Global Grooves — Recently Added

A really cool take on traditions of Guadeloupean musical traditions – served up in a style that echoes some of the blends of jazz and island elements from earlier generations! The group here is a trio – with the great Edmondy Krater on ka, djembe, and percussion – all instruments ... LP, Vinyl record album

It's a strange thing to see Hugh Masekela sitting on a horse, out in a field – and the cover hardly gets at the energy that's going on inside – since the album features a full, funky live performance from the famous trumpeter – at a time when his group included piano and keyboards ... LP, Vinyl record album

Sweet boogie groovers from the early 80s Nigerian scene – heavy on warm vocals from Victor Essody and riffing guitar from Claude Dibson – but also warmed up with plenty of basslines and keyboards too! The sound is pretty spare and tight – electro soul, maybe filtered through a ... LP, Vinyl record album

South African soul from Caiphus Semenya – and a set that's got a nicely righteous, upbeat vibe throughout! Caiphus works here in that best sort of South African style in the decade when the nation's struggles were getting a lot more global attention – showing a spirit that refuses to ... LP, Vinyl record album

A sweet little record from Caiphus Semenya – a South African singer, but one who works here with backings from some top-shelf studio talents in LA – a mix of jazz and fusion players who really bring a great sense of groove to the material! Tracks include two originals co-written with ... LP, Vinyl record album

An unusual album from the West African scene of the 70s – a set that brings together that area's styles with touches of reggae and maybe a slight current of soul – all of which makes for a very distinct approach to rhythm, which is also echoed in the vocals and instrumentation! There's ... LP, Vinyl record album

That's a pretty groovy looking keyboard on the cover – and the record's got a pretty groovy sound as well – very different than other organ records or Mid-East instrumental titles of the time, thanks in part to some very dexterous work on the multi-level keys from Omar El Shariyi! The ... LP, Vinyl record album

A great return to form for Orchestra Baobab – a group who really shone on the Senegalese scene in the 70s, but disbanded right as they were hitting global fame – eventually reuniting around the time of this album, thanks to demand from listeners around the world! The style is nicely ... LP, Vinyl record album

You might know Ze Manel as a member of Super Mama Djombo – but here, he comes across on a set of tracks that are even more personal, yet still highly rhythmic overall! There's a criss-crossing of elements in the tunes that's really great – lots of back/forth rhythms, sewn together by ... LP, Vinyl record album

A nice mix of older highlife modes with some of the more electric touches of the 80s – still produced with a nice lean vibe overall, and plenty of live energy that leaps between the riffing guitar, percussion, and horns – all augmented by these nicely quirky lines on keyboards! The ... LP, Vinyl record album

A sweet Soweto group from the start of the 80s – one who have a nice current of funk in their mix, but who also serve up some well-crafted solos on both guitar and flute! The vocals are often warmly in that more familiar South African style of the period – but the record's nicely ... LP, Vinyl record album

Soar through the skies on this sweet collection of rare African funk – the sixth volume in a series that seems to get better and better with each new release! Most of the cuts here are heavy on styles that resonate with the American scene of the late 70s – particularly the large ... LP, Vinyl record album

A great collection of tracks – and one of the first chances for most of us to hear the funkier side of sounds from Peru! The work isn't as full-on funky as Brazilian grooves from the time, but does share a very strong influence from American styles – and really goes way past any ... LP, Vinyl record album

We've had some great trips on Africa Airways in recent years – and this sweet fourth set proves once again that the fun lies in the journey, not the destination! As before, the cuts here share a lot more with American funk than you might think – especially the tight late 70s style with ... LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible collection of work by one of the greatest Afro Funk groups of the 70s! From their inception as the AACM-styled jazz group Juju in the early 70s, to their key days in the DC Black Fire scene of the mid 70s, to their early 80s fame as club groovers, Oneness of Juju were one of the most ... CD

