How to Paint a Tonga Drum

Here is a drum from northern Zimbabwe being decorated in the traditional patterns and colours.

Everyone gathers round to lend a hand to mix the red oxide, charcoal and white clay, which are the hallmarks of the Tonga drum.

The logs to the left are going to be used shortly, to build a new house. The pointed ends will be driven into the ground to form walls.

The Zambezi river flows along in the valley behind the house. It is the village water supply.

This is a marvelous illustration of African self-sufficiency, which is entirely unavailable in Western urban culture.

Issa Bagayogo - Diarabi

What we're listening to at the moment... from the album 'Sya' :)

Ngoma Za Kongo

Ngoma Za Kongo from Congo Brazzaville will be on tour in the US from May 2011. Contact the tour organizer, Karim Camara of the African Culture Centre in New York, for more details.

New Arrivals - Music

New musical instruments just arrived! Thumb pianos from Tanzania and woven shakers from Ghana. To see more, click here.

10 Questions with Rik-E-Ragga and G9er

G9er (pictured above left) and Rik-E-Ragga (pictured above right)

Check our interview with X-Factor contestants Rik-E-Ragga and G9er - doing Mauritius and Australia proud! Click here to read the full interview.

The Mpumudde 4sq Church Worship Band from Jinja, Uganda

You can see a great range of traditional instruments in this video - African harps or Ngoni; box thumb pianos, ingenious shakers made out of recycled materials and a beautiful Ugandan drum.

AfroCubsim

This specially made short film provides an exclusive look at the making of the most eagerly anticipated release in world music. This collaboration of the finest musicians from Cuba and Mali features Eliades Ochoa, Bassekou Kouyate, Djelimady Tounkara, and Toumani Diabate, and sees the realisation of the project that inadvertently became the Buena Vista Social Club.