Afrobeat 310 Items

Guyana folk music reinterpreted and infused with Afroroots and culture, reissued on vinyl for the first time. A year after their debut album ‘Ojinga’s Own’, the Yoruba Singers from Guyana released the singles ‘Black Pepper’ and ‘Basa Bongo’. These two songs were recorded in Barbados and released on the Green Shrimp label and became extremely popular throughout the Caribbean and South America. The music also became an integral part of the very beginnings of what was later to become the Champeta Criolla sound in the Caribbean coast of Colombia.

No shortage of colorful characters emerged from Cameroon's bikutsi scene in the 1980's and early 90's. Gibraltar Drakus is one of the most enduring and enigmatic of the artists who helped transform bikutsi into a beautifully endless fabric of triplet rhythms that eventually reached ears around the world. Following the advent of Cameroon Radio Television in 1987, bikutsi began to supplant makossa and soukous for domination of the local airwaves and the attention of cosmopolitan, thrill-seeking residents of Cameroon's capitalYaoundé and beyond. Biktusi perfectly fused Beti traditional music and increasingly electronic, highly rhythmic guitar-based bikutsi. Mimicking the sound of village-based xylophone music by rigging a mute to electric guitar strings, bikutsi artists provided a relentlessly energetic dance format for those with a taste for music steeped in their hometown sensibility (countering the popular makossa that many felt sounded less indigenous). By the early 1990's, Les Tetes Brûlées were indisputably the most famous and influential artists in bikutsi, due in part to the innovations of their incendiary guitarist Théodore Zanzibar Epeme. Following their first European tour in 1987, the ba...

Eno Louis gained a solid background in traditional Edo music as a student at Edo College in Benin City, south-east Nigeria. He lived at Fela's Kalakuta Republic till the army raid in 1978, when he moved to the US for a couple of years. On his return, he recorded with Edo funk powerhouse The Talents Of Benin, and quickly became a mainstay of the flourishing disco and boogie scene, in-demand as guitarist and drummer, with credits including releases by Pogo Ltd, Amas Grill, Chris Okotie, Oby Onyioha, Chris Mba, Dizzy K Falola, Harry Mosco, Pat Finn and the Super Elcados... to name just a few. 

Two standouts from
Aiye People magnificently revived: crisp sound, top-notch pressing in
a Voodoo Funk house-bag, with a two-by-one-foot poster.

The legendary digger re-ignites the Lagos Disco Inferno and kicks off his own mouth-watering imprint with these two sides of boogie-down bliss. Irresistible Afro-disco, layered with delirious syn-drums and sick keys, and featuring a horn-line bumptiously whipped from Louis 'Thunder Thumbs' Johnson's bass-playing on MJ's Workin' Day And Night.

Originally from Warri where he stayed throughout most of his career, Tony's first band was the Famous Latin And His Dominant Seven. He gigged for a while as a James Brown imitator with The Great Peters, before his breakthrough fronting the Magnificient Zeinians, with some amazing 45s on EMI's HMV imprint — best of all the psych-rock-funk monster Ije Udo. From the early to mid 1970s, his EMI sides range from Afrobeat to rock and pop. All Tony's records are great. He came up with various names for his backing bands — the Black 7, the Super 7, the Black Kings...
From the early-eighties, with the Ozimba Messengers, Grey's two recordings here were originally released on different LPs.

Limited, top-notch pressing from Pallas via Abbey Road; with a lovely 12-by-24-inch poster.

Following on from the successes of their first two LPs, "Kalba" and "Small Small", Isaac Birituro & The Rail Abandon return with the "Kontonbili EP". A collection of seven tracks that trace the traditional West African roots of their sound whilst adding their unique touch, largely courtesy of Isaac's xylophone, Sonny Johns' folky embellishments and the vocal prowess of powerful Ghanaian songstress Wiyaala.

