Lemed Janvier et l'Orchestre African Allstar (Soukous from Benin, 1981-82)

(Oueme LJ001).

Lemed Janvier took part of recordings with Orchestre Poly Rythmo, Les Volcans du Benin and Tabu Ley from Congo.

Yusef Lateef in Nigeria (1983)

(Landmark LLP-502).

Flute and tenor sax player Yusef Lateef (1920-2013) just passed away, so here's a post dedicated to this real sound explorer (before being a jazzman), who integrated eastern or african influences in many of his recordings. Famous for his deep, free and spiritual music all along the 60's and 70's in the US, he also directly enriched his open-minded approach spending years in Nigeria in the early 80's.

Lukoki Diatho and Joe Mpoyi - Vava (congolese singers in the 80's)

(Maikano MAILP1031).

Following years of success with Franco's TP OK Jazz, singer Lukoki Diatho ran several projects with his colleague Joe Mpoyi Kaninda in the mid 80's (Orchestre Canons du Zaire, Tiers Monde Cooperation). This album "100-1" is one of them, although name of the band is not mentioned.

Jazz Hot magazine views about Fela and Afrobeat in 1981

Every year is celebrated a Fela Day (few weeks ago in Paris), proving that Fela Kuti's spirit is still gliding around, despite a very varied comprehension. Good occasion anyway to search in muzzicaltrips archives, and look at how evolves perception of african music along the years. Here's an article about Fela Kuti which reveals part of the perception of a jazz magazine from 1981 (Jazz Hot, first jazz magazine in Europe created in 1935).

MIX /// Tropical Roundtrip Selection (from Colombia to Africa)

(Muzzicaltrips TRT019).

A real tropical roundrip, beginning in colombia with classy 60s cumbia, guiro y guaracha, merecumbe, maracumba, currulao, afrocolombian...

Dieuf-Dieul de Thies (unreleased senegalese sounds from early 80s)

 (TRLP017).

An obscure 80s band from Thies in Senegal have just been brought back to life by label Teranga Beat. Dieuf-Dieul played from 1979 to 1982, but it appears their music never have chance to be released on a proper vinyl nor tape album until today. That's why i found interesting to present this record on Muzzicaltrips and to discuss with Teranga Beat Label founder, about these recordings and amazing piece of senegalese musical heritage.

Johnny Copeland - Ngote (Poly Rythmo cover, 1985)

(FIEND47).

If you follow muzzicaltrips you probably know already the Poly Rythmo funky bomb "Ne te Fache Pas". But could you imagine to find it covered by a jazz-blues american musician? I could not, so it was a real surprise when I discovered this cover version.

Alhaji Wasiu Ayinde Barrister - Erin Goke (Fuji music, 1987)

(Omo Aje, OLPS1338).

Fuji is a kind of smooth transe music...

Alpha (Chancy Records, Haiti, 1981)

(Chancy Records CCLP7994). 

Although Alpha band comes from Guadeloupe, this LP is produced by haitian bass player (Tabou Combo) Adolphe Chancy.

Marc Nkodo David - Marco Star African Xyl

(Marc 001).

This album has been recorded at Radio Cameroun studio, probably in 1983. Marc Nkodo David plays the solo guitar, name of the band being Marco-Star. The recording is not perfect but the music is very interesting rhythmically. During one song he explains that the rhythm they're playing is  called "angazuma" (engagement?). Any additional info is welcome.

Pico Culture #02 - MIX /// Terapia Africana Mix (a selection of pico african hits)

From the 70s, while the soundsystem culture was developing, more and more african records arrived on the colombian coast due to increasing commercial exchanges between international harbors.

Some african songs became hits, african styles being surnamed: nova for highlife tracks, rastrillo for kenyan tracks... It was such a big success for the youth of Cartagena and Baranquilla that even each popular song received his own surname. Also several tracks have been bootlegged in terapia/champeta  compilations (which leads to find improbable records including a pure benga followed by an awful 80s techno), and not always credited the original artist/title, but just the local surname known by everybody.

That's the reason of this special selection, composed only of african tracks (Liberia, Angola, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Zaire). These tunes are popular in Baranquilla's southern barrios, as long as you speak about: la botellita, el serrucho, la guitarrita, la mecedora, la munequita, el rastrillo, el beto, los palitos, la pipona,  el ejen, el akien, la llorona...

