From Senegal: Ouza & Teranga International Band - Wethe

 

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1 - Bayina Music
2 - Wethe

3 - Sama Gueleme-Magana
4 - Dootou Mala Bayi

5 - Terango

6 - Senegal 80

KonKoma - KonKoma

 

Rooted in 1970s Ghana, KonKoma is the brainchild of saxophonist Max Grunhard and producer Ben Lamdin (Nostalgia 77).

The idea was to create a band around two highly esteemed Ghanaian musicians - Alfred Bannerman and Emmanuel Rentzos. Both are mercurial talents who over the years have graced the stage with the likes of Bobby Womack, Hugh Masakela and Peter Green as well as being long term members of the Afro-rock band Osibisa, but it wasn’t until KonKoma that the two old friends have had a band built around them.

The English-speaking West African country was the destination of Soundway’s acclaimed compilation series Ghana Soundz Afro-Beat, Funk And Fusion in 70’s Ghana. It has been a long held ambition for the label to work with a contemporary Ghanaian band who can push the country’s unique take on Afro-beat and highlife forward.

KonKoma adds a progressive edge to their rich blend of Afro-funk, jazz, soul and traditional African rhythms as well as acknowledging the 70s recordings that spawned the sound. Produced by Max Grunhard and Ben Lamdin, the album was recorded and mixed by Mike Pelanconi (aka Prince Fatty) in Brighton.

Guitarist Alfred Bannerman, founding member of teenage Afro-rock band Boombaya (featured on the Soundway compilation Ghana Special) has remained one of the mainstays of the UK’s African music scene for more than 20 years. Keyboardist Emmanuel Rentzos has been playing alongside his fellow Ghanaian since the early 1970s when he was the lead singer of the young Ghanaian outfit Santrofi’s band. Once Max and Ben had won the support of Alfred and Emmanuel, Ghanaian musicians and now key members of KonKoma, Nii Tagoe and Reginald ‘Jojo’ Yates came on board.

worldmusic.co.uk

Ghanaians must feel left out when it comes to afrobeat. People often forget that Ghana, rather than Nigeria, is where it all started. This was the place traditional African rhythms first combined with European brass, an essential mould for the sound later popularised by Fela Kuti. It may have been given a different name – ‘highlife’ – but the roots of afrobeat are obvious. Loyal fans of Ghana’s musical history – as can be seen from their past compilations – Soundway Records are now proudly releasing the debut album by contemporary afro-funk outfit KonKoma.

“KonKoma is the name of a tribe in Northern Ghana”, says lead guitarist Alfred ‘Kari’ Bannerman. “They are very colourful and their rhythms are wonderful. The band is a rebirth of Ghanaian music from the 70s and 80s – it feels very authentic.”

Both Bannerman and keyboardist Emanuel Rentzos are living relics from that period. Bannerman played regularly with Pat Thomas, acknowledged by Ebo Taylor as one of highlife’s most important singers, while Emmanuel Rentzos exemplifies KonKoma’s American funk connection, boasting collaborations with Bobby Womack, Johnny Nash and Herbie Hancock. The superb funk/highlife instrumental ‘Accra Jump’ is an easy marriage of the two styles, showing a direction the two genres could have pursued if such collaborations had been commonplace back then.

Perhaps the most valuable Ghanaian characteristic displayed by KonKoma is impeccable timing, reflected in tracks like ‘Sibashaya Woza’ and ‘Kpanlogo’. The drumming in particular stands out as James Brown worthy. Amidst a rich crowd of horns, African and European drums, guitars and keyboards, everyone gets a fair slot. On ‘Handkerchief’, a xylophone-driven backbone is tweaked back and forth from prominence using 21st century sound engineering; guest mixer Mike Pelanconi (aka Prince Fatty), noted for his genre-spanning back catalogue, seems to be on the right wavelength. On the album, building a contemporary group around two legends has proven to be a wining structure, not just for KonKoma but for Ghanaian music as a whole.

