benga (kenya)

benga emerged as a pop style in the 50's
when kenyan musicians began adapting for acoustic guitar
the traditional dance rhythms of the luo people
originally played on instruments such as the nyatiti (eight stringed lyre)
by the 60's the likes of shirati jazz had electrified the sound
into a fast but fluid hypnotic push-and-pull rhythm
characterised by soft vocal harmonies and intersecting lead guitars
which has dominated kenyan music ever since
this is how songlines magazine described benga
in it's article of last year naming 50 rhythms in the world of music
i must admit i tend to favour african music above most others of the world genre
so this description had me very curious to get a listen happening
did a bit of a search for the word in youtube and came up with a number of clips
including 1 or 2 by the group called shirati jazz talked out above
but the one that caught my ear and eye is by a performer named musa juma
seems he and his band are well revered in their home country of kenya
in this clip they are seem performing at a club in nairobi
the musicianship is superb with that uniquely african ringing singing guitar sound
that i have heard mostly with another favourite group called the bhundu boys
who are actually referred to as a band playing jit music
so presumably benga (kenya) is closely related to jit (zimbabwe)
in the following clip we can see the band performing with confidence
and the audience grooving away also most comfortably
(5 of 50)