 'next step soweto vol. 2' (1976)

[58:20] 13. john lee hooker: "nobody knows" 'more real folk blues' (1966)

[62:40] 14. leon ware: "tamed to be wild" 'leon ware' (1972) moonlight 03. moonlight

[00:00] 01. hamza el din: "helalisa (nubian song)" 'eclipse' (1978)

[03:45] 02. brother ah: "enthusiasm" 'move ever onward' (1975)

[08:45] 03. howlin' wolf: "moaning at midnight" 'the howlin' wolf album' (1969)

[11:50] 04. richie havens: "end of the seasons" 'alarm clock' (1971)

[15:25] 05. yusef lateef: "like it is" 'the blue yusef lateef' (1968)

[22:55] 06. george duke: "north beach" 'faces in reflection' (1974)

[29:10] 07. jimi hendrix: "angel" 'the cry of love' (1971)

[33:20] 08. cymande: "one more" 'cymande' (1972)

[36:25] 09. labi siffre: "saved" 'crying laughing loving lying' (1972)

[38:30] 10. roberta flack & donny hathaway: "mood" 'roberta flack & donny hathaway' (1972)

[45:25] 11. miles davis: "he loved him madly" (excerpt) 'get up with it' (1974)

[54:45] 12. bill withers: "in my heart" 'just as i am' (1971)

[59:00] 13. dadawah: "zion land" 'peace and love wadadasow' (1974) sunrise 04. sunrise

[00:00] 01. pierre akendengue: "nandipo" 'nandipo' (1974)

[04:05] 02. burning spear: "i and i survive" 'garvey's ghost' (1976)

[07:55] 03. bohannon: "south african man" 'keep on dancin'' (1974)

[13:50] 04. shuggie otis: "sweet thang" 'freedom flight' (1971)

[17:50] 05. count ossie & the mystic revelation of rastafari: "hundred years" 'grounation' (1973)

[22:15] 06. bobby hutcherson: "love song" 'mantara' (1975)

[27:40] 07. syreeta: "she's leaving home" 'syreeta' (1972)

[32:00] 08. herbie hancock: "rain dance" 'sextant' (1973)

[41:10] 09. 24-carat black: "foodstamps" 'ghetto: misfortune's wealth' (1973)

[47:30] 10. dumisani abraham maraire: "kana ndola kuramba murume" 'shona: the african mbira' (1971)

[53:20] 11. hezoleh soundz: "hedzoleh!" 'hendoleh' (1973)

[62:10] 12. osibisa: "woyaya" 'woyaya' (1971) musicophilia musicophilia.wordpress.com