Following his recent studio album ’Love And Death’, his first international release, Ghanaian highlife guitar legend Ebo Taylor gets a long overdue compilation of his seminal 1970s recordings.
‘Life Stories’ revisits the heyday of Taylor’s work, focusing on his solo albums and some of his lesser known side projects including the dynamite Apagya Show Band and short-lived Taylor-led combos Assase Ase, Super Sounds Namba and The Pelikans. The selection also touches on his writing and production work for C.K. Mann and a collaboration recording with fellow member of early ‘70s nightclub band Blue Monks, Pat Thomas. If anything, this makes my afrobeat heart tick again. A superb compilation.
Formed during the late’60s, Orchestre Poly-Rythmo soundtracked the years following Benin’s independence under Kerekou’s Leninist - Marxist regime, whipping up a groundbreaking fusion of traditional highlife, Afrobeat, soul, funk and the indigenous styles and voodoo-led traditions of their homeland. Their songs touched on all of their national languages – the mina French dialect, Fon and Yoruba – and confidently referenced a broad range of international music from James Brown to Johnny Halliday. As well as forging their own success, they were the first port of call to back many of West Africa’s greatest artists, from Gnonnas Pedro to Manu Dibango and Bembeya Jazz.
The band’s reputation began spreading to Western audiences in 2004 through a breathtaking Soundway compilation of archive classics and rarities followed by two sumptuous collections on Analog Africa. Around the same time, French radio producer Elodie Maillot (Radio France, Vibrations, Mondomix) began seeking out the original band members in Benin. After a memorable radio interview, the musicians asked her to achieve their dream - to play once in a lifetime outside of Africa.
Since then, the band has reformed, now a 10-piece featuring five original members from the very first ‘60s incarnation, two from the mid-‘70s line-up and three new members. They have played many high profile concerts, bringing the infectious Poly-Rythmo sonic melting pot to a whole new generation of fans.
Recorded in Paris and produced by Maillot, ‘Cotonou Club’ is the band’s first new album in over 20 years, a celebration of the Poly-Rythmo sound with new versions of the band’s classics and a host of new compositions. Guest appearances include African superstar Angelique Kidjo, who began her career in Poly-Rythmo’s backyard, new World Circuit signing Fatoumata Diawara and Paul Thomson and Nick McCarthy from indie favourites Franz Ferdinand.
I'm a huge fan of the band's early work, which indeed I discovered through aforementioned labels, and this album too makes for a fine listening experience. It's quality music as ever. That said: I kinda miss the humidity, rambling equipment and low cost recording atmosphere of the early days. Like reggae, afrobeat thrives on a certain sound which can only be caught on tape if the circumstances are right, so it seems. I'm not going to complain though. Although the sound and songs on this new album are too neat and clear for my taste, the story behind it is just too beautiful to dismiss this for a reason like that. Cotonou Club is a dream come true and well deserved break for the Orchestra. With many more to come, I hope. Go catch 'em on stage if they're anywhere near you.
Track List
1. MONEYMAN AND THE SUPER 5 INTERNATIONAL – LIFE
2. ALI CHUKWUMAH & HIS PEACE MAKERS INTERNATIONAL – HENRIETTA
3. BOLA JOHNSON & HIS EASY LIFE TOP BEATS – E MA S’EKA
4. DR VICTOR OLAIYA’S INTERNATIONAL ALL-STARS – KINRINGJINGBIN
5. ZEAL ONYIA & HIS MUSIC – IDEGBANI
6. ADMIRAL DELE ABIODUN & HIS TOP HITTERS INTERNATIONAL – IT’S TIME FOR JUJU MUSIC
7. EJI OYEWOLE – UNITY IN AFRICA
8. TUNDE MABADU – VIVA DISCO
9. SINA BAKARE – INU MIMO
10. SOKI OHALE’S UZZI – BISI’S BEAT
11. THE DON ISAAC EZEKIEL COMBINATION – IRE
12. ETUBOM REX WILLIAMS & HIS NIGERIAN ARTISTES – AMA MBRE EWA
13. CHIEF COMMANDER EBENEZER OBEY & HIS INTERNATIONAL BROTHERS – AJOYIO
Formed during the late’60s, Orchestre Poly-Rythmo soundtracked the years following Benin’s independence under Kerekou’s Leninist - Marxist regime, whipping up a groundbreaking fusion of traditional highlife, Afrobeat, soul, funk and the indigenous styles and voodoo-led traditions of their homeland. Their songs touched on all of their national languages – the mina French dialect, Fon and Yoruba – and confidently referenced a broad range of international music from James Brown to Johnny Halliday. As well as forging their own success, they were the first port of call to back many of West Africa’s greatest artists, from Gnonnas Pedro to Manu Dibango and Bembeya Jazz.
