A classic session of pounding percussion – quite possibly the most successful entry into this earthy genre that hit the recording scene at the end of the 50s! Babatunde Olatunji is joined here by a great assemblage of players – including Montego Joe and Baba Hawthorne Bey on percussion, who further flesh out the rumbling, rhythmic groove at the bottom. There's also a group of vocalists on the record, soaring over the top of the percussion with a nicely righteous feel – and the record's a key crossover moment that heralds later African expressions in the American mainstream. Titles include "Odun De Odun De", "Oya", "Jin Go Lo Ba", "Baba Jinde", and "Shango". CD

A classic session of pounding percussion – quite possibly the most successful entry into this earthy genre that hit the recording scene at the end of the 50s! Babatunde Olatunji is joined here by a great assemblage of players – including Montego Joe and Baba Hawthorne Bey on percussion, who further flesh out the rumbling, rhythmic groove at the bottom. There's also a group of vocalists on the record, soaring over the top of the percussion with a nicely righteous feel – and the record's a key crossover moment that heralds later African expressions in the American mainstream. Titles include "Odun De Odun De", "Oya", "Jin Go Lo Ba", "Baba Jinde", and "Shango". LP, Vinyl record album

A killer album of Afro Funky tracks, and certainly one of Olatunji's best! The record was recorded in the early 70s, and it features Olatunji breaking past his usual heavy blend of African percussion, into a vein that's a lot more tinged with jazz and soul touches. He gets some great help on the session from Joe Henderson and Reggie Lucas, who jazz things up a bit – and the record's filled with nice long funky tracks like "Masai", "O Wa", and "Dominira", plus a funky cover of the title track! LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing package – two full albums of work from Olatunji, plus bonus tracks, notes, and vintage photos! The original Drums Of Passion is a classic session of pounding percussion – quite possibly the most successful entry into this earthy genre that hit the recording scene at the end of the 50s! Babatuned Olatunji is joined here by a great assemblage of players – including Montego Joe and Baba Hawthorne Bey on percussion, who further flesh out the rumbling, rhythmic groove at the bottom. There's also a group of vocalists on the record, soaring over the top of the percussion with a nicely righteous feel – and the record's a key crossover moment that heralds later African expressions in the American mainstream. Titles include "Odun De Odun De", "Oya", "Jin Go Lo Ba", "Baba Jinde", and "Shango". Bonus cuts include "Eyo She She", "Menu Diyeh (remake)", "Jolly Mensah (new version)", and "Menu Di Ye Jewe". On More Drums Of Passion, Babatunde Olatunji goes even more drum-crazy than before – working here with no less than nine percussionists, plus a host of singers as well! The tunes have a very rootsy groove throughout – instrumentation that only comes from the rhythm instruments, some of which are pointed towards melody – and a setting that features none of the added strings or horns you might get from a jazz or exotica-styled session of this nature – just drums and voices, presented by Columbia Records in a really groundbreaking blend! Titles include "Wasalu", "Ayinde", "Frekoba", "Alose", and "Omo Pup". Bonus tracks include "African Waltz", "Hail The King", and "Saturday Night Limbo". 2CD set also comes with a huge booklet of notes and vintage photos! CD

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A classic session of pounding percussion – quite possibly the most successful entry into this earthy genre that hit the recording scene at the end of the 50s! Babatuned Olatunji is joined here by a great assemblage of players – including Montego Joe and Baba Hawthorne Bey on percussion, who further flesh out the rumbling, rhythmic groove at the bottom. There's also a group of vocalists on the record, soaring over the top of the percussion with a nicely righteous feel – and the record's a key crossover moment that heralds later African expressions in the American mainstream. Titles include "Odun De Odun De", "Oya", "Jin Go Lo Ba", "Baba Jinde", and "Shango". CD features a bonus track – "Menu Di Ye Jewe". CD

Incredible work by Randy Weston – light years ahead of his trio material from just a few years before! The album is one of his most progressive from the early years, and features an extended suite dedicated to the newly-won freedoms of the African Nations – with occasional lyrics by Langston Hughes, and arrangements by the great Melba Liston! The material's political, radical, and modernist – but it never fails to groove, and uses its politics to achieve an added emotional punch, as in the best work from the same time by Max Roach and Charles Mingus – and some of their larger progressive projects. The group is much larger than you'd expect from Randy – with Benny Bailey and Richard Williams on trumpets, Slide Hampton on trombone, Sahib Shihab on reeds, and Candido and Olatunji on percussion – which really dominates the record. The whole thing is amazing – one of the purest realizations of the African influence in Weston's music – and movements of the suite are entitled "Uhuru Kwanza", "African Lady", "Bantu", and "Kucheza Blues" (Jazz, Global Grooves) CD