VARIOUS ARTISTS Orishas Across The Ocean 320 CBR mp3 CD rip & scans from Ryko RCD 10405 As winter progresses, long after its foliage has been shed, the tree loses most of the moisture in its trunk and must rely more than ever on the sap stored in its roots. In this spirit, Soundological would like to share with you a healthy helping of the musical equivalent of sap from said roots and the wellspring from which the branches of most musical traditions featured on this blog -- Blues, Jazz, Soul, Gospel, R&B, Funk, Rock & Roll, Hip Hop, etc. -- have extended themselves.
Long OOP, this CD fetches a high price (a new copy can go for upwards of $70) and is valuable not only for its pristine presentation of remastered material from the Library of Congress (that's why these recordings fall under the public domain) but for the reverent and revelatory booklet that provides enlightening reading regardless of the degree of familiarity one may have with the religious and cultural diaspora from Mother Africa. One might say this collection is essential for both its text and context, so if you were not fortunate enough to find it a decade ago it's highly recommended you take advantage now.
The 24 tracks featured on this compilation are aural snapshots of Haitian Vodoun, Cuban Santeria, Trinidadian Shango, and Brazilian Candomble religious ceremonies. They were originally recorded between the late '30s and the mid-'50s by such notable ethnologists as Laura Boulton, Melville Herskovits, and Lydia Cabrera. Culturally speaking, these recordings highlight African diasporic religions that originated with the Yoruba and Dahomean peoples and were brought to the New World with enslaved Africans. Retrieved from deep storage at the Library of Congress and digitally remastered by a team of audio experts, The Yoruba/Dahomean Collection: Orishas Across the Ocean is a powerful audio record that documents both the proud cultural legacy and sophisticated musical practices associated with Afro-Caribbean and Afro-Brazilian cultures.
Return to the roots for nourishment with SoundologicalHERE. (updated 2012-07-27)
OLATUNJI AND HIS PERCUSSION, BRASS, WOODWIND AND CHOIR Zungo! Afro Percussion 1961
256+ VBR LAME mp3 Vinyl rip & scans from Columbia CS-8434
This one's for ish, the scholar/gentleman from Ile Oxumare and blog kingpin presiding over Strata-East Fan Club, Magic Purple Sunshine, Nine Sisters and Crap Jazz Covers. He's one of the main inspirations for my entry into blogdom so, when he was generously sharing anecdotes on Chief Bey in the comments of the Guy Warren post and it came to light he was unfamiliar with the second outing by legendary percussionist Olatunji Babatunde, I immediately felt obliged (rather than "obligated") to post this long OOP piece of afrojazz history.
Originally released by Columbia in 1961, they reissued it only once more in 1973 (as ACS-8434). It looks like most of the tracks have appeared on compilations over the years but a lot of those are budget and fly-by-night labels or else borderline bootlegs. When it comes to the album itself, it's fairly easy to find affordable copies ($15-$20 or less) of both the '61 and '73 printings in good condition online. This particular one's been in my possession for plenty years but I've taken pretty good care of it (i.e., rarely played it out) so it's fairly free of snaps, crackles 'n' pops, except for some unavoidable noise near the end of the last track (i.e., the tune that was played out on those rare occasions it found its way into my bag). If you need to brush up on the bio of Babatunde then I suggest starting with his wiki page, AllAboutJazz and a more-informative-than-usual piece on Answers.com since they also offer multiple links for further reading. There's also a good post over at the excellent The Basement Rug blog with Drums of Passion and a couple other Olatunji LPs.
Although there's some nice, powerful drumming on here, the overall feel of this album may seem a bit top-heavy and monochromatic... It's that "...his percussion, brass, woodwinds, and choir" subheader on the album jacket that'll tip you off. Olatunji and his Nigerian percussion ensemble plays host to a cast of thousands that includes jazzmen such as Ray Barretto, Yusef Lateef and Clark Terry -- great players all, though their contributions are largely buried in the mix. Not a bad album, by any means, though is doesn't quite match the intensity of the earlier Drums Of Passion album. Worth checking out, though... it's very mellow, meditative, easy on the ears and entrancing.
One of Olatunji's best LPs, and a record that breaks out of his usual straight hard percussion stuff by adding some jazz players like Yusef Lateef, Clark Terry, and George Duvivier. There's also some singers augmenting the ensemble, but they drop out in parts, and the percussion and jazz take over. Olatunji's joined by Ray Barretto and Montego Joe on congas, and the whole thing grooves like one of Art Blakey's jazz/percussion experiments. 7 tracks: "Masque Dance", "Zungo", "Ajua", "Esum Buku Wa-Ya", "Gelewenwe", "Jolly Mensah" and "Philistine".
