Suzanna Owiyo – My Roots – 2010

Suzanna Owiyo
My Roots (KKV)

The wonderful Kenyan singer and nyatiti (lyre) player brings together new songs, old taditions, and songwriting that is biting, passionate, warm and loving and always honest. She deals with corrupt politicians, good leaders, gratitude for being able to share in the beautiful gifts we all have been given by God, the dangers of alcohol abuse, with forgiveness, fathers who abandon their families. She is joined by a group of musicians from Nairobi on guitars, bass, percussion and other local instruments.

Artist: Suzanna Owiyo
Title: My Roots
Genre: Contemporary Benga/ World Music
Release date: 2010

Tracklist:
01 – Gonya
02 – Anyanga
03 – Osiapna
04 – Usife Moyo
05 – Dhano Le
06 – Idhewakamande
07 – Abiro
08 – Jamer
09 – Maria Matakatifu
10 – Uyie
11 – Nga’to Gi Mare
12 – Tumekata

More info: 

 

This highly profiled singer and songwriter, who has performed at events such as the Mandela concert in New York and the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony in Oslo, has chosen to remain in her country instead of moving to London or Paris as many other African artists have done. Suzanna Owiyo, who has previously released two albums, has the following to say about her new release, "My Roots":

 

“Let me take you on a journey to my roots. I welcome you to share this special language we all own together: Music. My string instrument, the nyatiti, is a symbol of the title of my record. My grandfather was a famous nyatiti player. This instrument was only used on very special occasions, but only played by men. For women, it was taboo to play it, we couldn’t even touch it. But I wanted to learn to play this instrument so badly, so I was not deterred. The fire only grew stronger in me when our local TV station broadcast a programme where a Japanese woman who called herself Anyango played the instrument. This was the first time in my life I saw a woman playing a nyatiti, and watching her gave my ambitions a great boost."

Suzanna has written all the lyrics and the music. She deals with corrupt politicians, good leaders, gratitude for being able to share in the beautiful gifts we all have been given by God, the dangers of alcohol abuse, with forgiveness, fathers who abandon their families, faithful friends, violence against women and addictions that lead to begging and inhibit development. In addition to singing and playing the nyatiti, Suzanna also plays the acoustic guitar, shakers and bongos on the album.

She is joined by a great band of talented Nairobi musicians: Tobi Imani, Eric Desire Buchumi, Freddie Bryant, Rocky Bile, Tobby Koech, Dave "Mob" Otieno and Kombo Chokwe, all on guitars. Eric Mwangi, Chagala Wycliffe, Eric Mwangi and Annette A Aguilar play percussion. Robert Kamanzi and Hussein "Meya" Mwidani play drums. Sadie Kinyunda, Dave "Mob" Otieno and Isaac Gem play bass guitars, while Lydia Ogoti performs backing vocals and plays the calabash. Also joining in are Barry Olsen on trombone, Rob Thomas on violin and Shadrack Muithya on keyboards. In spite of the relatively large number of musicians, the album has a fairly stripped sound, giving a very authentic organic African impression, without the typical World Music sound we are familiar with from programmed loop-based Afro music. The album was produced and recorded by Jesseh Bukindu at Ketebul Studios in Nairobi and mixed in the same studio by Jesseh together with Daniel Wold. The album is the product of a cooperative venture between KKV and Mimeta, a Norwegian cultural and development centre which supports artists and environments contributing to culture and development. Mimeta is owned by the Strømme Foundation and the Vest-Agder county authority. The record is part of the KKV series "Imagine Africa". Imagine Africa (www.imaginafrica.com) is also a project initiated by the ARTerial Network (www.arterialnetwork.org), an organisation of African producers and cultural initiatives.

Born in Kasaye village – Nyakach, near the lakeside city of Kisumu, Suzanna Owiyo was introduced to music at a tender age by her grandfather who was a prolific Nyatiti player. As she grew up, it was her privilege to watch him play to elated audiences not knowing that one-day music would be her calling in life.
In high school, her talent enabled her school to win many trophies during the provincial and national music festivals.