Pico Culture #01 - Introducing "El Pico"

A very interesting cultural aspect on the colombian caribbean coast, particularly in Cartagena and Baranquilla  is the Pico Culture. A Pico is a soundsystem that usually plays vinyls (very loud!) during weekends. It developed on the coast from the 60s and evolved up to now with different influences during each decade. The caribbean coast has always been for Colombia the "front door" for other countries, so Baranquilla as principal harbor, received influences (and records) from all around the caribbean and also from Africa. As result, big proportion of the music played is african vinyls from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Zaire, Angola (some DJs play 100% african music). But the selection can also be very diverse (cumbia, gaita, guaguanco, pachanga, tumbele, calypso, reggae... ), demonstrating importance of this crossroad within black atlantic interconnections. In parallel, it also developed a local style played on the soundsystems, initially called "Terapia" then "Champeta". Althoug corresponding more to a "80s sound" (including effects and new technical possibilities), it reveals amazing soukous influences which contributed to a kind of renewing of the african consciousness in popular areas of Cartagena and Baranquilla.

I do not pretend to describe here it all, as its richness makes it an infinite task, but I'll just try to enlighten some aspects discovered during researches in Baranquilla. 

Lets begin with a Pico from the 70s, La Salsa de Puerto Rico, from barrio El Bosque.

Charlie Sekato & Orchestre Les As du Benin (1981)

(BAM LP-1002/81)

This album has been recorded in Togo, includes the Orchestre les As du Benin, but is produced by Abidjan label Bam Records. I don't know where Charlie Sekato comes from, but he gives here a Ziglibity track, typical rhythm from Ivory Coast popularized by Ernesto Djedje.

Charlie Sekato - N'Kame Ourou-sebane:

Perucho Conde - la Cotorra Criolla (1980)

(EPIC EPC8899).

A bonus track from the 45rpms found in Barcelona...

And here's a crazyness made in 1980 in Caracas: an humorist rapping in spanish on a fat disco instrumental. When first hip hop from the US arrived in Venezuela it was surnamed "musica cotorra" (cotorra = parrot) I guess because of the singers flow. So Peruche Conde made a hip hop typically from Venezuela with this hit "la cotorra criolla" (criolla = creole). Lyrics are very funny, but behind the humoristic approach, it's a real social and protest song (!) denouncing poor living conditions (prices increase, low salaries, no social welfare, pre-election promises...).

Francis Bebey - Africa Sanza (1982)

OZIL 3312

Guitar player, singer, composer, writter... Francis Bebey (1929-2001) takes a trip back here to the roots of his african music, playing only sanza (instrument on the picture), flutes and drums on this album. Although, exploring these traditional patterns allows him to produce universal sounds, which was one of Francis Bebey aspirations.

Francis Bebey - Africa Senza:

(2 senzas, 2 flutes, 1 drum)

Caraibes Jazz Ensemble (1986)

FLVM 3086

Breeze is a rare creole jazz fusion album from the 80s. Recording took place in Henri Debs studio in Guadeloupe.

The Bukky Leo Quintet (junglejazz trip, 1989)

Afrojazz has been produced by late 80s acidjazz crazy activists Gilles Peterson and Eddie Piller. This is the case with this track from the quintet led by Bukky Leo, a nigerian sax player based in UK. I am not aware of any other release of this tune than in this Totally Wired acid jazz compilation (JAZ ID 13LP).

Bukky Leo released more recently a kind of "new afrobeat from london" album (Mr bongo 2006), nice but not to be compared to this junglejazz trip...

Jazz et Vin de Palme - Emmanuel Dongala (1982)

Jazz et Vin de palme (Jazz and Palm wine) is composed by 8 novels from congolese writter Emmanuel Dongala who lived in the US during the 60s.

These differents texts represent opposition between Music as a liberation / politicians as oppression. Influenced by his own experiences, his writings also reflect the meeting of two different worlds (jazz is -supposed to be- from the US, palmwine from Africa). Jazz et Vin de Palme is the first african science-fiction novel, in which people from earth liberate from aliens invasion thanks to John Coltrane's jazz (!)

Luis Agudo - Afrosamba (1984)

VPA 172

Luis Agudo (1940-) is an Argentinian percussionist who developed an unique style based on brazilian and african drums and rhythms. He's a real rhythmic explorer, building his own percussions. This led him to play worldwide for many jazz musicians (Baden Powell, Dizzy Gillespie, Elvin Jones, Junior Cook...).

This record is a solo recording realized in Italia (original press from Red Records) where he shows his wide variety of sounds, rhythms and effects.

Jorge Ben covers discograpphy and covers

Discography: