Jazz /
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…
Fela Ransome Kuti and his Koola Lobitos
**Clear vinyl edition** Before Afrobeat, there was Highlife-Jazz and Afro-Soul. Highlife music, originally from Ghana and widely popular across West Africa, dominated the music scene in Lagos when Fela Kuti returned to the newly independent Nigeria in 1963. Fela had been studying trumpet at Trinity College of Music in London where he met drummer Tony Allen, who also joined him in new group Koola Lobitos as they sought to mix things up by introducing the sounds they had heard in the capital's jaz…
Tales of Life and Miracles
**250 copies** More music from trumpeter extraordinaire Etuk Ubong! We’ve run a limited hand-stamped vinyl run with the best tracks from his first album and EP from 2016 and 2017, 'Miracles' and 'Tales of Life'. The music is simplistic yet thoughtful modal jazz that was written around the time of the death of Ubong’s mother Margaret. The Quartet features an all-star Nigerian rhythm section rounded up with Ubong’s unique voicing. "Short and snappy, ‘Battle For Peace’ opens with a tight electric b…