After high school in 1998, she joined a Nairobi based singer Sally Oyugi as a back up vocalist. Two years later she parted ways with Sally to team up with a local band in Nairobi; Bora Bora sound and later on went back to sing in Kisumu. It was here that a young business entrepreneur with a keen ear for music spotted her talent and offered her, her first guitar. She then went back to Nairobi and undertook music lessons at the Kenya Conservatoire of Music with an aim to polish her guitar skills whilst continuing to sing at a club in Karen. The lessons went on for a while but her interest was more into live stage experience.

It was while preparations were being made for the centennial celebrations of the city of Kisumu, that Suzanna was requested to compose a theme song for the opening ceremony. In front of a capacity crowd of 60,000 people “Kisumu 100” was born and immediate success followed; a prolonged applause and a standing ovation.

{More on http://www.suzannaowiyo.net/home-mainmenu-58.html} 

 

---

---

News & Actualities

archiv

News & accesories

Oblíbené odkazy

• About.com - Blues
• Absolutely Kosher Records
• Acoustic Guitar Magazine
• Adrian Recordings
• All Music
• All Scandinavian Music
• Alternative Tentacles
• ALT Sounds - Independent Music Journalism
• Amazon
• American Music podle Stefana Wirze
• Amplión Records
• Animal Music Records
• Anish Kapoor
• ANTI -
• Archa Theatre / Divadlo Archa
• Arch Hill Recordings - New Zealand Independent Record Label & Mu
• Art Design Café
• ARTA Records
• The Artist Shop
• Arts & Crafts
• Assumer Guide
• Asthmatic Kitty Records
• Atlantic Records
• Bandzone.cz
• Bar/None Records
• Barsuk Records
• BBC Radio 2
• BELLA UNION
• Better Looking Records
• Billboard
• The Bill Frisell Song Finder
• Black Canvas Records
• Black Hen Music
• Blind Pig Records
• Bloodshot Records
• Blue Note Records
• Blues Interactions / Japan
• BLUES Magazine (France)
• Boomkat
• BraAgas
• Bright Midnight Archives - The Doors Music
• Brit Awards
• Budoár staré dámy
• Camino Records
• CD Baby
• CD Roots
• Championship Music
• Chapeau Rouge Club Prague
• Cherry Red Records
• Circusworld Productions
• Concord Music Group
• Consequence of Sound
• Cooking Vinyl UK
• Cowboy Lyrics
• Crammed Discs and Associated Labels
• Daily Music Guide
• Darla Records
• Daytrotter Sessions
• The Deli NYC / LA / SF Music Magazine
• Dine Alone Records
• Django Station
• DGM Live
• Dog My Cat Records
• Domino Records
• Drag City Records
• Dusted Magazine
• Dust Songs
• East Village Radio
• EasyCapsa.cz - Poslat zásilku
• EMI Label Services & Caroline Distribution
• Encyclopaedia Britannica
• Enja Yellow Birds / Jazz Records
• Essay Recordings
• Exclaim! Canada´s Music Authority
• Facebook
• FAME Magazine
• Fat Cat Records
• Fat Possum Records
• Filter Magazine
• Fina-Music
• Fire Records
• Fly Fi
• Fretbase songs
• Full Time Hobby
• GIBSON
• GIZEH Records
• Good Day Records
• Guerilla Records
• Hellthy Entertainment
• HMV.com
• Hudba.sk
• Iceland Airwaves Festival
• Ice Cream Man
• IFPI
• The Independent
• Indies Scope Records
• Insound
• INTAKT RECORDS
• iREPORT
• Israeli & Jewish Music
• Iva Marešová & 999
• Jagjaguwar Records
• Jambands
• Jana Šteflíčková
• JANGO Tais Awards Songs
• Jaryn Janek bass web
• Jazz FM - Listen Live
• The Jazz Loft
• Jazz Meets World
• JazzPort.cz
• JAZZ REPUBLIC / CLUB PRAGUE
• Joe Wakeford
• Justin Lavash
• Just Music
