Amazing music from Mali – quite different than most other albums we've heard from that scene in the 70s – with wonderful reed work that really lives up to the "jazz" in the group's name! The sound is bold and righteous, but with an other-worldly vibe too – a really haunting quality that grabs us like some of the most evocative Ethiopian sounds of the 70s! At some level, there's definitely a Mali touch going on in the music – some very tripped-out elements in the production, and a way of wrapping things together with an undercurrent of melancholy. Yet there's also a really unique feel to the record too – a sense of complication that moves way beyond the obvious, while still managing to groove in the process – albeit with kind of a droning quality. Titles include "Wale", "Apolo", "Leli", "Teiduma", and "Dina Waliji". CD

Seminal sounds from the Nigerian scene at the start of the 70s – music from the key figure of Celestine Ukwu, an artist who helped to reinvigorate the highlife style of years past, and pave the way for Afro Funk changes in years to come! Celestine's sound is nice and lean here – very rhythmic, with the guitar wrapped around the percussion and basslines in beautifully snakey action – while the vocals also have a quality that's maybe more personal than before – at points almost the raspy intimacy we love in some Brazilian singers! The package brings together work from three different albums from the early 70s – all long tracks that include "Tomorrow Is So Uncertain", "Onwunwa", "Ejina Uwa Nya Isi", "Ilo Abu Chi", and "Okwukuwe Na Ncheckwube". LP, Vinyl record album