Sierra Leone Journal
Dispatches from Pre-War Freetown and Beyond

Independence Comes to
Sierra Leone

THE MUSIC WAS BRIGHT in the dark of an April night in 1961 when Sierra Leone joined the growing ranks of newly independent nations... READ MORE

The Music of Freetown

DOWN AT THE FOOT of Macfoy Lane near the heart of the city, voracious tropical undergrowth reclaims crumbling foundations of old British military barracks, while a few yards away the waters of Whiteman’s Bay lap at the rocky shore. The beat of a loping bass and nyabinghi drums drifts from an unseen tape player in harmony with a warm onshore breeze...
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Musicmakers

S.E. Rogers "Rogie"
Big Fayia
Ebenezer Calender
Salia Koroma
Heartbeats
Francis Fuster
Chris During
Dr. Olo
Ali Ganda


Music Business

RECORDING HOUSES that flourished in many African countries during the sixties and seventies are in a state of decline or have disappeared. Many talented musicians have left the profession or moved abroad...READ MORE

ONE OF THE LEADERS in promoting African music in the U.S. is Ibrahim Bah. At his African Music Gallery in Washington, D.C., Bah imports, retails, and distributes wholesale the latest records...READ MORE

AFRICAN MUSIC EXPLOSION, proclaimed the generic record jackets of the African Record Center in the early 1970s, but the pronouncement proved to be premature...
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Krio Intellectual
Robert Wellesley Cole

A Sierra Leone Journal
Upcountry Encore

Afropop Worldwide
Hip Deep in Sierra Leone

Economics
National Treasure
SALPOST

Politics
Treason Trial
At the Crossroads
Timeline to War

 


 

EXTRAS

LIBERIA:
Tecumsay

GHANA:
Native Spirit
E.T. Mensah
Musicmakers of West Africa

NEW YORK:
Music Historian John Storm Roberts

SOUTH AFRICA:
Sechaba Mokoena

TANZANIA:
Remmy Ongala

WASHINGTON:
Maloko

BOOKS:
Black Man's Grave
Sierra Leone's civil war and its precursors

Breakout: Profiles in African Rhythm
Includes chapters on fela, Hedzoleh Soundz, & Sonny Okosuns

Rumba on the River
A history of the popular music of the two Congos

USEFUL LINKS :

Current News

Government

Sierra Leone Web

Peace Corps in Sierra Leone

Friends of Sierra Leone

Bibliograhpy of books and articles on African Music

S.L. Village Partnerships

CONTACT:
garystt22@gmail.com

Copyright © 2016 by Gary Stewart

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