BBC Radio 3 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Third Programme.

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World on 3

Music

Music: World

Music: Folk

Radio 3's world music programme, with new CDs and studio sessions

World on 3: Mamane Barka live in session, plus Commonwealth Connections 16

Mamane Barka live in session, plus Commonwealth Connections 16

23/05/2014

BBC Radio 3 - World on 3, Mamane Barka live in session, plus Commonwealth Connections 16

Mary Ann Kennedy with a live session from Mamane Barka, plus Commonwealth Connections.

Mary Ann Kennedy with a live session featuring Mamane Barka, plus the 16th instalment in our Commonwealth Connections series, from Kenya and Nigeria.

Mary Ann Kennedy with a live session by Mamane Barka, plus Commonwealth Connections from Kenya and Nigeria.



COMMONWEALTH CONNECTIONS FEATURE: KENYA
Recorded at the African Heritage House outside Nairobi, home to the finest Art Collection in Africa, two generations of the Luo tribe perform the music of their people. Ayub Ogada has reached an international market as a world musician but here he returns to his acoustic roots and the ancient nyatiti lyre. Ayub talks about his nyatiti like a friend, definitely a female friend. He loves his instrument. This is the instrument of the Luo people (famously this is the tribe that President Obama is related to), and he has evolved a softer, gentler sound' to which he adds his distinctive soft sweet voice. In contrast, The Sega Sega Band, also from the Luo people, play Benga music, the style that is at the root of Kenyan pop music from the 60s to the present day. The melodies and rhythms are shaped by the tuning of the nyatiti harp and orutu, (a single string fiddle) but they have modernised the music to create uptempo dance music and transferred the musical lines to the modern guitar.

COMMONWEALTH CONNECTIONS HERITAGE TRACK: NIGERIA
Nigeria has long been a powerhouse in terms of world music, with artists like Fela Kuti reaching audiences around the globe. Our Commonwealth athlete this week is US Olympian but has chosen to represent Nigeria because her father was born there. And Regina George's choice of music is also very much within the family. The chosen track is "Sweet Sherry" by Eddy Okonta

SESSION: MAMANE BARKA
Desert bluesman Mamane Barka from Niger joins us in the studio for a live session. Born into a family of Toubou nomads Mamane is a master of the Biram, a rare five-string harp like instrument that can only be played by an initiated few. Mamane made it his mission to learn the Biram in order to save this rare instrument from dying out he is now believed to be the only master of the biram in all Niger.

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

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Mamane Barka live in session, plus Commonwealth Connections 16

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