A really cool idea for a record – one that first features unreleased tracks recorded in Kinshasa in 1978, on a special bonus CD – then adds in vinyl versions of reworks of the original recordings done for the project! The originals are fantastic – very percussive and melodic at ... LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic collection of sounds from the Nigerian scene at the end of the 60s – music in the apala mode, a highly rhythmic blend of percussion, voices, and thumb piano – served up with a style that's a lot grittier than some of the more commercial music of the time! These tracks are ... CD

A fantastic collection of lesser-known gems from the 70s scene in Nigeria – music that's a great counterpart to better-remembered Afro Funk and soul from international giants like Fela Kuti and King Sunny Ade! This set digs deep, and is a nicelly expanded version of a set that Soul Jazz ... CD

One of the funkiest combos we've heard from the African scene of the 70s – and that's saying a lot, given how much great music was going on at the time! These guys really know how to lean into a long song, and open it up with incredible instrumental sharpness – a way of coming together ... LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic project, and one whose sound is even better than we can sum up in words – as the core group features players from Berlin, inspired by older African sounds – turning to work from the 70s Mali scene, and teaming up with some of its musical giants – but all in a way that's ... CD

An incredible collection of work by one of the greatest Afro Funk groups of the 70s! From their inception as the AACM-styled jazz group Juju in the early 70s, to their key days in the DC Black Fire scene of the mid 70s, to their early 80s fame as club groovers, Oneness of Juju were one of the most ... CD

Malawian Madalitso are more of a duo than a band – Yobi Maligwa on babatoni and lead vocals, and Yosefe Kalenkeni on guitar and percussion – both working together with a beautiful sense of tightness and melody! The mix of stringed instruments is great – pulsating with an inherent ... LP, Vinyl record album

Groundbreaking guitar work from Mike Hanapi – one of the important early guitarists in the Hawaiian slide mode – from a generation that had a huge impact on blues and country music to come! Mike's style here isn't the cheesy 60s Hawaiian modes of the Don Ho generation – and ... LP, Vinyl record album

Mindblowing work from a revolutionary artist – one of the coolest cats on the Ethiopian scene of the 70s – and a singer who could effortlessly blend together American funk with East African elements! The music here definitely echoes some of the Ethio modes of some of Ayalew Mesfin's ... CD

Rare singles and unreleased tracks from one of the funkiest artists on the 70s scene in Ethiopia – the amazing Ayalew Mesfin – a fantastic talent with a groove that's dying to be heard! Mesfin's music has maybe even more of James Brown groove than some of his funky contemporaries ... CD

Two rare albums from Uncle Victor Chukwu – a hell of a guitarist, and the driving force behind both of these Nigerian gems from the late 70s! Akalaka is a record that's maybe higlife in outward appearance, but which has a very different quality overall – in part because the guitar work ... CD

Catchy, clubby grooves from the team of Zack Roberts and Gebah Swary – a Liberian duo who issued this very catchy record at the start of the 80s! The pair have an 80s look on the cover, and definitely bring that into their music too – with early electro touches used in very spare ways, ... LP, Vinyl record album

A really well-crafted set of funk from the legendary Gyedu-Blay Ambolley – maybe best known for his material in the mid 70s, but sounding equally wonderful here on an album from the start of the 80s! The sound is sharper and more sophisticated than before – recorded in London, with a ... LP, Vinyl record album

Astonishing work from Alexis Zoumbas – a Greek musician from the early days of the 78rpm recording, and one who plays violin with the dexterity of Paganini, but in ways that are much more rootsy and fokloric overall! Zoumbas' classic 78s have recently gotten new attention on an excellent ... LP, Vinyl record album

A landmark of 70s Afro-styled jazz – and the first album by this famous underground collective! Oneness of Juju were a Washington DC-based group that grew out of the ashes of the Juju avant jazz ensemble – formed in the culturally rich African-American community of DC in the 70s, with ... LP, Vinyl record album