Jazz /
What Ever You Need
By the 1979 release of Whatever You Need, the Elcados were ready to party. “We got rhythm, we got sound,” they declare on ‘Funky Music’. “You’re going to dig it!' Starting out as the Moonrakers in Kanu in 1968, Steve Black, Rocky Mustapha, Tony Nosika and Frank Martins, spent the next decade gigging their way out of the north, including a surreal set with Khalifa Baba-Ahmed at the Miss New Nigeria contest. They released two rock-oriented albums in the mid ‘70s before hitting a disco/reggae groov…
Country Boy 'Mr. Funkees'
Don't let the floppy hat and rolling English countryside on the cover fool you. Harry Mosco's Country Boy is a certified floor-filler, bursting with Studio 54 era disco-funk as well as a token reggae monster, complete with its own dub version. Harry Mosco always had swagger. A founding member of The Funkees, he'd stride out on stage in tight pants and dark sunglasses, commanding the attention of a population distracted by war. When The Funkees split in London, it was clear that his star would ri…
Aleke
After spending much of the ‘70s humping his congos around New York as a session musician, Nigerian Aleke Kanonu pulled in some favours to record an album of his own. The result was Aleke, a criminally obscure Afrobeat/Funk/Jazz masterpiece featuring Buddy Williams on drums, George Davis on guitar and a cameo from Wynton Marsalis on flugelhorn. There are only four tracks on the album but they are all killers. N’Gwode sounds like Fela Kuti and Manu Dibangu hanging out with Bobby Womack, probably s…
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…
A Safe Return
Everland Jazz have picked a real gem for a reissue here! Originally released in 1980, “A Safe Return” is the second album by the Surinam jazz flutist Ronald Snijders. It is a strong alloy of soul, funk, jazz and smooth disco sounds! Mersmerizing musical craftsmanship! “Lenox” the opening track, has a playful haze escaping from every groove,with a solid hypnotical rhythmical base and haunting flute melodies that have the character of the lead vocals. Despite the slower pace, the jazzy approach of…
Aunka Ma Kwacha
"There is music that falls right into place, a perfectly articulated expression of a few distinct influences. Then, there is another kind of median music, something more mysterious, the result of time, place, technology, and alchemy. Zambian writer and musician Smokey Haangala’s Aunka Ma Kwacha (The Money is Gone) released in 1976 is an example of this more mystical metallurgy, falling somewhere between psychedelic Zamrock, US folk, Kalindula, and Sundown Beat (music played after dark) from Tong…
Cucoma Combo
**CD version** Cucoma Combo. Above all, the new boiling energy of pan-rhythmic music, the awakening dance of joy, the experimental space for ambitious arrangements and free-improvised parts of colorful horns. From Black Africa to South America, we travel on paths of Congolese soukuss and Amazonian carimbò, between accents of Colombian cumbia, kalimba vibes and tribal voices. We find seeded traces of space-funk and afrobeat, with amazing acid keyboards and an enchanting female voice. The power of…
Uhuru Aiye
**1000 copies** We’re proud to introduce the new Superfly reissue of hardcore nigerian psychedelic Juju Funk recorded in the Acorn studios in Oxford, UK in 1977. If you are into the intense, raw, hypnotic funk sounds then this is for you. Check the funky anthem Africa Is Free For Us but the full album is a blast in the genre. As usual, beautiful quality repress with paste on covers made in Japan, Obi and 180grs vinyl!
African Rhythms & Blues
Classic and sought after afro jazz. Essential and hard to find album with tons of true killer afro funk breaks: First reissue of original debut LP by African jazz band “Mombasa” led by Lou Blackburn and recorded 1975 at Cornet studio in a Cologne. One of the really shining recordings in the genre - deep spiritual jazz with pulsating african rhythms, funk bass and heavy brass, including nice DJ-spins “Nairobi”, “Kenia” and “Shango”, comes with original cover artwork. Some used to call it “a strip…