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This album consists of music from the first two volumes of Piano Music of Africa and the African Diaspora, which I compiled and edited for Oxford University Press in 2007. Since the publication of the anthology, there has been great demand by piano teachers for recordings of this virtually unknown music. It is my hope that this album of intermediate pieces will be useful to teachers interested in introducing this wonderful piano music by composers of African descent to their students. I invite listeners to go on a musical journey of this delightful music, rich and diverse, from Africa and its diaspora.

I chose the word “Kete” as the title of the album because it has two meanings in the two different cultures from which my parents originate. First, “Kete” is one of the most complex, intricate and highly symbolic dances from the royal courts of the Akan people. “Kete” is also the name of a particularly beautiful fabric of the Ewe people, woven in strips on a loom and then sewn together to create beautiful patterns. This album reflects the weaving together of music by people of African descent, spread across the entire globe.

Isak Roux (b.1959) | South Africa
Kwela No.1

Ulysses Kay (1917-1995) | USA
Tender Thought

Hale Smith (1925-2009) | USA
My Scarf is Yellow

Nkeiru Okoye (b.1972) | Nigeria, USA
Dusk

Robert Kwami (1954-2004) | Ghana
Piano Piece No.2 – Call and Response

Halim El-Dabh (1921-2017) | Egypt
Soufiane

Hale Smith | USA
Off-Beat Shorty

Florence Price (1887-1953) | USA
Ticklin’ Toes

Valerie Capers (b.1935) | USA
Sweet Mister Jelly Roll

Nkeiru Okoye | Nigeria, USA
Dancing Barefoot in the Rain

Isak Roux | South Africa
Lullaby

Valerie Capers | USA
The Monk

André Bangambula Vindu (b.1953) | Congo
Lullaby

Kwabena Nketia (1921-2019) | Ghana
Builsa Work Song

Christian Onyeji (b.1967) | Nigeria
Ufie III

Laurindo Almeida (1917-1995) | Brazil
Lament in Tremolo Form

Ulysses Kay | USA
Invention No.2

Robert Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943) | USA, Canada
Honey

Joshua Uzoigwe (1946-2005) | Nigeria
Nigerian Dance No.1

Wallace Cheatham (b.1945) | USA
Prelude No.1 “Joshua fit the Battle of Jericho”
Prelude No.2 “Poor Mourner’s Got a Home”

Christian Onyeji | Nigeria
Oga

Amadeo Roldán Y Gardes (1900-1939) | Cuba
Preludio Cubano

Florence Price | USA
Silk Hat and Walking Cane

John Wesley Work III (1901-1967) | USA
At a Certain Church

Kwabena Nketia | Ghana
Volta Fantasy

Akin Euba (b.1935) | Nigeria
Igbá Kerin
Igbá Kinní

Alain-Pierre Pradel (b.1949) | Guadeloupe
Pomme Cannelle

Halim El-Dabh | Egypt
Basseet
Nim Nawakht

Eleanor Alberga (b.1949) | Jamaica
If the Silver Bird Could Speak

There is plenty to appreciate in the collection, not a great deal of conventional virtuoso display so much as down-to-earth rootedness and brightly energetic engagements. Maestro Nyaho plays all with spirit and commitment. Anyone with an interest in World and African strains in the classical repertoire will appreciate this, as will anyone who simply likes good music.

—Gapplegate Classical Modern Music

Nyaho makes a powerful case for the African diaspora as a musical unity.

All Music Guide

Nyaho plays it all with beauty of tone and consummate artistry

Fanfare