thinkafricapress.com

70s West African funk reissues are such a heavy trend these days that it was inevitable living bands would start recreating the essential sounds of that easy-to-love, endlessly compelling era. And perhaps it was inevitable that the UK Soundway label would be involved, since it has released so many vintage titles from Nigeria and Ghana in recent years. Saxophonist Max Gruhard and producer Ben Lamdin (Nostalgia 77) spearheaded KonKoma, using longtime sidemen, and veterans of the legendary Ghanaian Afro-rock band Osibisa. Guitarist Alfred Bannerman and keyboardist Emmanuel Rentzos are central figures here, but to pull together this lush update of big-band Afro-funk took a host of singers, percussionists, guitarists and brass players. Together they recreate the sound and spirit of a bygone era that seems strangely relevant in the early 21^st century.

Partly that’s because funk never dies. The squirrelly weave of guitars and percussion and blasts of brass on the opening track, “Lie Lie,” are pretty hard to resist. Reverential use of venerable organ sounds and guitar tones, enhanced by contemporary recording techniques, breathe life into a classic genre, rather than rendering it precious.  Working from a demo without full sleeve notes, I can’t tell you much about the origins of these 12 songs, but, whether they are remakes or new compositions, they amount to a vivid, fun-loving homage to the era that inspired them.

“Handkerchief” is spare, mostly bass and drums, with the sizzle of a Tony Allen afrobeat groove. A single voice, rough like Fela’s, takes the center, adorned by economical brass hits and processed thumb piano.  “Kpanlogo” has a bigger sound, a rolling clave-related groove not so far from Congolese soukous, overlaid with waves of brass and vocal driven by a spiky electric guitar riff to reach a dizzying crescendo. The instrumental “Accra Jump” delivers deep, slow funk with a bottomless pocket and a succession of quirky keyboard, twangy guitar, and fat brass breaks.  “Yoo Eh” brings a floating, dreamy mood with warm, ringing guitar arpeggios, loping bass and a crisp lead vocal, answered by an airy chorus.

The final two tracks features Reginald ‘Jojo’ Yates on the ancient Ashanti harp, the seprewa, and folksy vocals.  The tracks are sweet and unexpected, a classy finish for one of the funkiest releases you’ll hear all year.  Oh, to see this band live!

afropop.org

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The strikingly clumsy cover (possibly designed by a 12-year-old boy with a rotring pen, a compass and a setsquare) is so amateurish that it just about tips over into being good, but it gives no indication of what the music therein might be like. So it came as something of a pleasant surprise that it was the most sophisticated, superbly played Afro-funk I’ve heard in the last year.

While Nigerian Afrobeat is arguably the main template for this London based Ghanaian band, the grooves are looser and more elastic than we are used to from that genre. There’s an agreeable amount of air flowing between the slivers of angular guitar, blasts of brass and intricate rush of percussion that delineates most of the tracks.

The relentlessness of pure Afrobeat can get a little wearing after a few 12-minute tracks, but because KonKoma have also subtly incorporated the influences of 1960s psychedelia and American blacksploitation-era soul there’s much more light and shade here. There’s also a real sense that the musicians are doing an awful lot of holding back, so that when the brass section does rear its head, the effect is dramatic and powerful. Producer Ben Kamdin has done an excellent job of both capturing the late 60s/early 70s vibe that’s clearly the main inspiration for these mostly veteran musicians, while also giving them a sound that's very much of the 21^st century.

And just to show they have more than one trick up their sleeve, the album closes with the subtlest of ballads built around the dry, brittle sound of Jojo Yates’s gently plucked speprewa (Ghanaian harp). By contrast, Yates’s vocal soars with effortless grace. To end on such a quiet, intimate solo performance is an act of supreme confidence in keeping with the confidence displayed throughout.

theartsdesk.com

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The Sound Way label’s mission is to compile and release the best, most obscure and rarest of world music. After a decade of Panamanian, Columbian and most prominently, Ghanaian compilations, the label now boasts a contemporary reincarnation of 1970s Ghana in the form of KonKoma.

