This album consists of music from the first two volumes of Piano Music of Africa and the African Diaspora, which I compiled and edited for Oxford University Press in 2007. Since the publication of the anthology, there has been great demand by piano teachers for recordings of this virtually unknown music. It is my hope that this album of intermediate pieces will be useful to teachers interested in introducing this wonderful piano music by composers of African descent to their students. I invite listeners to go on a musical journey of this delightful music, rich and diverse, from Africa and its diaspora.
I chose the word “Kete” as the title of the album because it has two meanings in the two different cultures from which my parents originate. First, “Kete” is one of the most complex, intricate and highly symbolic dances from the royal courts of the Akan people. “Kete” is also the name of a particularly beautiful fabric of the Ewe people, woven in strips on a loom and then sewn together to create beautiful patterns. This album reflects the weaving together of music by people of African descent, spread across the entire globe.
Isak Roux (b.1959) | South Africa
Kwela No.1
Ulysses Kay (1917-1995) | USA
Tender Thought
Hale Smith (1925-2009) | USA
My Scarf is Yellow
Nkeiru Okoye (b.1972) | Nigeria, USA
Dusk
Robert Kwami (1954-2004) | Ghana
Piano Piece No.2 – Call and Response
Halim El-Dabh (1921-2017) | Egypt
Soufiane
Hale Smith | USA
Off-Beat Shorty
Florence Price (1887-1953) | USA
Ticklin’ Toes
Valerie Capers (b.1935) | USA
Sweet Mister Jelly Roll
Nkeiru Okoye | Nigeria, USA
Dancing Barefoot in the Rain
Isak Roux | South Africa
Lullaby
Valerie Capers | USA
The Monk
André Bangambula Vindu (b.1953) | Congo
Lullaby
Kwabena Nketia (1921-2019) | Ghana
Builsa Work Song
Christian Onyeji (b.1967) | Nigeria
Ufie III
Laurindo Almeida (1917-1995) | Brazil
Lament in Tremolo Form
Ulysses Kay | USA
Invention No.2
Robert Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943) | USA, Canada
Honey
Joshua Uzoigwe (1946-2005) | Nigeria
Nigerian Dance No.1
Wallace Cheatham (b.1945) | USA
Prelude No.1 “Joshua fit the Battle of Jericho”
Prelude No.2 “Poor Mourner’s Got a Home”
Christian Onyeji | Nigeria
Oga
Amadeo Roldán Y Gardes (1900-1939) | Cuba
Preludio Cubano
Florence Price | USA
Silk Hat and Walking Cane
John Wesley Work III (1901-1967) | USA
At a Certain Church
Kwabena Nketia | Ghana
Volta Fantasy
Akin Euba (b.1935) | Nigeria
Igbá Kerin
Igbá Kinní
Alain-Pierre Pradel (b.1949) | Guadeloupe
Pomme Cannelle
Halim El-Dabh | Egypt
Basseet
Nim Nawakht
Eleanor Alberga (b.1949) | Jamaica
If the Silver Bird Could Speak
There is plenty to appreciate in the collection, not a great deal of conventional virtuoso display so much as down-to-earth rootedness and brightly energetic engagements. Maestro Nyaho plays all with spirit and commitment. Anyone with an interest in World and African strains in the classical repertoire will appreciate this, as will anyone who simply likes good music.
Nyaho makes a powerful case for the African diaspora as a musical unity.
Nyaho plays it all with beauty of tone and consummate artistry