8/16/20.
Gordon Koang’s music alone is amazing. Then you add in the unimaginable concept of fleeing a war-torn area and being a refugee, and well...we need to listen and learn.
From an ABC News story, “When the war [Sudanese Civil War] began, Gordon Koang had just returned from a tour of Canada. He can still reel off a list of the cities he played. It was late 2013 and a political crisis in South Sudan, one of the world's youngest and most disadvantaged countries, had devolved into a conflict split along tribal lines. Because Koang, his wife and six children are members of the Nuer ethnic group, they became a target for forces loyal to the president, who is a Dinka. At the time, Gordon had been a successful musician for 20 years with nine albums to his name. When he returned from Canada, he says, his bank accounts were looted, his two cars were taken and his house was bulldozed. The family fled across the border to Uganda.”
I know an amazing member of the Dinka tribe, and I’m sure this story is more complicated. It’s never as simple as we think
But somehow the music transcends this. Koang’s music is representative of other African music, but if we listen closely, we can differentiate. This has a percussive sound reminiscent of early 80s Talking Heads. Say what you will about David Byrne (see Chris Frantz’s new memoir) but he has exposed more international musicians to a larger audience. I don’t think he’s been involved with Koang, but he has posted “The Beautiful Shitholes” playlist.
Maybe Koang didn’t make the list because he now resides in Melbourne, Australia. This is released by Music in Exile, and is distributed in the U.S. by Light in the Attic.