The band’s reputation began spreading to Western audiences in 2004 through a breathtaking Soundway compilation of archive classics and rarities followed by two sumptuous collections on Analog Africa. Around the same time, French radio producer Elodie Maillot (Radio France, Vibrations, Mondomix) began seeking out the original band members in Benin. After a memorable radio interview, the musicians asked her to achieve their dream - to play once in a lifetime outside of Africa.
Since then, the band has reformed, now a 10-piece featuring five original members from the very first ‘60s incarnation, two from the mid-‘70s line-up and three new members. They have played many high profile concerts, bringing the infectious Poly-Rythmo sonic melting pot to a whole new generation of fans.
Recorded in Paris and produced by Maillot, ‘Cotonou Club’ is the band’s first new album in over 20 years, a celebration of the Poly-Rythmo sound with new versions of the band’s classics and a host of new compositions. Guest appearances include African superstar Angelique Kidjo, who began her career in Poly-Rythmo’s backyard, new World Circuit signing Fatoumata Diawara and Paul Thomson and Nick McCarthy from indie favourites Franz Ferdinand.
I'm a huge fan of the band's early work, which indeed I discovered through aforementioned labels, and this album too makes for a fine listening experience. It's quality music as ever. That said: I kinda miss the humidity, rambling equipment and low cost recording atmosphere of the early days. Like reggae, afrobeat thrives on a certain sound which can only be caught on tape if the circumstances are right, so it seems. I'm not going to complain though. Although the sound and songs on this new album are too neat and clear for my taste, the story behind it is just too beautiful to dismiss this for a reason like that. Cotonou Club is a dream come true and well deserved break for the Orchestra. With many more to come, I hope. Go catch 'em on stage if they're anywhere near you.
And last, but definitely not least, Strut announces a new chapter in the Nigeria 70's series. It was the first release in this series that got me hooked on Nigerian afrobeat, so it is quite safe to say I'm more than looking forward to this new installment.
"Sweet Times: Afro Funk, Highlife & Juju from 1970s Lagos’ is again compiled by series curator Duncan Brooker and features extensive sleeve notes by John Collins, author of ‘West African Pop Roots’. As on the previous Nigeria 70 volumes, all of the featured selections are previously unissued outside of Nigeria. Tracks range from the dynamite big band workout of Alex Ringo’s Moneyman & The Super 5 International to the Congolese guitar-drenched ‘Henrietta’ by the late Ali Chukwumah, former member of Stephen Osita Osadebe’s Sound Makers. Darker psych grooves from Don Isaac Ezekiel sit alongside raw college funk from college band Tabanaku comprising students from the University Of Ife. Highlife legend Victor Olaiya unleashes a slow, languorous Afro jam lifted from a rare Polydor 45 and juju legend Ebenezer Obey cooks up a lilting, deeply beautiful mid-tempo groove from 1970 in a musical plea for peace.
1. MONEYMAN AND THE SUPER 5 INTERNATIONAL – LIFE
2. ALI CHUKWUMAH & HIS PEACE MAKERS INTERNATIONAL – HENRIETTA
3. BOLA JOHNSON & HIS EASY LIFE TOP BEATS – E MA S’EKA
4. DR VICTOR OLAIYA’S INTERNATIONAL ALL-STARS – KINRINGJINGBIN
5. ZEAL ONYIA & HIS MUSIC – IDEGBANI
6. ADMIRAL DELE ABIODUN & HIS TOP HITTERS INTERNATIONAL – IT’S TIME FOR JUJU MUSIC
7. EJI OYEWOLE – UNITY IN AFRICA
8. TUNDE MABADU – VIVA DISCO
9. SINA BAKARE – INU MIMO
10. SOKI OHALE’S UZZI – BISI’S BEAT
11. THE DON ISAAC EZEKIEL COMBINATION – IRE
12. ETUBOM REX WILLIAMS & HIS NIGERIAN ARTISTES – AMA MBRE EWA
13. CHIEF COMMANDER EBENEZER OBEY & HIS INTERNATIONAL BROTHERS – AJOYIO
