D.O Misiani and Shirati Jazz - The King of History
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Classic 1970s Benga Beats from Kenya
(Sterns Music)
This is the kind of mesmerising music that has you moving before you know it: undulating guitar rhythms flow like a brook over pebbles while sweet vocals chant stories over rubbery bass and the steady tickety-click of percussion.
Daniel Owini Misiani (nicknamed ‘the grandfather of benga’) and the group Shirati Jazz created captivating sounds for all time, writing stories of love and politics that got Misiani imprisoned at one point. As a Kenyan Luo, if he was alive today he might be bringing these sensational riffs to Obama in the White House.