The idea originated with saxophonist Max Grunhard and producer Ben Lamdin deciding to create an Afro-funk outfit based around two prominent Ghanaian musicians; Alfred Bannerman and Emmanuel Rentzos, themselves both heavily featured in Sound Way’s retro compilations.

As an Afro-funk virgin I approached the record with cautious optimism and was not disappointed: most of the up-tempo tunes are impossible not to move to and rich in sax-led instrumentation, while many songs such as ‘Accra Jump’ having a distinctly New York jazz club feel.

Undoubtedly, KonKoma fulfills its role as an impressive tribute to the Ghanaian sound of the 70s, its authenticity stamped across it with the inclusion of Bannerman and Rentzos. For the many unaccustomed to Afro-funk the record serves to educate and inspire in the spirit of Sound Way’s original mission, doing so in a uniquely modern fashion.

artrocker.tv

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Now operating out of London, and created to work around highly reknowned musicians, Alfred Bannerman and Emmanuel Rentzos, the Ghanaian inspired band piece together a glorious afro-funk rooted in the style of the 70s, offering a soulful and groovy output that should be sure to get many a folk dancing. The self-titled album is a lovely piece of work that displays their wide range of talent throughout. 

KonKoma starts with "Lie Lie", which is sure to have anyone who has heard it a couple of times, sing along to a language that will most likely be alien to them. The song is also a perfect way to open the record as it sets the pace for what is to follow. It's not a song that finds itself in the tradition of repetitive funk, in the vein of James Brown, but a song that shifts to sometimes seem almost like a completely different entity altogether. "Handkerchief" is a beautiful groove full of tribal percussions, that make you feel like you are headed straight for the Dark Continent. There are steel drums and other ethnic instruments; I do not have the knowledge to recognize. One nice addition is the effects you'd get in disco or Queen's Flash Gordon soundtrack, these could have been a downside of cheese but the quality of the music as a whole prevents the song from becoming tainted. "Kpanlogo" is most definitely one of the highlights on the record. It starts with some of the best guitar work to grace the world of funk. Enter the chanting and an awesome brass sections that give the track a Latin feel, yet it still remains deeply African in nature, showing the influence Africa had on the culture of Latin America, something that rarely gets the mention it deserves. With "Niebakwa", we have another sing along song, a slower paced rhythm that is a welcome break and allows the listener to sit back, and have a breather. "Me-Kyin-Kyin" is another standout track, simply because of its sheer funky grooves, created by an awesome bass line, coupled with some amazing and catchy singing. However, the true highlights of the album are the two final tracks, "Senture" and "Jojo's Song". These songs are purely beautiful, the guitar work is hypnotically majestic, and makes you want to sit in the sun and soak up its atmosphere, it makes you drift and long for peace. The vocals on "Jojo's Song" are dreamy and spine chillingly haunting, it is Africa in all its beauty.

KonKoma is definitely an album for anyone interest in funk or African music to try out. There isn't much in terms of diversity of sound, but there is diversity in style which prevents the record from becoming samey. The inclusion of female chanting to accompany the main vocals on many an occasion helps the album to come across as authentically tribal. There's everything you could hope for on here, beautiful vocals, sang in a beautiful exotic dialect, amazing guitar and bass work, an array of amazing percussions, all layered with brass sections and cool organ work. It truly is a work to check out.

therealmusic.net 

 

 

African Psychedelic from Nigeria: Tirogo

Tirogo is another great sample of lost African Psychedelic music. It was recorded in Nigeria in 1977 and originally released on EMI, same as the great album BLO-Chapter One. This Nigerian Rock-Psych band TIROGO is similar to bands such as Ofege, Blo, Founders 15, Doves, and Aktion. Great African songs covered with wild guitar solos, spooky organ, great beats and strong vocals. 4 guys on the cover / 6 where actually in the band looking pretty young. It is getting harder an harder to find lost African bands since there is a big rave in the International music scene to hunt for good material. With the massive help of collectors and Now Again Records in USA, who actually went to Nigeria to sign the boys, we are able to present this amazing album to you. It will suit the same music lovers who like Amanaz, The Witch, Question Mark and Blo. 

prognotfrog 

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Tirogo is one of these Nigerian psych-rock bands from a same level as the other bands which had been reissued before. The songs and song tunes sung in English are somewhat simple, a foundation, one of them is sung in not such a perfect way, the whole musical element completely compensates for this and completes this to an attractive psychedelic rock format. There's use of a little bit of keyboards to fill up the arrangements with another layer, it is the groovy electric guitar solos which are given a time and which are given a trippy freedom which gives this something special in combination with the attractive Afro-inspired rock song rhythms. Just here and there is a funky touch, without ever being dominant.