Babatunde Olatunji - Vocals, Drums [African] Yusef Lateef - Winds Clark Terry - Trumpet Edward Bailey - Trumpet James Nottingham - Trumpet George Duvivier - Bass Will Lee - Bass Al Schackman - Guitar Rudy Collins - Drums [Trap] Beans Whitley - Drums [African] James "Chief" Bey - Drums [African] Montigo Joe - Drums [African] Taiwo Duval - Drums [African] Ray Barretto - Congas, Timbales
CHOIR: Adele Potter Adunni Pearson Afuavi Derby Aquasiba Derby Babalola Jones Chinyelu Ajuluchuku Christine Chapman Oyinka Parker Ernie Truesdale Helena Walquer Mario Timmons Melvin Edwards Popoola Moore
MANU DIBANGO Manu Dibango 1971-1978 (aka Collection Blanche) 1979
256+ VBR LAME mp3 Vinyl rip & scans from Festival ALB 365
If you've already grabbed all the available releases from Dibango's discography post at Soundological, this collection still holds five exclusive treats for you: "Rencontre," "Soukouss," "Besoka On Salsa," "Biso" and "Idiba." None of them appear on any of the albums linked in that discog and since it is the single most-visited post at S.I., offering it here seemed a pretty simple way to make at least a few folks happy! Hopefully it also helps E-mile on his (relatively) new mix series, Africa Calling. If you like music from the mother continent, check out all four volumes!
Of most interest to Dibango fans are the rare tracks "Biso" and "Idiba" which have not made other compilations and are otherwise only available on the 1971 album Soma Loba or the Festival repressing of that LP from the same year, simply called Manu Dibango. As such, they pre-date the afrobeat direction and are more along the lines of the rhumba/souk sound popular in the region during the late 60s and early 70s.
Some of the other rarities not appearing on the discog post include "Rencontre" and "Soukouss," both from the Accord collection Soul Makossa released in 1985. The latter (along with "Besoka On Salsa") are otherwise only available on b-sides of singles or, appropriately enough, on the 2002 collection B-Sides, released by Dibango's own Soul Makossa records.
1 Soul Makossa 2 Kata Kata 3 Rencontre 4 Soukouss 5 Besoka On Salsa 6 Touba 7 Hibicus 8 Biso 9 Idiba 10 Wasa N'dolo 11 Nights In Zeralda 12 Oa Na Mba 13 Lakisane 14 Wild Man In The City
Soundological's Manu mission continues with part I HERE or HERE and part II HERE or HERE.
MANU DIBANGO Super Kumba 1974 256+ VBR LAME mp3 Vinyl rip & scans from Fiesta 360 052
Kata Kata
Being one of the biggest figures in African music (not to mention jazz in general) and a globally-recognised personality whose popularity crosses linguistic and cultural barriers, there are bazillions of resources for biographical info on the man. His site and his autobiography, Three Kinds of Coffee, are likely the best places to get the real lowdown on his life but typing his name into the Google will also keep you busy with hours of reading - the man has done a lot in his 74 years (75 on February 10th) so there's plenty to catch up on.
What is lacking on teh internets is a straight-forward comprehensive discography of his major works - as is all too often the case with artists from the "Third World" who were active during the latter part of the 20th Century. We've done our best to sort out all the conflicting info and bring order out of chaos but if you have any corrections or additions, feel free to leave the info in the comments. Most of the earlier albums on Fiesta have yet to be re-issued but Manu has taken the reins with his back catalogue and has been releasing some of this material on his own Soul Makossa label over the past few years.
1974 African Funk (2LP O Boso+Soul Makossa) 1976 The World of Manu Dibango 1978 Big Blow 1979 Manu Dibango 1971-1978 at Soundological 1980 Rasta Souvenir: Manu a La Jamaique (2LP Gone Clear+Ambassador) 1982 Autoportrait 1983 Makossa Man (2LP +Africadelic) 1992 Soul Makossa 1995 Dance with Manu Dibango 1997African Soul at My Favourite Sound + Planeta Musical + Funky Town Disco Music 70s 2000 Anthology Vol. 1, Vol.2&Vol. 3 2000 Afrosouljazz from the Makossa Man 2000 Manu Safari 2002 B-Sides (+ Fiesta Remixes) 2003 Africadelic: The Best Of 2004 The Rough Guide to Manu Dibango at Toulaki 2004 Long Box (3CD) 2006 Collection Legende 2006 Essential Recordings (2CD) 2006 La Jamaique (Gone Clear+Ambassador w/o "Reggae Makossa"+"Ça Va Chouia") 2007 AfricaVision Vol 3: Le Cinéma du Manu Dibango 2007 20th Century Masters 2008 African Woodoo (Unreleased 1971-75) c/o Soundological
Just tryin' to put back into the music blogosphere by fillin' in any blanks I can with out-of-print vinyl as well as the occasional mix, remix, re-edit, art or rant. But mostly vinyl. Mostly.
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