Kenya: The Obokano, Lyre of the Gusii

The area of north-east Africa, between the Nile and the Indian Ocean, is a heartland of lyres - from the majestic begena (also known as the Harp of King David) and popular krar of Ethiopia, to the tambura of Sudan and the simsimiyya of Egypt’s Suez Canal. In Kenya there’s the nyatiti of the Luo people, as played by Ayub Ogada, and the instrument featured on this album, the obokano of the Gusii people.

It’s a fabulous looking thing, as the photos in the album’s booklet show, with a great skin-covered body and a triangle of poles supporting the eight strings. The instrument looks like it would sound soft and harp-like, but it’s got a buzzing timbre, which sounds almost electronic.

This collection features eight musicians - the oldest born in 1933 and the youngest in 1979 - accompanying the songs. ‘Inyora’ (Remember) is a plea not to forget traditions, sung in the Ekegusii, English and Kiswahili languages. As a whole, the album is a good companion to AIMP’s excellent begena disc (Ethiopia: Songs of Bagana) and Institut du Monde Arabe’s Sudan: In the Kingdom of the Lyre.