KENYA : L’OBOKANO LYRE DES GUSII/ THE OBOKANO LYRE OF THE GUSII
Moraa Ore Bonyunyu – Inyora – Speedy Governor – Mama Amavere Jane Momanyi – Kuruanerera – Sindigisa – Ogango – Mamou – Amameka – Ogwacha.

Collection AIMP CVII.

Kenyan Music

Excerpt for a few repertoires popularised by tourism, such as the famous “jumping dance” performed by Maasai warriors, Kenya’s music is little known beyond its borders. And yet, like the country itself, Kenyan music is rich and diversified. Given the numerous regional traditions and strands of folk music developed from various influences (Western, Congolese, African-American, etc.), it no longer makes senses to talk of “Kenyan music” in the singular. Many Kenyan cultures have developed their own musical practices and the Gusii are distinguished by the use of a specific instrument: the obokano. The obokano is an ancestral heritage, but it has now reached a cross-roads. Although it is still played in traditional circumstances, the instrument has found a new place in urban musical scenes and is now included in repertoires once foreign to it. A harmonious encounter between tradition and modernity…

In Gusiiland

Legend tells that the Gusii came from Misiri, a mythical place to the northwest of their current homeland in the counties of Kisii and Nyamira in Nyanza province (southwest Kenya), where they settled in the early nineteenth century. This highland region, with altitudes reaching nearly 2000 metres, is very fertile because of its temperate climate, abundant, regular rainfall and clay soil. Tea, coffee and bananas are the main crops. The Gusii live in one of Kenya’s most densely populated regions.

The Gusii, or the Abagusii as they prefer to be called, are a group of over two million people. They speak a Bantu language, Ekegusii, and the majority of the population is now Christian (Catholics, Adventists, Lutherans, Pentecostals, etc.).