Tag: African
Toronto based record label We Are Busy Bodies has recently reissued the rare 1980 recording by the collaborative supergroup ensemble Eboni Band, featuring musicians from Ivory Coast based Eboni Records and prime Motown session players, including funk legend and longtime JB’s bandleader Fred Wesley.
As we move into the warmer months of summer, it’s great to see that many of the record shops that were either closed for over a year and/or only doing online sales are finally opening up again. In my opinion, it doesn’t get much better than a Saturday trip (or any day really) to the local record shop(s). Somewhat similar to last year, this year’s typical annual Record Store Day has been broken up into not just one, but two Saturdays (or what is being referred to as “Drop 1” & “Drop 2”) on June 12th and July 17th.
Following last year’s phenomenal compilation Soul Love Now and a number of revisited album releases from groundbreaking artists like Oneness Of Juju (aka Juju), Lon Moshe, and others, London’s Strut Records continues it’s ongoing spotlight on the now considered legendary Richmond, Virginia label Black Fire (run by Jimmy Gray) with a reissue of the late Philadelphia reedman Byard Lancaster’s 1992 soulful spiritual jazz recording My Pure Joy. Originally released on CD three years after it was recorded, due the label’s financial challenges, this marks the first time this album has ever been released on vinyl.
The Paris-based label Hot Mule, which has produced some of the best reissues over the past few years, has just released an incredible retrospective celebrating the music of poet and activist José Carlos Schwarz and his superb group Le Cobiana Djazz, who were highly influential and outspoken in the fight for the West African county of Guinea-Bissau’s independence during the 70s.
Matsuli Music has been the leading label over the past decade for quality South African jazz and rare groove reissue recordings. The UK label continues to build on their strong reputation with the recent reissue release of two essential mid-seventies Afro-rock albums from the highly influential South African band Harari, who also went by previously as both The Beaters and Rhodesia (named after the Rhodesian township).
UK’s Mr Bongo label continues their impressive string of releases with a recent reissue of the highly-obscure 1972 seven-inch double-side single from South African session group The Toreadors, featuring two incredible funky soul jazz gems, “Thembi” and “Gwinyitshe”.
The 10-piece UK-based collective Nubiyan Twist, led by producer and guitarist Tom Excell, have released a brilliant and expansive new album on the Strut label, titled Freedom Fables, featuring an all-star cast of special guest vocalists including Cherise, Nick Richards, Ego Ella May, Ria Moran, London jazz great Soweto Kinch, rising Ghanaian star K.O.G. and highlife legend Pat Thomas.
UK’s Mr Bongo is always reissuing some of the greatest and most obscure titles from yesteryears, however they have certainly outdone themselves again with their latest reissue of Teaspoon And The Waves’ rare 1977 self-titled album, featuring a heavy dose of South African jazz-funk.
For the last two decades, the German-based label Analog Africa has consistently released some of the best compilations and retrospective recordings, highlighting the many unique styles of music that have come out of both Africa and South America. Continuing to dive deep into this exploration, they have just released volume 1 of their much-anticipated Edo Funk Explosion compilation series, highlighting some of the greatest recordings from the genre’s pioneers, Osayomore Joseph, Akaba Man, and Sir Victor Uwaifo.
New York-based Frederiksberg Records has recently reissued officially for the first time the highly-obscure 1975 self-titled debut album by the South African jazz ensemble Roots, led by master saxophonist and one of the greatest musicians to ever come out of Johannesburg, Barney Rachabane.
