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‘A retrospective of the forty-member Somali supergroup featured on Sweet As Broken Dates. Turkish synths, Jamaican Reggae, American brass, Bollywood vocals, Egyptian and Yemeni rhythms, and Chinese and Mongolian flutes all rendezvous in a corner of East Africa that for centuries served as the world’s most brisk trading hub, the midway point connecting Africa, Asia, and the Mediterranean. This is Somali music at its sassy, soulful, synthesized best. The LP comes with a poster inspired by the political banners of 1980s Djibouti; the CD in a hard cover, with a 12-page booklet.’

Paradigmatic yet forward-looking township jazz from 1975.
Braiding Wes Montgomery into marabi, the legendary guitarist leads a stellar line-up of musicians including Kippie Moeketsi, Barney Rachabane, Gilbert Matthews, Dennis Mpale, and Sipho Gumede.
The opener glances sideways at the commercial success of Abdullah Ibrahim’s recent Mannenberg — but the real magic follows on, when the players cut loose in their own, new directions.
This is the first vinyl reissue. Sleevenotes by Kwanele Sosibo feature interviews with key musicians, and previously unpublished photos.

Hotly recommended by our friends Rush Hour in Amsterdam: ‘Starting off with the positively upbeat Umgababa by Kippie Moketsi and the infectious soul jazz of Pat Matshikiza’ s Dreams Are Wonderful (also featuring Kippie Moketsi) proceedings mellow out on side B, only to get extra heavy on the C-side with the sample-ready fusion groover Night Express off their crazy rare 1976 album of the same name and the irresistibly funky Blues for Yusef by Lionel Pillay, two of the many highlights on this action-packed thriller.’

Startlingly accomplished new jazz from South Africa, teeming with ideas, influences and idioms.
Maybe you remember Asher’s drumming on Angel Bat Dawid’s The Oracle.
Hotly recommended.

Terrific, rootsy, soulful SA and post-bop jazz by drummer Sikade leading Nduduzo Makhathini on piano, young Simon Manana on alto sax and Nhlanhla Radebe on bass; recorded last year in Johannesburg. Warmly recommended.

Landmark South African jazz from 1974 — spiritual and political, shimmering and surging. Reverbed trad and trap drums, mesmeric bass, soaring flute, rocking sax. Warmly recommended.

The first half of the Something Is Wrong CD set, beautifully pressed and presented, with its own twelve-inch-square booklet.

An electrifying, previously unreleased studio album, recorded in 2003, this stunning solo piano suite condenses Mseleku’s visionary overstanding of South African music into a flowing, pulsing statement in six parts. With jazzwise echoes of marabi, amahubo, maskanda and Nguni song forms binding it to the deep music of Mseleku’s Zulu heritage, Beyond The Stars provides what Blue Note recording artist Nduduzo Makhathini describes in his liner notes as ‘a divine summary’ of Bheki’s life story: ‘a sonic pilgrimage from the beautiful and organic landscapes of Durban, to the vibrant energy of London and ultimately toward the inner dimensions of one’s being.’
A magnificent start by new label Tapestry Works.

A new compilation of this mid-seventies Kenyan afro-rock group, crossing Purple and Floyd with Mandrill and the Ohio Players, and adding some politics and rootical folk.
‘Like a Cymande from Kenya,’ says Gilles. ‘Super fresh.’

A compilation of ‘Burger Highlife’, the crossing of West African melodies with synthesizers and drum machines, disco and boogie, which took over Ghanaian airwaves during the 1980s. Dominant figures like Thomas Frempong and George Darko, alongside more elusive, nowadays hard-sought recordings by Aban and Uncle Joe’s Afri-Beat.

‘Lovely country & western-inspired music from 1950s Zimbabwe, South Africa and Kenya. Fingerpicking ‘omasiganda’ troubadours, train-car yodels, raw slide guitar and haunting travel-weary ballads, from rare 78s all reissued here for the first time. A heavy duty document of a nearly lost scene, and all the songs are stunners to boot. George Sibanda, Josaya Hadebe, Sabelo Mathe, Petrus Mntambo…  In old-school tip-on covers, with a 12” booklet of deep research and full lyrics. Co-released with Olvido.’

In front, trumpet and tenor saxophone, dominated by a wailing alto sound you can trace through to Dudu Pukwana; the bottom end, trombone or tuba or double bass; banjos strumming away; military-style drumming.

Her landmark rewiring of Zulu maskanda, in 1999. Tough, grooving sufferers about heartbreak, abuse and money worries, from a woman’s point of view.
‘Unlike many African music albums produced at the time, Urban Zulu is tight, with every inch of the vocals worked over to powerful, husky perfection. Rarely pretty but exquisitely detailed, Urban Zulu is intense, angry, and bewitching.’

Bilo is a kind of depression; the valimbilo is the person who helps you through it.
The cure for bilo is music. The patient sits opposite the players, who hone in on the sickness, which must be awakened, seduced and ambushed from every angle by sound, till breaking point. Once the bilo is overcome with the music, the patient recovers, and the ceremony ends.
Another walloping dose of Tsapiky music from Madagascar.

Stark, moody, percussive amapiano.