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Houghas Sorowonko - A Groovy Christmas & New Year (197?)

Christmas Afro-funk from the 70s with the delightfully named Pee Pee Dynamite on vocals.

#Houghas Sorowonko #Pee Pee Dynamite #A Groovy Christmas & New Year #Voodoo Funk #Afro funk #Ghana

183: Freedom Family // Ayentsoo

Ayentsoo Freedom Family 1977, His Master's Voice

Freedom Family were a West African funk/Afrobeat band originally (?) formed in Kumasi, Ghana in the late ‘60s/early ‘70s as the Los Americanas, later known as the Plastic Jims. The future Freedom Family also had a significant run as the Heartbeats ’72, backing Sierra Leonean star Geraldo Pino and performing on Pino’s two excellent LPs Afro Soco Soul Live (1972) and Let’s Have a Party (1978). The eight-piece band lasted until the late ‘70s under the leadership of keyboardist/musical director Chief Kwame Frimpong and lead singer Albert Jones, making their bones playing grueling Dexedrine-fueled six-hour-a-night club residencies in Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and Liberia. That grind is of course why West African recordings from the era go so disproportionately hard—you had to be hot to keep the spot you had, smoking to move up, and on fire to find yourself in a studio laying down tracks. Freedom Family’s formative influences were American R&B acts like Sly Stone and James Brown, but in order to survive in the hyper-competitive club scene they mastered highlife and Afrobeat, and their own sound is an impressive fusion of the popular sounds of the day.

Originally released by EMI in the late ‘70s, their sole (?) LP Ayentsoo (Xhosa, trans. They Are Not) was reissued in 2013 as a collab between Brooklyn-based Academy LPs and Germany’s Voodoo Funk (c/f Mary Afi Usuah’s masterpiece Ekpenyong Abasi that I reviewed back in April), and both the pressing and booklet are first class. Voodoo Funk’s Frank Gossner was able to track down singer Albert Jones, and the liners tell the Family’s story as Jones remembers it in the first person. He’s not the most focused, and if he got laid after a show or got a hookup on some funky clothes you’re going to hear about it, but it catches the vibe of being there as part of the scene better than a music historian’s account would. Geraldo Pino in particular is vividly depicted as both an influential talent and a conniving manipulator—according to Jones he even arranged to have the band’s hotel rooms robbed when he caught wind of their plans to ditch him (while his own expensive clothes were merely soaked in water by the apparent wet bandits).

Unfortunately, Jones is a better raconteur than he was a singer, and his unimpressive vocal stylings are probably what held Freedom Family back from becoming true stars. He’s fine on the funkier numbers, where the band’s rhythmic prowess is enough to raise all ships, but on the ballads he’s exposed, his voice flat enough to be actively grating. Fortunately, Ayentsoo mostly sticks to the band’s strengths, and if you’re looking for more grooves from this time and place after you’ve hit the usual suspects, this one has some smokers.

183/365

#freedom family #voodoo funk #geraldo pino #ghanaian music #ghana #west african music #african music #music review #vinyl record #highlife #afro funk #afro beat #funk #'70s music #half done

3: Mary Afi Usuah // Ekpenyong Abasi

Ekpenyong Abasi Mary Afi Usuah 1975, SESCULT My collection of African music is barely 20 records strong, so be mindful of the source, but I’d recommend Mary Afi Usuah’s Ekpenyong Abasi to anyone looking to delve a little beyond the usual entry points like Fela Kuti and William Onyeabor. Usuah was a rare talent as a singer, having studied and toured internationally with top European and American stars. She was rarer still as a woman of her generation who composed her own music. Ekpenyong Abasi’s eight originals, seven of them written by Usuah alongside top Nigerian bandleader Dan “Satch” Asuquo, are a virtual sampler of the popular styles of the day. If there’s a track you like, it can help to direct your search.

The gentle, tropical sway of “Ekpe”? Try the early work of Miriam Makeba.

The archetypal high life of “Afia Mma (Hulalah)” with its lilting guitar and ebullient horns? Victor Uwaifo or Rex Lawson’s classic bands are good next steps.

The svelte, percolating funk of “Ima Mma Uyem”? The Lijadu Sisters make for a great bet.

Ekpenyong Abasi seems to have been obscure (even at the time of its release) before it was reissued internationally in 2015 by archival label Voodoo Funk. That’s a shame, because it is a fully realized piece of work marked by fantastic musicianship and real compositional daring. I love the way “From Me to You” continuously morphs back and forth between stark, solemn lament and sweat-soaked jazz workout until the two modes fuse into one. Or “Mma Ama Mbo,” where a drum-driven traditional chant gradually builds to a cardiac boogie to close out the first side of the LP.

The record still seems to be in print as of 2023, but Voodoo Funk hasn’t issued any new releases since 2016, so it might be worth snagging a copy now if you’re on the fence. As the original liner notes on the back cover say, “Take it. Listen to it. You’ll like it.”

3/365

#nigerian music #vinyl #voodoo funk #mary afi usuah #high life #funk #african music #'70s music