Afrobeat Vinyl 467 Items

180g vinyl!

Tallawit Timbouctou are champions of takamba, a hypnotic traditional music from
Northern Mali. Built around the tehardent, the four stringed lute and pre-cursor to
the American banjo, takamba's droning distortion comes from signature handmade
mics and blown out amplifiers. Accompanied by percussion pounded out onto an
overturned calabash with mind boggling time signatures, the combined effect is
trance inducing. This is the music that long ruled the North of Mali, performed at
festivities, blasting out of dusty boomboxes, and beaming out from village radio
stations. Its origin is shrouded in mystery, and though purportedly dating back to the
Songhai Empire of the 15th century, takamba's heyday was in the 1980s, with the
introduction of amplification. Musicians found a lucrative circuit, performing in
elegant weddings, creating cassettes on demand, and writing songs for their wealthy
patrons. Today takamba has fallen out of popular fashion with the youth, but
continues to thrive in a small network of die-hard traditionalists. Band leader Aghaly
Ag Amoumine is one of the remaining renowned takamba musicians. Descended
from a long line of praise singers, he spent decades traveling across the Sahel,
performing in remote nomad camps and crowded West African capitals. His
compositions continue to circulate today and have become part of the folk
repertoire. His group Tallawit Timbouctou, based in the city of the same name,
continues in the family tradition, and has featured both his brother and nephew as
accompanying members. Recorded at home in Timbouctou, "Hali Diallo" is a
relentless and nonstop recording, true to the form of takamba. Tracks blend
seamlessly into one another, instruments are tuned mid-song, and Aghaly only
pauses singing long enough for the occasional shout-out or dedication. Unfiltered
and direct as it's meant to be heard, Tallawit Timbouctou is a shining example of one
of the last great takamba bands.

Thandi Zulu known as T.Z. Junior was a young girl from Soweto. She started her musical career with Peter Moticoe who produced "Love Games" with The Young Five on Heads label in 1984. Then, Peter Moticoe brought her to Phil Hollis at Dephon Entertainment who then teamed them up with Attie Van Wyk who was the producer for Yvonne Chaka Chaka at that time.
Phil Hollis started Dephon Promotion (Dephon Entertainment) in the late 70's and developed into the largest independent record company in South Africa. He describes himself as the only person who has been involved in recording of major hit songs in nearly all genres of music in all the languages in South Africa. Phil Hollis was involved in all aspects of the Entertainment industry from production of recordings, recording company, distribution, marketing and promotion, events management, staging major events and filming.
"Sugar My Love" and "Are You Ready for Love" were produced and arranged by Attie Van Wyk. “Back in the 80's I was a songwriter for a band called Ballyhoo when I got an offer from the Dephon Record Company to join them as a music producer. So I quit the band and joined them, producing records mainly for music targeted at the black market in those days,” he says. Between 1982 and 1992, Attie Van Wyk produced over 120 albums, including many for Yvonne Chaka Chaka.

• 180 GRAM AUDIOPHILE VINYL
• HIS 1979 ALBUM IN COLLABORATION WITH KING JAMMY
• FEATURES THE DANCEHALL ANTHEMS “GIVE THE PEOPLE”
AND “I’M NOT FOR SALE”
• LIMITED EDITION OF 750 INDIVIDUALLY NUMBERED COPIES
ON ORANGE COLOURED VINYL

Senegalese kora master Sourakata Koite began music from pretty much day one. "All the Koite are musicians!," he says. Indeed he is a member of a family of djeli (or griot in french), the hereditary caste of musician-storyteller-historians in West Africa. After moving to Paris in the late 70s he began to play in different bands and for musicians like Manu Dibango, Toure Kounda, Mangala, Mah Damba and more. During a festival in Holland, a music producer form Plexus Records heard him and asked to make a recording. In 1984 in an old chicken coop near Delft, Koite recorded the entire album in one take, including overdubs. The rich sonics and deep sound beautifully presents Koite's virtuosic and entrancing renditions of traditional and original tunes. With the reissue of en Hollande, Awesome Tapes
From Africa continues its mission of bringing tapes posted on the ATFA website over the years, including this one, to music fans all over the world.

One of the most pivotal figures in the history of Malian music is Sorry Bamba. His work spans five decades and his music bridges the gap between Mali's cultural traditions and new the music which arose from the musical cross overs which occurred in Mali's post-Colonial period. Bamba was born in 1938 in Mopti. This is dissected by both the Niger and Bani rivers and known for its rich cultural diversity. Bamba's father was a distinguished veteran of Emperor Samory Toure's military and a nobleman in Malian society; however, this meant young Sorry was forbidden to make music, as under the nation's caste system, music was an art form reserved for the Griots.

At the age of 10, Sorry's parents died and in traumatic times that followed the young teen found solace in music. He first taught himself to play am African six-holed flute. As he progressed he began to absorbed the rich tapestry of music of his surroundings; traditional Malian music, highlife from Ghana, local accordion master Toumani Toure, European singers and musicians. In 1957 Sorry formed his first band, Group Goumbe, named after a popular Ivory Coast dance style. In 1960 Mali gained independence from France, Bamba and his group benefited from a new openness toward local music on the state-run radio network Radio Mali. Sorry then went on to form two award-winning, further collectives Bani Jazz and later the Kanaga Orchestra. They fused Latin jazz, Western R&B, Psychedelic and funk, and traditional Malian styles made them a favourite in Mali and beyond.

In 1977 Sorry produced his second LP for the Paris based Sonafric group. Long out of print Africa Seven is pleased to be re-issuing the LP. The re-issue benefits from extensive restoration and re-mastering to a spectral analysis level, bringing and polishing long lost and distorted sounds.