A decent African rock record within the psychedelic territory.

psychemusic.org 

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The ongoing project to locate every piece of vinyl ever released in Africa has turned up this psychedelic-rock gem from 1977 Nigeria.  Like a lot of African rock bands, Tirogo is clearly influenced by the multi-cultural musical adventures of Jimi Hendrix and Santana (two pretty positive influences, I’d say).  The lead guitar player, Elvy (Action) Akhionbare, is really superb and gets an amazingly Hendrix-like sound out of his gear.  The songs provide plenty of room for guitar and organ solos; songwriter and singer Wilfred Ekanem’s lyrics are moralistic and downright Christian in a few places, but at its essence this is party music.  Probably the first time I’ve ever heard the phrases “boogie shoes” and “go my friends with Jesus” in the same song is on track 4 here.

globalagogo.com 

 
 

Tracklist

A1		Float
A2		Devil´s Gonna Get You
A3		Ajufo
B1		Tirogo
B2		Gypsy Girl
B3		Let´s Feed The Nation

Guelewar - Touki Ba Banjul: Acid Trip From Banjul To Dakar

 Touki Ba Banjul is a compilation of the Gambian psych sensation Guelewar who played a major part in the development of the Afro Manding sound. From 1979-1982 the band released four albums, featuring some of Gambia's best funk tunes. This official first time ever reissue features the highlights of their career.
Before Guelewar, Laaye N’Gorn, the lead singer of the band, was already one of Gambia’s most celebrated artists. He was the centre figure in The Supreme Eagles, with whom he played as the main act in one of Gambia’s succesful clubs ‘The Babo No.1 Night Club’. In return for the succes the clubmanager offered them instruments, after which they renamed their band to the Super Alligators. Due to the mixture of western influences such as soul and funk with traditional and regional rhythms like boogaraboo and sawrouba, The Super Alligators had a unique sound. The result of this blend is known as the psychedelic sound of Gambia (Senegal).  In 1973 the Super Alligators decided to rename the group to Guelewar, Wolof’s for ‘noble warrior’.

After a turbulent couple of years with many musicians joining and leaving the band, Laaye managed to reform the band in order to record their first album in 1977. Over the course of the following five years Guelewar released a total of four albums, which are all filled with deep psychedelic funk gems. Due to the limited pressings, these albums are very much sought after by collectors. Kindred Spirits compiles the highlights of these albums which are presented on this double LP. Touki Ba Banjul is not only a must have for collectors of African music, but for music lovers worldwide.

Tracklist

A1		Sama Yaye Demma N'darr
A2		Sunu Makaan
B1		Ya Mom Samaray
B2		Njarama
C1		Tasito
C2		Wollou
D1		Kele Fasane

From Ethiopia: Ali Birra

With the western world's recent access to the Ethiopian music of the 1970's, the focus has been almost solely on the Amhara music of Addis Ababa. The Oromo people, the largest ethnic group, hasn't been equally represented. Ali Birra, the biggest Oromo star and a hero to his people was so beloved that he did break into the Amhara dominated record market. Learning how to play the guitar using the tuning for an oud, the sound is as much Arabic as Ethiopian. After two years singing in the Imperial Body Guard Band alongside Mahmoud Ahmed and Tilahun Gessesse, and a brief hiatus from music, he made these recordings backed up by the Aduu Birra Band. With a prevalent joy and catchy sing along style, Ali sings songs of love, misery, and beating the oppressor. Comes with liner notes and translations of the lyrics from Oromo to English, housed in a tip-on sleeve. A co-release of Domino Sound and Mississippi/Little Axe.

