Putting Namibia on the World Music Map

Hands up any individual who has ever heard music from Namibia! This substantial corner of Southern Africa appears to have dropped off the world music delineate, that might change. At the current year's World Music Expo in Spain, VOA got up to speed with a youthful Namibian-conceived musicologist who is mixing the old and the new.

There's exclusive stand out assemblage of music from Namibia that is industrially accessible in Europe. Called "A Handful of Namibians," it was discharged in 2004. From that point forward: nothing. In any case, Shisani is changing all that.

"Hi everybody, my name is Shisani. I'm from Namibia, from the Netherlands, from Belgium… I'm a musician, a musicologist. I've looked into changed styles of music in the improvement of music history of Namibia."

Namibia is a junction: South Africa, Zimbabwe, Angola, Germany - all gone through its turbulent national story - and its music. Recording the first solid and changing over it into something new is the thing that Shisani does.

She was conceived of blended parentage in the Namibian capital Windhoek. At five years old, she moved to the Netherlands and began her musicology concentrate on.

"Experiencing childhood in Europe...there was no entrance to Namibian music. In 20 years, I just discovered one CD from Namibia, which was an ethnographic recording of the Bushmen individuals, the San individuals… Soul music, jazz,r&b, hip jump – that was the sort of stuff that was open to me, growing up as a tyke in Europe," said Shisani. "There were no African craftsmen on MTV or TMF when I was staring at the TV… "

Every one of these impacts are currently meeting up in another band: Shisani and the Namibian Tales.

Including herself on voice and guitar, a German player of the Zimbabwean mbira, a Hungarian cello player and a Turkish-Dutch percussionist, the band has been investigating and extending the customary sounds from Namibia.

"Will do a cooperation with the San individuals in the Kalahari, with making new musical exhibitions and ideally visiting also… ," said Shisani.

This approach, Shisani considers, can be duplicated over the mainland, where customs are old however have never been static. Also, now she is taking her musical half breed the world over.

'We have played in different European nations," said Shisani. "We're going to Pakistan in December. We are lucky to travel so much and advancing Namibia and its way of life in different places on the planet.'

Shisani and the Namibian Tales have recently discharged another collection, Itaala, and are as of now affirmed for different shows in the Netherlands in 2017.