16 rare cuts selected by Miles Cleret and DJ Okapi - available for the first time on vinyl outside of their original release!
After being blown away by a few tunes – probably just as you will be after listening to this - Samy Ben Redjeb travelled to the infamous capital city of Somalia in November of 2016, making Analog Africa the first music label to set foot in Mogadishu.
For Lagos Pepper Soup, Michael Olatuja's second solo release, Michael picked a core band of Terreon Gully, Aaron Parks and Etienne Stadwijk, and then enlisted the talents of Angelique Kidjo, Dianne Reeves, Regina Carter, Joe Lovano, Laura Mvula, Lionel Loueke, Gregoire Maret, Becca Stevens, Brandee Younger, Robert Mitchell, Onaje Jefferson, and top studio arrangers David Metzger, Joseph Joubert and Jason Michael Webb to realise his vision of what he calls Cinematic Afrobeat. Michael has integrated all of his diverse musical influences, incorporating his guests' talents while allowing his own personality to clearly shape the overall direction. His own virtuoso melodic bass playing shines throughout - "I wanted Lagos Pepper Soup to feature my own playing, as well as songwriting and production - all my influences are here, all my favourite musicians, and I feel there's an element of divine favour in how amazingly it's turned out."
Jah Wobble had already explored 'Islamic funk' with his Invaders of the Heart band but here got down with some weird amalgam of Eurobeat hooked to Afro-funk of the Talking Heads kind. Snake Charmer is a mini LP and result from a collaboration between Jah Wobble, best known as Public Image Limited bass-player, U2 guitarist The Edge and German experimental krautrocker and Can member Holger Czukay produced by a forefather of the house music, the New York Studio 54 DJ François Kevorkian. Others who dropped in during the recording of the 'Snake Charmer' mini-album were Can's Jaki Liebezeit, jazz-funk singer Marcella Allen and guitarist Animal.
“Ethiobraz” documents the meeting of Paal Nilssen-Love’s Large Unit big band and Ethiopian dance/music ensemble Fendika at Molde Jazz Festival in 2018. Joining them as a special guest was guitarist Terrie Ex, a key component in getting making the meeting happen with his long involvement with the Ethiopian music scene. And, Paal Nilssen-Loves’s first travel to Ethiopia was with The Ex in December 2009. This changed his life. Paal’s first travel to Brazil was in June 2013. This also changed his life. Large Unit was established during fall of 2013. During numerous trips to both Ethiopia and Brazil, Paal established many contacts to schools, clubs, presenters, musicians and dancers in these two countries. The music he created for Large Unit was heavily informed by these trips and meetings, and fusing these influences together with the Scandinavian free music sensibility became an important factor in the Large Unit sound.
"Soul Makossa" is a 1969 single by Cameroonian makossa saxophonist Manu Dibango. It is often cited as one of the first disco records. In 1972 David Mancuso found a copy in a Brooklyn West Indian record store and often played it at his Loft parties. The response was so positive that the few copies of "Soul Makossa" in New York City were quickly bought up. The song was subsequently played heavily by Frankie Crocker, who DJed at WBLS, then New York's most popular black radio station. Since the original was now unfindable, at least 23 groups quickly released cover versions to capitalize on the demand for the record.
This 1979 recording is probably Afro-experimentalist Vasconcelos' finest. It presents his various facets – berimbao playing, intricate overlain vocals, fine percussion, even gorgeous guitar – simply and almost overwhelmingly. This is one of those performances that remind one to never let natural dogmatism get too out of hand.
AFRICADELIC is the classic 1973 album composed and recorded in the span of one week by Manu Dibango, after the encouraging success of his monster hit "Soul Mokossa." Here he continues to fuse Afro-Caribbean flavors with the contemporary Latin and funk influences of the day, resulting in a highly soulful, highly danceable album.
Percussionist Olatunji was championing African music long before anyone devised the worldbeat marketing strategy. His 1989 recording Drums of Passion: The Beat updated his classic Drums of Passion concept, adding rock and pop energy and instrumentalists to the wall of multiple rhythms. The idea clicks, and Olatunji's African beats are contrasted by Airto Moreira's Latin percussion, Mickey Hart's bombastic presence, and such special guests as Carlos Santana and Bobby Vega.
The Alma Afrobeat Ensemble (AAbE) was germinated in New Orleans in 2003, grew in Chicago under the influence of the music of Fela Kuti, encompassing the multicultural influences from the founder and mystical wizard of funk, jazz and high-life music. The band became its own self in its last years in Chicago/ Champaign-Urbana, and has now matured in Barcelona during the last four years. The recent history of the band is that its founder, leader and main composer, Aaron Feder, had the idea to combine his band from Chicago with musicians in Europe from all over the world, (South America, Africa, and Europe) under the flag of Afrobeat music, and the principles of social justice through that music.
Alma Afrobeat Ensemble was founded in Chicago in 2003 by guitarist Aaron Feder. In 2006 Aaron moved to Barcelona in search of a different sound for the AAbE. He quickly found a group of international members, from all continents of the globe. In a short time the band was reformed and headlined the Fiestizaje music and arts festival in 2008. The band then set about recording their first studio album, Toubab Soul which was released in 2010. Shortly afterwards, they released the remix album, Toubab Resouled, and opened the world music festival Cruilla de Cultures with Konono No 1.