BOOKLET 

From Gambia: Karantamba

 

TERANGA BEAT proudly presents BAI JANHA alias "Sweet Fingers" and his psychedelic steamroller KARANTAMBA. Composer, arranger, guitar player of GUELEWAR & IFANG BONDI, BAI JANHA is undisputedly the most important musician to have come from GAMBIA. Band leader of the groups BLACK STAR, WHALES BAND, FABULOUS EAGLES & SUPREME EAGLES, founder of the group ALLIGATORS who later became the GUELEWAR, BAI is the one who created the unique psychedelic sound in the region of SENE-GAMBIA, mixing traditional compositions with Soul, his musical innovations contributed to the domination of AFRO-MANDING music in West Africa for more than a decade. This record presents BAI JANHA with his last group, KARANTAMBA, a school for young musicians, in a totally unreleased recording, recorder in Thiès (Senegal) at "SANGOMAR" Club the 16th of August 1984. The double gatefold LP's liner notes and CD's booklet include more information and photographs outlining all the way of the living legend's musical career and the wicked percussive rhythms and compositions of this album. We hope you will enjoy!

terangabeat.com

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Bai Janha is a landmark figure in west African music. Hailing from the Gambia, the tiny spit of land contained within Senegal, Janha was involved in numerous bands in Ghana and elsewhere, including Eagles (later Super Eagles and Supreme Eagles), Guelewar, and seminal outfit Ifang Bondi. Primarily a guitarist, Janha teamed up with such figures as keyboardist Adama Faye and bass player Badou Diop. In 1982, shortly after a violent political coup in the Gambia, Janha founded the group Karantamba.

The 1970s and ‘80s were a heady time for west African music, with bands influenced by the funk and soul sounds from the US and UK and some musicians, like Janha, striving to re-incorporate local rhythms and instrumentation into the mix. Karantamba is a prime exemplar of this trend, with electric instruments and funky rhythms often laid over complex patterns of traditional percussion, and lyrical content particular to the concerns of west Africa.




Now Teranga Beat has released Ndigal, a live recording of Karantamba dating from 1984. With a backing band of young musicians, Janha plays a scorching set of nine tunes ranging from the the snappy “Dimba Niyama” to twelve-minute-long album closer “Gamo Jigimar”, a gloriously hypnotic squall of sound. With most of the tracks hovering at the nine-minute mark, these tunes have plenty of time to establish a groove, stretch out, and incorporate any number of instrumental flourishes and solos.

Polyrhythmic percussion forms the backbone of the songs, with piles of guitar and bass and keyboards layered on top. Tempos are fast—no ballads here, this is high-octane dance music designed to get backsides sitting and energy flowing. In keeping with the high-energy vibe, the singing might politely be described as “unvarnished.” With lyrics in Mandinga, the vocals will remain opaque to listeners unfamiliar with the language. Passion and intensity shine through, but the skills are rough-edged to say the least.






In fact, the sound overall is rough as hell, in ways both good and bad. The vocals are passionate from the get-go, and there is no trace of the smooth polished sounds of Western pop or soul. Guitars are trebly in the extreme, percussion is polyrhymic and incessant, and keyboard breaks can be alarmingly shrill. There is something to be said, however, for a little polish. The horns on “Ne Dinding Fally” are embarassingly weak, and become audibly faltering as the song stretches along its ten-minute length. By the second half of the song, the horns are flat-out missing the notes. It doesn’t sound visceral and real; it sounds amateurish. Ditto the occasional moments when the twangy guitars sound distinctly out of tune.

Those moments are relatively rare, though. For the most part, the tunes benefit from their harsh arrangements and rough performances. The energy is palpable, and does much to overcome the rawness of the arrangements. Songs like “Titi” and “Satay Muso” escape from one’s speakers in a blaze of percussion and guitar, with “Satay Muso” in particular rolling along in a hypnotic groove that establishes itself in mere seconds.

