AFRICA HI-FI
CHICAGO

AFRICA HI-FI is the brainchild of Sonia Hassan and co-creator, World Renown DJ/Producer/Remixer Ron Trent. This monthly event will be a musical tribute of respect to Africa and all that it has touched and influenced in World music and culture. AFRICA HI-FI will fuse music and social consciousness with art and dance. The evening will be geared toward educating people about Africa as the birthplace of music that we all listen to and love, whether it be Rock, Pop, Dance Hip Hop, etc. Africa HI-FI is being presented as an open forum that will tap into the creative energy of the Motherland to help elevate the consciousness of all people, thereby creating a positive collective community.

AFRICA HI-FI is taking place at sonotheque every 3rd FRIDAY of each month with RON TRENT as your Resident Dee-Jay and SONIA H. as your Host. This month, FRIDAY SEPT. 17 we are extremely honored to present to you, in conjunction with the WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL, MILES CLERET (soundway records/UK), along with MBIRA MASTERS of ZIMBABWE: COSMAS MAGAYA & AMBUYA BEAULER BYOKO.

Performing together as the Mbira Masters of Zimbabwe, Cosmas Magaya and Beauler Dyoko represent the respected elder generation of mbira (African finger piano) players in Zimbabwe today. Their powerful playing and singing taps the deep spiritual and cultural roots of this music and the authentic ancient beauty of the traditional songs of the Shona people of Zimbabwe. Their knowledge has become a resource for students and Shona mbira music enthusiasts.
::The buzz sound of the Mbira is considered an essential part of the mbira sound, required to clear the mind of thoughts and worries so that the mbira music can fill the consciousness of the performers and listeners. The buzz adds depth and context to the clear tones of the mbira keys, and may be heard as whispering voices, singing, tapping, knocking, wind or rain::
(for more interesting info about the Mbira instrument go to www.mbira.org)

MILES CLERET,the young Brighton, UK-based DJ and collector of wax has dedicated his life to it. Having grown up a fan of jazz, soul, psychedelic rock and funk, Cleret's ears were wide open to the fusions thereof he would later discover were created in quantity during the 1970s in West Africa. In fact, a trip to Ghana four years ago proved particularly inspirational.
"When I was in Ghana the first time, I suddenly heard music that was made from the funk and jazz sensibility I was familiar with, but with rhythms, syncopation and phrasings I'd never heard before," Cleret says. "The records sounded so fresh and ahead of their time even though many were 30 years old. There are a lot of parts of the world, and West Africa is one of them, that deserve more emphasis and acclaim than they receive."
Cleret set out to add to the recognition of the music in this region, traveling in Ghana for months at a time to track down obscure records, their creators, producers and master tapes. Histories were gathered and licensing rights properly procured. Soundway Records was born in 2002, with Ghana Soundz as its first release. Subsequent releases have included Quantic remixes of tunes from Ghana Soundz; a retrospective album from Benin's T.P. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo, and the new compilation Afro Baby.
Subtitled The Evolution of the Afro-Sound in Nigeria 1970-79, the compilation was produced with the help of Nigerian collector Kayode Samuel -- Cleret's partner in Ekosound, a new label focusing exclusively on Nigerian music. Respected Nigerian broadcaster and journalist Benson Idonije contributed sleeve notes. The track selection is excellent, with Cleret and crew clearly digging deep to bring us a real range in Afro fusion, including the beautiful highlife-meets-Afro-soul of Orlando Julius & His Afro-Sounders, the Afro-rock of The Mebusas and the stunning discofied funk of trombonist Fred Fisher.
"It's impossible to squeeze the Afro scene from Nigeria into one album," Cleret says. "You could do 20 albums and still not have covered much of it. There were literally thousands and thousands of records made there, and yet the vast majority of non-Nigerians just don't know about them.
"What I wanted to do with Afro Baby was show that there was more than people know. There's a Fela Kuti track on this album, but it's a track that's never been reissued -- it only ever came out on a 45. There are a few musicians here who appeared on the Nigeria 70 compilation that Strut put out, but I wanted to show that they weren't just anomalies who only released one record or one B-side. These are guys who were key to the scene, and there were hundreds of others doing the same thing. It's simply a case of putting music out that deserves to be heard."
Though Soundway's schedule includes a fall release of Ghana Soundz 2, and Ekosound has just issued a collection of Orlando Julius works recorded in 1970-72, Cleret is not only interested in the past. He recognizes that "nostalgia is a bit of a Western luxury," expanding on the theme in his excellent essay found in the new issue (#8) of Wax Poetics magazine.
To that end, one project Cleret and Will Holland, a.k.a. Quantic, are working on is bringing a number of American and European musicians to Ethiopia to record with musicians there, including legendary (and oft-bootlegged) jazz player Mulatu Astatque.
"But what I really hope for the future is that we get a new generation of musicians fusing elements of the musical heritage from the '60s and '70s, modernizing it, and taking it in new directions and areas," says Cleret. "It's quite a sad situation, especially in West Africa, these days. A lot of kids don't want to learn the trumpet or saxophone or drums -- they want to rap. I think it's good to show the young guys that they don't always have to look outside, to MTV and the like. They have an incredible musical heritage from which to draw and to reinvent."
As for Cleret himself, he continues to travel the globe, both in search of musical rarities and to share those selections wherever receptive audiences are to be found. This Saturday's visit to Toronto's Turning Point is his second in seven months; clearly crowds are as hungry for the rhythms as he is.
"I'm very much into very percussive, tropical music -- hot, sexy sounds that people can't help but respond to," Cleret says. "The music does the hard work for you, really."
:AFRICA HI-FI is proud to be sponsored by Six Degrees Records, Straight no chaser, Next Aid: please visit nextaid.org to learn more about how we can help children in Africa orphaned by this overwhelming AIDS epidemic.
ROGER NOEL will be opening the evening with his collection of African-based rythms at 9pm-10pm. The night continues til 2am with a $12 cover. Thank you.
We are looking forward to sharing this beautiful evening with you all.

Sonotheque
1444 w. Chicago
Chicago,IL
312.226.7600
www.sonotheque.org