more from
Dagoretti Records
We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Nyatiti Singles Volume 1

by Dagoretti Records

/
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.

about

The nyatiti is an eight stringed lyre like instrument from East Africa. Versions of the instrument exist all throughout the region, but the musical traditions vary widely. This collection of vinyl singles from the 1970s represents the instrument as it is used in the Siaya region of Western Kenya.

The nyatiti is traditionally played sitting on a small stool. The player often slips an iron ring onto his toe and bells on his ankle, where provide the rhythm section as he bangs his foot on the frame of the instrument. The limited number of strings and the pentatonic scale prevent creating complicated melodies, but what the nyatiti lacks in sounds, it makes up for in rhythm.
Some might be tempted to consider this a compilation of “traditional” music, which conjures up images of old tribespeople in villages playing ancient music that has some metaphysical significance, handing down music from generation to generation. Nyatiti music from this era couldn’t have been more different. While a traditional thread runs through all musics worldwide, the music on this record is decidedly modern.

Themes on this record include praise songs, meant to elevate the status of whoever the subject may be, but salacious stories of sex, impotence, infidelity, virility, drinking and scandal abound along with self-aggrandization and stories of the power and prowess of the singer himself. Nyatiti music of this era competed with recently imported guitar based music. Where it couldn’t compete in melody, it established itself with rhythms and nasty stories much like old school black American rock and roll and later hip hop music.

The songs are almost universally sung in Luo (with one exception on this compilation) and the meanings are obscure unless one comes from that community. Linguistic and cultural fluency, however, should not detract from the musical experience, however. Nyatiti music is historically aggressive dance music, intended to be heard at drinking events, weddings or funerals.

In this era, however, the primary places where this music was heard was bars, particularly in the Siaya region of Kenya. Musicians would show up to a drinking establishment, sit down, strap on the gara, and play aggressive songs praising whoever was paying the bill that evening, and entertaining the locals with dirty stories. Presumably, they would advertise themselves hoping to open opportunities for the next gig.

The singles on this compilation are mostly from the golden age of Kenyan vinyl, the 1970s, which one exception from 1968. This collection goes from the truly traditional sounds of Ogola Opot, considered the grandfather of the modern nyatiti sound, to Lucas Odote, a Nairobi city councilman who blended soul and funk sounds with his fantastic nyatiti playing. Guitars are present on a couple of tunes and many artists experimented with vocal choruses to distinguish themselves from other players.

Each record is unlike the others. While notions of “traditional music” imply dusty sounds from old people who entertain European tourists and play in museums, these sounds are from musicians, all trying to make a living playing songs for people who got excited by this kind of music. While music played on indigenous instruments was already mostly dead or dying a slow death in the villages at this time, these players were making regular trips to Nairobi to make records for a hodge podge of labels and record stores. This music is as alive (or even more alive) than the soul and funk sounds that people associate with African music of the time.

Recording quality varies. The condition of the records, which were all found after numerous digging expeditions in Nairobi record stores, varies widely. Every attempt was made to return the recordings to the condition they were originally recorded in with varying degrees of success. Given the rarity of these records, this may possibly be the only place one can hear them.

Enjoy this compilation of records and I hope that you all like this music.

credits

released January 28, 2018

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Dagoretti Records Ann Arbor, Michigan

"Dagoretti" is the confluence of three large pathways in Nairobi connecting all of Kenya together. It is also the Swahilified pronounciation of "The great." We like to think that we put out great records that connect distant places together.

contact / help

Contact Dagoretti Records

Streaming and
Download help

Shipping and returns

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Dagoretti Records, you may also like: