Jazz /
Jungle Magic
Considered an acid boogie classic, Jungle Magic is a cosmic transmission from the early days of Nigerian disco. The bass lines are lethal. The synths are fat and squelchy. And the groove is non-stop and primal. Channeling the jungle gods of funk and introducing them to Donna Summers, the title track, ‘Jungle Magic’, takes you to a freaky place you didn’t know existed but never want to leave. ‘Love Forever’ brings a Calypso party vibe while ‘Fireman’ suggests Prince may have been listening to Ben…
African Woman
Mary Afi Usuah trained as an a opera singer at the prestigious St Cecilia Academy in Rome and spent 13 years touring Europe with artists like Duke Ellington and Deep Purple. She matched vocal chops with Robert Plant performing with Led Zeppelin and blew away the top names on the Lagos scene when she returned to Nigeria. She also broke a few hearts with her killer smile, if some accounts are to be believed. African Woman marshals these experiences into an exceptionally powerful and diverse album.…
Nation Building
Nation Building is a real forgotten gem from the late '70s and is among the very best Afro-Beat Disco Lps ever. Berkely Ike Jones is one of the icons of the Nigerian scene being the guitarist and founder of BLO. BLO were one of the very best progressive bands from Nigeria and managed to release several albums for EMI (Nigeria) and Afrodisia Records. BLO are definitely a ground-breaking band, that managed to further establish the entire Afro-Funk genre. At the time Ginger Baker of Cream went to t…
Mr. Love
Nigeria had a unique music scene which began spreading rapidly in the 1970s. The era was based on unspoiled use of fuzz pedal, keyboards and indisputable influences of the Psychedelic Blues bands of the West. In 1980 Effi Duke & The Love Family came out with their debut Mr. Love. It was released by Homzy Records which was a home of many Afro-Funk records, going strong from mid ’70s toward ’80s. Effi Duke & The Love Family being one of their most energetic albums. The ’80s were definitely more in…
Village Boogie
After starting his musical carrer back in 1968, the Nigerian artist, drummer, singer, multi-instrumentalist and producer Steve Black released his fantastic and unique album "Village Boogie!" in 1979. "Village Boogie!" really deserves the status of a legendary rarity and holy grail for fans of afro funk music. The original album is incredibly rare today and fetches prices of 800,00 and more USD! On this unique album Steve Black presents a new version of the smasher "Brand new wayo“, originally pl…
Afro Soco Soul Live
He was born in Sierra Leone in the 1930s. Fact is that Gerald Pine was son to a lawyer working in Nigeria, lost his mother and sister at a very young age and found relief in music. He played social clubs by the early 60s with his newly founded band The Heartbeats delivering cover-versions of American hits and Congolese rumba tunes that were then utterly popular in the West Africa area. Due to the influence of Congolese popular musicians Franco and Dr. Nico he adopted the more exotic sounding sta…
In The Groove
First official reissue ever! Nigeria had an utterly strong popular music scene in the 1970s, “Afro Beat” and “Afro Funk” were the hottest musical creations of the day and garage rock oriented bands like Ofege or funky monsters Akwassa were at the forefront of the movement. I deliberately call it their second album despite three albums that were released under the monicker Heads Funk Band with exactly the same line up as Akwassa from 1975 to 1978. However, the main difference between “In the groo…
Orgy In Rhythm - Volume One
It is interesting how the Jazz sounds of the 1950s and early 1960s influenced later psychedelic bands and if you dig yourself through to the most influentual records of that mind expanding extraordinary wing of jazz music you will hit Art Blakey and this album directly with your nose. The title says it all and what you get to listen to here will surely take you away from the cold and grey reality and drag you onto a trip to the center of your galaxy. It starts with a haunting passage that shows …
Ancestral Echoes - The Covina Sessions 1976
Dark Tree Records is very pleased to announce you the release, under exclusive license from the Horace Tapscott family, of this previously unpublished studio recording. In January 1976, the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra recorded at Audiotronics Recording Studio in Covina, east of Los Angeles. Musicians assumed these tapes were lost, but they survived in Horace’s archive and a copy of some tracks in that of Nimbus West. Four pieces appear on this CD: Ancestral Echoes, the Eternal Egypt Suite, Sket…
Oracy
**Seminal Spiritual Jazz from Detroit, 1977. Officially licensed and re-mastered re-issue**. Comes with fold-out insert of Ade Olatunji’s Poetry that features on the album and never before seen artwork designed by New Zealand based designer David Broome. Oracy' by The Positive Force & Ade Olatunji belongs to the body of 1970s recordings that joined two of the great African American vehicles for expression, jazz and poetry, into a single, powerful force. A profoundly inspiring that doubles as an …
The Blue Yusef Lateef
** 180 gram audiophile vinyl ** On The Blue Yusef Lateef (1968), listeners get an amazing chapter from the late '60s, an amazing period when everything in the world of Jazz was changing. Yuseef Lateef was big on concept recordings. This album examines all the different ranges of emotion contained within the blues genre. With a band that included Detroit Jazz gods Roy Brooks on drums and Kenny Burrell on guitar, Blue Mitchell on trumpet, Hugh Lawson on piano, Sonny Red on alto, Bob Cranshaw on el…
Aktuala
Red Vinyl. Milestone! Faithful reproduction of the original release! 1973 Aktuala debut, a stunning overall work where you can hear a lot of different musical influences : avant-garde folk, mediterranean blues ,jazz improvisation, minimalism, african percussions, indian ragas all played with a true psychedelic feeling. The album was recorded in a few days in a totally acoustic dimension and the line-up seems to be a quintet of contemporary music more than a progrock group (although this music is…
Eko Kuango
**100 copies, 2019 warehouse find** "We are very proud to announce the release of the Eko Kuango LP on Libreville Records. Eko Kuango is a band formed by Belgium based composer, poet and multi-instrumentalist Denis Mpunga in the early 80s.Eko Kuango’s music is a unique fusion of very diverse influences from African rhythms to Jazz, filled with subtle synth arrangements, and sometimes even an eastern flavour. The great singularity of Eko Kuango is how they manage to introduce a strong sense of po…
Live Without Fear
CD Edition. Number 27 in the Jazzman Holy Grail Series. With a price of well over $1000 on the few occasions the original LP has hit the market, Infinite Spirit Music's 'Live Without Fear' is a beautiful album of humble purity and peaceful spiritual jazz vibes that lives up to the hype. With the blessing of creator Soji Ade and colleague Kahil El Zabar, we're delighted to be able to finally share their music with you, 40 years since it was recorded. As so often with private pressings, few copies…
Don Kapot
**300 copies** Mr. Nakayasi releases the Don Kapot debut album. The group consists of baritone saxophonist Viktor Perdieus, Giotis Damianidis (this time not as a guitarist, but as a bassist) and drummer Jakob Warmenbol. The last two can also be found together in Abschattungen, Giovanni Di Domenico's big band. In other combinations the three cross each other separately with Nest and Punk Kong, among others. On Don Kapot we note parallels with Morphine in top gear, especially because of the way t…
Hikima: Creativity
**800 copies** Key System Recordings present a reissue of Yusef Lateef's "Hikima: Creativity", originally released in 1983. In the early 1980s, famed jazz saxophonist and musical luminary Yusef Lateef traveled to Nigeria as a Senior Research Fellow to study, write, and teach at Ahmadu Bello University. He cut this record while there; pressed locally in Nigeria, it remained virtually unknown by jazz fans and collectors for over 30 years. On Hikima, Lateef leads a nonet of African musicians in sev…
Live in Frankfurt 82
2019 small repress. First of all, Bengt Berger -- a pioneer of the Swedish underground of the '70s and historical member of bands such as Archimedes Badkar and Arbete Och Fritid -- is a versatile drummer-percussionist and well-educated ethnomusicologist with several research sojourns in India and Ghana. Deeply influenced by Hindustani, Carnatic, and West Africa music, he founded the Bitter Funeral Beer Band in 1980, an ensemble of 12 elements, basing his ideas on the traditional funeral music of…
Exuvia
** 500 copies white vinyl** An ongon is an important shamanic tool inhabited by spirits. An anthropomorphic ritual object, highly abstract in form or more realistic, that at the same time attracts and contains spirits. A fetish. In the same way, some traditions, some melodies, some rhythms, sounds and instruments attract special spirits and energies. "Exuvia" is the first work in which Antonio Bertoni uses the pseudonym Ongon. Ongon's music originates from multiple influences and researches: gna…
Diom Futa
Killer! Seminal and much sought after Afro Jazz session recorded in Paris in 1979 featuring Senegalese percussionist Cheikh Tidian, produced by Jean-Paul Rodrigue for his cult Freelance label. The session features saxophone player Jo Maka - leader of the Celestial Communication Orchestra but perhaps best known for his work with Angolan singer Bonga - and regular Steve Lacy collaborator Bobby Few, in a Parisian answer to Black Jazz and Strata East. A Brilliant leftfield spiritual jazz release fr…
Witchdoctor’s Son
2019 small repress. **beautiful vinyl edition of the hugely sought-after avantgarde gem** Matsuli Music is proud to be releasing another forgotten gem of the South African jazz diaspora – the 1976 Istanbul session featuring Johnny Dyani and Okay Temiz fusing deep roots and new routes, integrating folklore and rhythm within an experimental, avant-garde vision of love and life. Remastered by Frank Merrit at the Carvery, Witchdoctor’s Son is presented as a deluxe gatefold sleeve including new line…