• Just Plain Folks
• Kate Kilbane
• K Records
• Kemado Records
• Killrockstars
• Kranky
• Kurzy měn
• Kutya - jewellery / shop / Midi Lidi
• Kyle Gann
• Kytary.cz
• Label Home Table (Dva)
• Lambchop
• Landmine Alert [cze label]
• Laurie Anderson
• Le Chant du Monde
• Live from Austin
• Locust Music Records
• Longital
• LoveMusic
• Lowcut
• Lucerna Music Bar
• Luckyhorse Industries
• Luft Kinoklub Lysá n. Labem
• Manuel Rodriguez and Sons
• Marta Topferova
• Matador Records
• MAUNET
• Maxumi Dance Music Magazine
• Mercury Records
• Merge Records
• Miami Science Museum
• Michael´s Uncle
• Midi Lidi
• MISELAGO - Australia & New Zealand
• Mix.cz
• Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab
• MOJO
• Mondomix
• Moon June Records
• Musis Is Amazing
• Musicserver.cz
• Music Report / Slovakia
• Muzikus
• MySpace
• Naïve Records
• Native American/Indian Tribes
• Nejnejnej.cz (rock-jazz.cz/cs/eshop)
• Nettwerk Records
• Nonesuch Records
• Noripcord - Music & Film
• NorthernBlues Music
• Ocean Music
• Odessa Records
• One Little Indian Records
• Open Mic Potrvá
• Ottmar Liebert
• Palác Akropolis
• Parasol Records
• PARIS ON THE MOVE - blues/jazz/rock
• Paste Magazine
• Patrick Fraser photography
• Petr Dorůžka - World Music
• Philzone.com
• PICCADILLY RECORDS
• Piper Records
• Pitchfork Media
• Poetry Foundation
• Polyvinyl Record Co.
• Prague Jazz Clubs
• Pretty Good Music - New, unknown, and up-and-coming artists
• Progboard.com / Slovakia
• Putumayo World Music
• Q The Music
• Radio SOTOKOTO
• Radio Wave
• Recommended Records
• Red Grape Records
• Red House Records
• Relix - The Magazine For Music
• Respekt.cz
• Respect Music - Rachot
• The Reykjavík Grapevine / Music
• Rhino Records
• Robert Christgau
• Robin Parmar
• Rockwood Music Hall, NYC
• Rolling Stone
• Rollo & Grady
• Root Down Records
• Rough Trade Records
• Rune Grammofon
• Ryuichi Sakamoto
• Sanity Muffin
• The Santa Fe Desert Style as Defined by SSRI
• Sarah Cahill
• Secretly Canadian
• Sentimentalist Magazine
• Seu Jorge and Almaz
• Shangri-La Records
• Shout! Factory - Music, Movies & Video
• Silber Records
• Six Degrees Records
• The Skinny
• Skoda Jazz Festival
• Slnko Records
• Smells Like Records
• Smooch Records
• The Social Registry
• S.O.I.L.
• Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
• Song Lyrics
• Song Meanings, Lyrics and Trivia.
• Sounds Familyre Records
• Sound On Sound
• Southern Records
• Spin Magazine
• Spruce & Maple Music
• Stereo & Video
• Stick
• Stony Plain Records
• Studio Najbrt
• Sub Pop Records
• Sue & Sanyland
• Sugar Hill Records
• SUPERMUSIC.SK
• Tea Art Workshop
• Telarc
• Three Ring Records
• Thrill Jockey Records
• Touch and Go / Quarterstick Records
• Trina Shoemaker [mixer/producer/engineer]
• Triple J Unearthed
• Turkmen Music & Multimedia Homepage
• Tzadik
• UbuWeb
• UCCA
• Uncut
• Unijazz
• Úschovna.cz
• U Kaštanu
• U Zavěšenýho kafe - kavárna a hospoda
• Vagon Club
• Vagrant Records
• ValMez 2009
• Vladivojna La Chia
• Wagram Music
• Warm Electronic Recordings
• Waterloo Records
• Webradio Welle303.de
• WERS 88.9 FM
• Western Vinyl
• Wikipedia
• Winter & Winter
• Womad Shop
• WOMEX
• Wrasse Records
• XL Recordings
• X Production s.r.o.
• Yamaha
• Yep Roc Records
• Yer Bird Records
• Young God Records
• You Tube
• Zazzle Store Tais Awards
• Zunior.com
• ZVA 12-28 Band
• Živé kvety
• 11 Records
• 3bees - Recording
• 4AD Records
• 500 Records
• 7digital