When I was in Kenya in November I heard some great music playing in the safari lodge I was staying at.
It was played in the bar and also I heard it when I was back in Nairobi. It was great, happy music and I wondered what it was called.
Well, when I got back home I started to try and found out more about this great music and by using the web I found it’s called “Benga” and the distinctive guitar sound is based on the sound of the Luo’s eight-string lyre, an instrument played by the Lua people of Kenya.
Here’s a description of Benga…
Guitar pickers had long mimicked the quick, syncopated melodies of the Luo’s eight-string nyatiti lyre. Now, as electric benga emerged, the nyatiti’s push-and-pull character also influenced prominent electric bass lines. In Benga, the hi-hat sizzles, the bass leaps and voices cry out high-pitched harmonies, while two or three guitars chase each other in sprightly interplay.
I’m going to add a few Benga tunes to the Podcast jukebox here on the blog as soon as I can but if you want to hear more you should just do a search on iTunes for “Benga”.
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