Kenya has hit the headlines most recently as the ancestral home of the USA’s first black president, Barack Obama. But the nation is also home to East Africa’s oldest and most diverse popular music traditions, reaching back to Kenyan musical father Fundi Konde. This year the dynamic musical quartet Jabali Afrika combine both past and present with their Obama Tour 2009-2010 and the release of their fifth studio album, Mayosi.

Jabali means "rock" in Kiswahili, and Mayosi expands the group’s afro-rock sound, which blends authentic African music with the modern styles that have borrowed from it. Fans will recognize the trademark Jabali Afrika sound: powerful percussion and big vocal harmonies of Joseck Asikoye, Justo Otongo, Dumisizwe Bhembe and Victor Savani. But there’s a reason the new CD was given the Kiswahili name meaning "soulful melodies." Asikoye explains that it’s partly because Otongo has been spending a lot of time with his acoustic guitar lately:

On this album, we went back to the traditional
East African sounds, including elements of rumba and benga,
but as always we add our own musical twist.
We wanted to capitalize on Justo’s acoustic guitar skills
and the style he learned from his father, Reuben Asikoye,
who played with many legendary Kenyan musicians from
the western province in the 1950s and 1960s.

Kenya has also been in the headlines due to the turmoil around its 2008 election. In fact, Kenyan radio banned Jabali Afrika’s get-out-the-vote single "People’s Voice," a musical call for democracy and justice to prevail over corruption, during the election violence. But Mayosi doesn’t shy away from continuing to protest inequity and celebrate human rights.
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