Ernie's African Odyssey Part 45 - Somalia

From Somaliland to Somalia. Or from one part of Somalia to another part of Somalia if you don't recognise Somaliland as an independent state.

Before we get started can I once again express my gratitude to the good folks at the Ostinato and Analog Africa labels for the great work they do bringing the vintage sounds of the Horn of Africa (and other parts of the continent) to a new audience. Each provided two of today's selections.

I have described in several earlier posts in the series how civil wars and regime changes have brought golden ages of the local music scene to a crashing halt, and such was the case in Somalia in 1991. Fortunately a few radio stations and recording studios were able to preserve some great music from the 1970s and particularly the 1980s.

We are going to give the first half of today's set to the three big bands of that era, starting with Dur-Dur Band who glittered more brilliantly than most on the Mogadishu disco scene in the 1980s. 

The band broke up and its members dispersed during the civil war but for the last ten years a UK based lineup featuring many of the original members have been performing and recording on and off. They will be playing at the Barbican in London in December. I have my ticket, you should get yours.

There are a number of original Dur-Dur Band albums available on the Awesome Tapes From Africa and the Analog Africa labels. Today's track comes from the latter's "Volumes 1 and 2" reissue. The reformed lineup last year released an album featuring some sessions they recorded in Berlin in 2019 which is well worth nabbing as well.

Next up we have Iftin Band, formed by the Ministry of Education in the mid-1970s with the expectation that they would play an educational and political role as well as a cultural one (again something we have seen in some of the other African countries we have visited). I can't comment on their educational efforts but the music was top of the class.

Today's selection comes from "Mogadishu's Finest", a compilation of their mid-1980s recordings released by Ostinato. By this time the band were no longer state-sponsored and were playing regularly at the hot spot that was the Al-Uruba hotel where these sessions were also recorded.  

From another Ostinato compilation ("Sweet As Broken Dates") we bring you our third and final band. Waaberi Band started in the 1960s as the government-appointed house band of the National Theatre of Somalia, but like Iftlin Band had been privatised by the time they recorded this swinging instrumental in the 1980s. Dig that groovy organ!

Like the other two bands the original Waaberi Band broke up as a result of the civil war, but a rebuilt lineup featuring their latter day lead singer Maryam Mursal released an album called "New Dawn" on Peter Gabriel's Real World in 1997. 

Ms Mursal released a solo album called "The Journey" the following year which recounts her escape from Somalia with her children via Djibouti and a refugee camp in Denmark where she was rediscovered. This track is taken from that album.

Back to the 1980s now and also back to Analog Africa with their superbly titled "Mogadisco" compilation. This mighty 1988 cracker from Shimaali & Killer is just one of the many highlights. Shimaali is Shimaali Axmed Shimaali who had a stint in Dur-Dur Band and is one of three singers featured on "Volumes 1 and 2". I have no further information on Killer.

You may have detected a slight hint of reggae on "Hoobeya". Technically it is actually dhaanto, a traditional music associated with the Ogaden clan. There are strong similarities between the two styles, notably that both accentuate the second and fourth beats in the bar.    

I strongly suspect that Dalmar Yare is really a dhaanto singer but at the risk of upsetting any MAR purists out there I am putting him in that slot. He describes his music as reggae and that is good enough for me. Today's track is from his 2018 self-titled album. 

"Aduun Hawli Kama Dhamaato" - Dur-Dur Band

"Ruuney" - Iftlin Band

"Oktoobar Waatee? Waa Taayadi" - Waaberi Band

"Sodewou" - Maryam Mursal

"Hoobeya" - Shimaali & Killer

"Dalxiis" - Dalmar Yare