#afro-beat

[sonicandvisualsurprises]

Keleya (Alternate LP version) - Moussa Doumbia

1977

Same fire, different spark.

A rare alternate version of Keleya by Moussa Doumbia, full of raw energy, piercing sax lines, and that unmistakable groove.

The "original 45 version" can be heard here.

[dustedmagazine]

Rail Band — S-T (Mississippi)

“Marabayasa” is a groove that transcends time and geography, a monstrous monolith of funk that follows a pied piper’s sax through strutting, swaggering, stop-motion syncopation. The singer, Malian legend Mory Kanté leads an exuberant call and response, his fluid, note-bending salvo met with an echo so rhythmic, so hip swaying that it commands motion. The guitars are high and golden-toned, the piano insistent on the offbeats. When Kanté launches an instrumental break with a reverberating “waa-aa-aah,” you feel that you’re there in the heat of it, sweating and grinning.It’s the standout track on the Rail Band’s 1973 debut, a record of scorching power and body-tingling joy, performed train-side at the Buffet Hotel de la Gare. The Rail Band, you see, was the state-sponsored musical outfit of the Malian railroad.

That 1970s band included both Kanté and Salif Keita singing, Tidiani Koné on trumpet and saxophone, Djelimandy Tounkara on guitar and numerous drummers, merging traditional African sounds with mambo from Cuba, and funk, soul and jazz from America. They played five nights a week at a café in the rail station in Bamako to locals, expats, visiting businessmen and travelers. To judge by this album, it was a hell of a way to while away the hours until departure, much better than airport CNN feeds, so good that you might decide not to leave.

Consider, for instance, the fluid big-band wallop of “Moko Jolo,” this one with Koné on trumpet and sax both, both horns floating in a haze over an impacted, side-shifting beat. Percussion, on the kit and played by hand, takes the foreground in “Nantan,” setting a wandering rhythm for guitars to snake through, a shifting, phantasmagorical foundation for shadowed group vocals, the sound of distance, heat and longing baked in. It’s all very fine, intricate but physically stirring, full of skill but inflamed with feeling. Still after a while, you might find yourself turning to “Marabayasa” again, because it cooks so hard.

Jennifer Kelly

[th3-0bjectivist]

     Don’t you dare EVER say I can’t get downright eclectic with the variety of music I post to my page. This is Jessie Evans, and this track is afro-beat, a genre I hardly knew existed before falling ass-backwards into it by searching through random electro-funk tracks recently. For those who have no idea what afro-beat is, think about it as a rare four-way marriage between west African fuji, jazz, soul and funk. You’d think if you combined this with a white girl from California, you’d just completely and unforgivably jam up the works. However, quite to the contrary, this is probably some of the most oddly cool music I’ve had the fortune of inadvertently blundering over in the last two decades. The artist herself is a talented saxophonist who adds sensual vocals to the mix. When you combine that with the fact that the drummer (Toby Dammit from Iggy Pop fame) provides experienced and excellent beats, you have to at least marvel at how polished the final product sounds. This is Black Sand from the 2009 album Is It Fire? and the song is straight-up sexy as hell. Apparently her live performances also include elements of burlesque and tragi-comic theater which me wants to purchase some tickets right the hell now. You want completely original music from a virtually unknown indie/punk artist? Well, then, don't say your ol’ pal th3-0bjectivist never did anything for ya. Smash play, and experience a completely different kind of electronic sound that WILL make you want more of the same. Maravilloso!!!

[thehazygaze]

a long slow little wave

Riding it out in the dome with soothing sounds of london afro-beat, texan soul, hungarian jazz, etc etc. Full playlist available here.

KOKOROKO - Ti-de

Allah-Las - Ela Navega

Bill Evans Trio - Jade Visions Take I

Khruangbin - Friday Morning (Spotify Live)

Gábor Szabó - Galatea’s Guitar

Dr. Lonnie Smith - It’s Changed

Skinshape - Detroit

Hidden Sphere - ~~~~~~

Hailu Mergia - Yene Nesh Wey (Amalele)

John Cameron - Liquid Sunshine

Robohands - Green

Alice Coltrane - Turiya & Ramakrishna

Horace Silver - Soul Searchin’

Electronic System - Sky Lab

Loving - A Long Slow Little Wave / Citizen, an Activity

Leon Vynehall - Movements (Chapter III)

[thesunlounge]

Oha Aho - I Can Hear It (from A_E, Oh, Sister Records 2019)

[iheartmoosiq]

My hips have been abducted again, by who else, but The Hip Abduction! The Florida based outfit invites us into a humid, balmy paradise with their new single, Come On Get Up, which sports the six piece’s islandy beats and rootsy charm, a combo that oft reminds me of Crystal Fighters’ vibrant folktronica fused with Miami Horror’s neon-lit radiance and Sublime With Rome’s reggae tinged rock. There’s even a dash of Portugal. the Man’s recent funk pop leaning offerings to be found in The Hip Abduction’s slinky swinging, hip-swaying gem. Stream Come On Get Up and The Hip Abduction’s other releases on Spotify, here.

[peninsularian]

Visit Original Link

Obscure Afro-Funk from Nigeria’s Duomo Sounds c.1982