Aficianados of Afro-funk or Afro-rock may find this previously unreleased recording to be of great interest. Be warned, though—this is almost field-recording quality, with little of the lushness or clarity common in today’s studio efforts. It has more in common, both sonically and in terms of arrangements, with the “African funk” compilations from Soundways Records or Analog Africa. Listeners who are forgiving of limitations in sound technology will find this performance an unexpected time capsule to savor.

popmatters.com

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The Western fetishization of “world music” has, in recent years, become both more conspicuous and less noxious. The gross exoticism that accompanied much of the early blog love for M.I.A.’s early material (and helped lead to the backlash met by 2010’s MAYA) has been supplanted by a pointed rejection of what constitutes “Western” pop culture and an increased accessibility to music being created all over the globe; this has been facilitated by the internet’s far-reaching grasp. The inevitable downside to this easy satisfaction of voracious cultural appetites is acute mercuriality — not to mention a pointlessly obsessive focus on relevance. Which is where Ndigal, an album recorded in 1984 by the Gambian group Karantamba that has not seen release until now, comes in. It’s not specifically relevant to any current musical trends, but its timelessness effectively transcends issues of coolness and shoots straight for the aurally sublime. Filled with an unabashed sincerity that enlivens the best chamber ensembles, the long live takes that make up this record have an infectious, palpable energy. Witness the giddy shuffle of “Titi,” which has contemporary relatives in the optimistic house revivalism of The 2 Bears and the tropical dance music being created by artists as far-ranging as Unicorn Kid, Tanlines, and Elite Gymnastics. Here and throughout, rhythm plays a pivotal role, providing the jumping-off point for the songs’ disparate melodic licks and vocal stylings.

And oh, what rhythms they are; kaleidoscopically unfolding as if they were being looped upon one another, the drums on this album work magic. “Na Dinding Fatty” has a particularly hypnotic pattern that expands and contracts periodically, but irregularly; the result is breathing room in a track that never stops to breathe. Additionally, the trumpet hook running throughout a good two-thirds of the 10-minute jam is filled with cracks and inconsistencies, giving the song a distinctly humanistic edge. Such unpredictability also creates an atmosphere of uncertainty, a general feeling that is amplified by the asymmetrical lengths of Ndigal’s vocal phrases. At times, two vocal lines repeat at different intervals, coming together and breaking apart in the dense musical tapestry. Thanks to the album’s warm and pristine production, we can hear every element in the mix clearly, and tracks like “Goré Nga” sound at once both carefully constructed and spontaneous. Present alongside the driving positivity that makes Ndigal sound so alive is a jammy anxiety, the incessancy of its uniformly quick tempi creating the slightest layer of unease.

But despite occasional flashes of uncertainty, the dominant emotion here is always joy. Understandable, given the story of the group’s genesis; Karantamba was founded by Bai Janha in 1982 in order to train young musicians — to “bring them up to a professional level,” as Janha says. And so the mood is consistently that of youthful curiosity, which — in Janha’s hands, at least — is always a friend to artistic symbiosis. As the guitars of the penultimate “Linga Ham” pass waves of sound between each other, the communication between players is almost audible; ditto for the perfectly executed tempo change that occurs at the one-minute mark. It’s a mesmerizing effect that calls to mind the best chamber group working today, the Bang on a Can All-Stars. Karantamba may not have that ensemble’s larger-than-life technical abilities, but they play with admirable gusto. Admittedly, this unstoppable dynamism can be a bit soporific when absorbed over the album’s 80-minute runtime. But in slightly smaller doses, and at its jubilant best, Ndigal glistens with propulsive vigor. In essence, it feels absolutely, completely vital.

tinymixtapes.com

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Tracklist

1. Sama Yai
2. Satay Muso
3. Ndigal
4. Dimba Nyima
5. Titi
6. Na Dinding Fatty
7. Goré Nga
8. Linga Ham
9. Gamo Jigimar
10. Kuru Wo Kuru (bonus track LP only)

Amazing Afrobeat: Segun Okeji