A Socio-Historical and Contextual Analysis of Popular Musical Perfor- mance Among the Swahili of Mombasa, Kenya (original) (raw)
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Traditional musical Arts are culturally crafted art forms in and from a particular ethnic group. It is widely recognised that in Africa, traditional music plays an integral part in people's lives and life cycles. An important characteristic of African music is its cultural function, as the various stages of the life cycle of an individual are observed commemorated with the performance of traditional music. This is also apparent in the Xhosa culture. The purpose of this article is to depict the socio-cultural, and religious functions that traditional musical arts holds in the Xhosa culture. In particular, this article discusses Xhosa traditional music, in the context of African traditional music. The discussion depicts the various functions of the music, including religious, social, cultural, ritual, and moral, and that this music is also used to appease or elicit favours from the ancestors. These functions and the value of music, furthermore, inform the African way of life, and traditional musical arts performance has a major impact on the life cycle of various African peoples. To present this information, a qualitative approach was used in this article to interrogate the rich content and narrative(s) of the Xhosa people's experience as well as the understanding of the value of traditional music in this society. This approach was chosen as it offers the opportunity for an in-depth analysis of existing literatures pertaining to African music traditions.
Brian Hogan is an ethnomusicologist, drummer, and percussionist currently pursuing a PhD in ethnomusicology at the University of California, Los Angeles. His research areas include African and African American music, with specializations in xylophone practice in West Africa, and jazz performance in the United States. His current research projects include a biographically centered depiction of Lobi xylophone music in Ghana through the perspectives of two blind xylophonists, a chronicle of the life and death of world renowned Lobi xylophonist Kakraba Lobi, and the article published here on gender and power as they relate to women's verbal arts in West Africa.
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Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, 2017
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I am deeply indebted to the performers of the following artistic groups, KAKAU Band, Abaragomora Dance Group, AMWAVU Poets, and CARITAS Choir, based in the Bukoba Urban and Bukoba Rural Districts, for allowing me to watch their musical performances and share with me their lives, knowledge and experience about the music traditions of the Haya people, and the use of music in combating the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the Kagera Region. I am particularly grateful to Mzee Festos Kaiza, Andrew Kagya, Sarah Ibrahim, Bi Getruda Kokushobera, Evarista Rugeiyamu, and Father Cornelius Mushumbushi for patiently taking time to work with me and to Mulokozi Mugyabuso for his valuable inputs about the gender-based division of work among the Haya and their music traditions. Th e reviewers for African Music have given me very constructive criticism upon which this article has relied hugely. My thanks go to those whose commentaries on this and related research have assisted in writing this article, especially