The lead single "Hado Deeli" roughly translates to "My Rival" and is a vibrant discussion between two rivals, one of whom is always making a fuss about anything and everything, even when things are all good! "Gargar", with its collaboration of xylophone, whistles, Wiyaala's effervescent vocals and relentless groove represents, quite literally, the band's "joining together" for this EP. In contrast, "I Know" sees Sonny Johns takes over lead vocal duties to lament the breakdown of a relationship accompanied by muted horns and Wiyaala's soothing backing vocals. "Nimmbalia" continues in a mellow and reassuring tone before emerging as one of the most uplifting and simultaneously fierce cuts on the EP! The traditional version of "Bawa" - the original take of which can be found on last year's "Small Small" LP - strips things back a little, before culminating in a battle of xylophone, whistles and choir. "Yeri Villa" has a wonderfully laid back, sun drenched feel with some truly beautiful vocal refrains, and finally - only available on the digital version - comes the deeply percussive and trance inducing "Darpeny", rounding off a rather stunning EP from this cross continental outfit.

All tracks feature Ghanaian singer, song-writer, model and actor, Wiyaala. With a strong fanbase in Africa and beyond, "the lioness" made her mark on Wah Wah 45s and BBC 6 Music last year when she featured on the A-listed "Senye", described as "perfection" by Annie Mac and "pure joy!" by Tash LC.

A sophomore three-tracker: singer Mbene Diatta Seck in sombre consideration of street-kids and parental neglect, buoyed by propulsive drumming and trenchant bass; a second version without vocals, laying bare the poly-rhythmic interplay between marimba and percussion; and a mesmeric six-minute instrumental, with bassist Thierno Sarr grooving out on the top string of his instrument, bringing an elusive Manding flavor to the deep Mbalax mix.

Hamburg maestro Erobique, known for his improvisational spirit and irresistible disco anthems, visited drummer/producer Max Weissenfeldt at his Joy Sound Studios in Ghana. Together with Philophon artist Florence Adooni, he created the swinging catchy tune 'Mam Tola' there, which she sings in her mother tongue Frafra, a prime example of Afro-Soul. On 'Bach In Afrika', Erobique transforms a deep Kumasi-style drum'n'bass jam into a frenetic baroque ceremony by masterfully operating the Hammond 'Extra Voice' in a J.S. Bach-like manner.

After a decade-long hiatus, Spanish 8-piece ensemble Pyramid Blue makes a triumphant comeback with two captivating tracks.
Led by producer and composer Oscar Martos, who boasts successful collaborations with Tito Ramirez, Pyramid Blue is set to stretch the boundaries of contemporary world music with their signature sound.
'Lince Rojo,' the enchanting A-side, channels the spirit of the red lynx with its blend of Afrofunk and Ethio Jazz. On the B-side, 'Doctor One' delves into uncharted musical territories infused with a hip-hop edge creating a seamless fusion of past and present.

Berlin versus Kaolack, round three. A traditional Jola rhythm, fast and energetic, with tuned, talking and kit drums swarming across a skeletal downhome guitar — somewhere between blues and disco — and the Mboup brothers' impassioned plea for an end to division and bloodshed in their Casamance homeland.
Then a more deeply dug-in, spaced-out funk, edgily spun from a Serer rhythm, underpinning Mbene's reflective song about parental selflessness. 'Sama Yaye', 'My Mother'. Both with full instrumental versions.

Sound-wise peas in a pod with the intricate, soaring barrage of Ornette's Prime Time in full flight, when it had two of everything in the lineup, and Jamaaladeen Tacuma was on bass, Denardo on electronic drums.

Third Man Records is proud to announce the most virile entry in the history of its Blue Series singles: The man, the legend himself Mr. Tom Jones laying his unmistakable voice over Howlin' Wolf's "Evil" and the Frankie Lane classic "Jezebel" (as covered over the years by the likes of Edith Piaf and Anna Calvi). Both tracks were produced by Jack White at Third Man studios.

Record is close to VG+.