Commonwealth Connections

Nigeria has long been a powerhouse in terms of world music, with artists like Fela Kuti reaching audiences around the globe. Our Commonwealth athlete this week is US Olympian but has chosen to represent Nigeria because her father was born there. And Regina George's choice of music is also very much within the family. The chosen track is "Sweet Sherry" by Eddy Okonta

Recorded at the African Heritage House outside Nairobi. Two generations of the Luo tribe perform the music of their people. Ayub Ogada has reached an international market as a world musician but here he returns to his acoustic roots and the ancient nyatiti lyre. This is the instrument of the Luo people and he has evolved a softer, gentler sound' to which he adds his distinctive soft sweet voice. In contrast, The Sega Sega Band, play Benga music, the style that is at the root of Kenyan pop music from the 60s to the present day. The melodies and rhythms are shaped by the tuning of the nyatiti harp and orutu, (a single string fiddle) but they have modernised the music to create uptempo dance music and transferred the musical lines to the modern guitar.

Vanuatu - which literally means freestanding - has only existed as an independent country since 1980. It has a population of less than quarter of a million, but despite that has a strong reputation for table tennis, especially in the shape of Anolyn Lulu whose chosen song is "Freedom" by Vanuatu's Vanessa Quai, as she explained from her island home.

Music is a family affair in La Petite Souffriere, a tiny and remote village high in the hills of Dominica. Isma Alie still works as a farmer cultivating Bay Tree plantations for their oil but also happens to be the island's greatest accordion player. With his son James and grandson Jackson, he keeps alive the traditional Jing-ping music of Dominica for community dances and celebrations.

Gambian athlete, Suwaibou Sanneh, carries his country's music with him as he prepares for the 100 metres sprint in the USA. Music from Jaliba Kuyateh and The Kumareh Band.

Extinct for over 200 years, the Maltese Lira can be heard along with a clutch or other rare instruments all played by Ruben Zahra.Plus recordings of Malta's traditional folk music, 'Ghana'.

Sia Figiel is a novelist, painter and poet who won the 1997 Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Fiction (SE Asia/Pacific Region). Her choice of Heritage Track LOTA NU'U, sung here by the Samoa Teachers' Choir, evokes deep emotions not only in her, but in many Samoans across the world, and is almost an unofficial national anthem, dissolving boundaries and bringing them, and all Pacific peoples, together as children of the great ocean, Moana.

Bamboo grows all over the Solomon Islands and provides a perfect natural material for making musical instruments. The 13 piece Waurana Pan Pipe Ensemble makes full use of the bamboo which grows around them to create their joyful, life-affirming sound. Hear the musicians talk about the history of this form of music making and enjoy a special session which captures a raw, hi-energy performance recorded at the Solomon Islands Broadcasting studios in the capital city of Honiara.

Writer Jacob Ross was short-listed for the 2009 Commonwealth Writers' Prize and in 2011 was awarded Grenada's highest award for his contribution to literature. His choice of Heritage Track- the 1960s calypso Dan is the Man in the Van by The Mighty Sparrow- reminds him of growing up in Grenada and the schooling he received in what was then a British colony, full of nonsensical nursery rhymes and images of seasons unknown in the Caribbean. He paints a picture of Grenadians as being both laid-back and determined in their attitude to life, and nurturing high hopes as their star sprinter, Kirani James, heads for Glasgow this summer.

In a music centre at the heart of Malawi's capital Lilongwe, 3 groups converge to demonstrate some of this country's rich music and culture. Waliko Makhala, respected musicologist and pioneer at Malawi Broadcasting Corporation, introduces the Kang'oma Cultural Troupe. Teacher Nkathama Chavamagwede and singer Avelyn White play township jive and songs of social comment. Nyandoro & The Black Souls fill a small teaching room with the sounds of unashamedly traditional songs, and we hear how this music defines Malawi's heritage.