I won an 18-CD boxed set! Africa – 50 Years of Music
Afropop.org had the contest.
Here’s the description:
Africa – 50 Years of Music (Sterns Africa, 2010) might be one of the most comprehensive compilation of African music ever compiled. The 18 volume boxed set collects 182 classic recordings by 182 key artists from 39 countries and covers the length and breadth of the entire African continent. The artists include universal stars such as Miriam Makeba, Fela Kuti, Youssou N’Dour, Franco, Cheb Khaled, Cesaria Evora, Mahmoud Ahmed, Salif Keita, Manu Dibango and Umm Kulthum.
The tracks, licensed from some of the world’s most respected record companies, are all original studio recordings or famous concert performances. Most of them were made in the 50 years from 1960 to 2010 – the era of African independence – but two landmark Egyptian classics date from the 1940s.
Many of these songs are known and loved worldwide: ‘Pata Pata,’ ‘Soul Makossa,’ ‘Yeke Yeke,’ ‘Sweet Mother,’ ‘Mario,’ ‘Shakara,’ ‘Jive Soweto.’ Others will be revelations to even the most dedicated record collectors.
The deluxe boxed set includes a 76-page bi-lingual booklet with photographs, record-cover reproductions, specially-commissioned artwork and essays by experts on each of Africa’s popular styles.
That’s a $140.00 set with 2 5-star rave reviews on Amazon!
My son will be studying geography this semester and I told him that I think he’ll be able to pick almost any (or any?) country in Africa and hear a song from there in this CD set. That’s pretty cool, huh? A mini-music library with highlights from each place. I have always thought that it’s much easier and more fun to learn geography if you learn about the culture of the countries. Music is great that way because the music from neighboring countries often sounds similar enough so that you can remember they are close together. In the case of Africa, the languages of the music help to learn about the history of the country. I already own a lot of African music, but my son doesn’t know which thing is from where, and it would be much easier for him to use the boxed set.
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