One of the most compelling Fela albums of the 70s – and one that's got a very different feel than some of his others. The album features one long track – "Coffin For Head Of State" – and although the track still has the usual Fela staples of horn riffs, chopping vamps, and electric piano – it's also got a sad dirge-like sound that is incredibly soulful, and filled with sorrowful emotion that you don't normally catch on Fela's albums. Side two is especially great – as it's mostly instrumental, and features some great interplay between a spacey electric piano and the horn section. LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing album-length jam from Fela Kuti & Afrika 70 – recorded on the group's home turf at Kalakuta, and with this stretched-out building of energy that's completely amazing! James Brown may have created the longform funky style of vamping and soloing – but Fela takes it here to the next level, and adds in a fantastic political message too – all with this sound that's extremely powerful, but with an intimate feel too – thanks to the crowd noises around the space of the recording! LP, Vinyl record album

A killer from the classic years, and one of Fela's best albums! "No Agreement" is a super great groover – with a catchy hook that goes on and on, and some very tasty playing by Tony Allen and the group. The track is long, with heavy solos, and vocals that will knock you out! Lester Bowie guests on the track, and Fela's on piano, tenor, and alto. Also includes the cut "Dog Eat Dog", which is a slammin instrumental, with a very tasty groove! LP, Vinyl record album

A searing live set from Fela Kuti & Afrika 70 – a long album-length jam, recorded in Berlin – with the group really going to town in instrumental frenzy topped with very righteous lyrics! VIP doesn't have the usual meaning here – as it stands for "vagabonds in power", and is a searing attack on the Nigerian government at the time – one that has plenty of power from a lyrical perspective, but which really soars to the heavens as Fela and the group stretch the whole thing out over riffing guitar, driving percussion, and some incredible horn solos too! LP, Vinyl record album

Two albums on one CD – and they both have killer long tracks that are released here in their entirey, without the cutting up that you'd get if they were split out over both sides of an album. "V.I.P." stands for "Vagabonds In Power", and the track was recorded live by Fela before a very enthusiastic audience in Berlin. It's great to hear him working in this live setting, and the track starts with a nice spoken introduction before leaping into a guitar-based groove. "Authority Stealing" is another long one, with the band's usual vamping and off-kilter horn section, and some amazing spacey electric piano solos that sound as if they might have been laid down by Sun Ra! Remastered, and very nicely packaged! CD

A really killer 70s album from Fela Kuti – one that serves up a hell of a message, and some great slinky grooves too! "Yellow Fever" is a brutal attack on miscegenation, backed by a funky groove that makes the whole thing fall into place with an amazing riffing sound – bold, powerful, and Afrika 70 at their best! "Na Poi 75" begins with a cool spoken bit – then moves into this pulsating keyboard part which is almost eerily spare, until the rest of Afrika 70 come into the mix and really funk things up! Drums are wonderfully skittish – kind of double-snapping, while the bassline dips nicely below – and the tune ebbs and flows in this really great way. LP, Vinyl record album

A real classic from the great Fela Kuti – a seminal mid 70s record that not only shows his impeccable sense of rhythm, but also his sense of rage as well! The title track – "Expensive Sh_t" – is Fela's answer to the time that he got busted for dope, and was forced to take a dump for the cops in order to "produce the goods" (which he had cleverly hidden in his stomach). The track has a great choppy funk groove, and is filled with the kind of raw anger you can imagine that the subject matter would produce – rich emotion that not only comes out in the lyrics, but also the sharp instrumental solos! The other track on the album – "Water No Get Enemy" – is another fantastic one, with cool electric piano solos, great tenor work, and a slinkily vamping groove. LP, Vinyl record album

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

Saxophonist Bukky Leo grew up in Lagos, but has given his talents strongly to the London scene in the past few decades – where he's really made magic in a great criss-crossing of jazz with his Nigerian roots! Part of Bukky's long legacy is an annual tribute to Fela Kuti – and this set captures one of those performances in all its glory – a searing batch of long takes on original Fela tunes, spun out with a horn-heavy group, in a long-jamming style that replicates the best side-long takes of the Africa 70 group. Bukky blows tenor and vocalizes a bit, but the main focus is instrumental – on titles that include "Follow Follow", "Sorrow Tears & Blood", and "Confusion". LP, Vinyl record album

As with other Africa 70 releases, 2 side long afro jams, with a strong pulsing groove percolating throughout. The set's got amazing keyboards, with this strange other-worldly sound that makes it feel like Sun Ra has suddenly joined the group, and the arrangements are nice and tight, in spite of the fact that they're a bit more sophisticated than other LPs from the time. Titles include "Power Show" and "Original Sufferhead". LP, Vinyl record album

A brilliant mix of Afro and deep funk styles – the kind of grooves you'd get if Fela Kuti hung out with The Meters in the late 60s! Budos Band recall the genius of 90s deep funk combo The Daktaris – and have a similar love of older African rhythms touched by a newer indie funk sound – a complexity in the group's well-arranged horn parts, but a simplicity to their rhythms that makes the album cook like some of our favorite classics from years back. Sax and trumpet lines are mixed nicely with heavy percussion and a fair bit of organ at the bottom – creating a murky groove that has a bit of New Orleans in the mix, but also has most of the instruments stepping along with the rhythm – in a very cool take on the Africa 70 sound. Tracks are all instrumental, and all incredible – and the record's one of the freshest we've heard from the deep funk underground in years – a second-generation set that gets way past simple copycat funk and into its own unique groove! Titles include "Budos Theme", "Ghost Walk", "King Charles", "Eastbound", "Across The Atlantic", "Up From The South", "TIBWF", and "Monkey See Monkey Do". CD

A brilliant mix of Afro and deep funk styles – the kind of grooves you'd get if Fela Kuti hung out with The Meters in the late 60s! Budos Band recall the genius of 90s deep funk combo The Daktaris – and have a similar love of older African rhythms touched by a newer indie funk sound – a complexity in the group's well-arranged horn parts, but a simplicity to their rhythms that makes the album cook like some of our favorite classics from years back. Sax and trumpet lines are mixed nicely with heavy percussion and a fair bit of organ at the bottom – creating a murky groove that has a bit of New Orleans in the mix, but also has most of the instruments stepping along with the rhythm – in a very cool take on the Africa 70 sound. Tracks are all instrumental, and all incredible – and the record's one of the freshest we've heard from the deep funk underground in years – a second-generation set that gets way past simple copycat funk and into its own unique groove! Titles include "Budos Theme", "Ghost Walk", "King Charles", "Eastbound", "Across The Atlantic", "Up From The South", "TIBWF", and "Monkey See Monkey Do". LP, Vinyl record album

Let's Have A Party, indeed – as it's hard not to celebrate when a record sounds this great! The album's a boiling batch of Afro Funk numbers from the legendary Geraldo Pino – a key influence on the sound of Fela, and an artist with a sound that's got a bit more James Brown in his groove than some of his African contemporaries! Tracks are all super-tight and madly-grooving – hitting a fast-vamping, hard-riffing style that clearly draws energy from the JB sound of the late King years – but which also has its own unique flavor, thanks to some other-worldly electric piano on most of the numbers! Lyrics are in English, and as catchy as they are political – and titles include "Heavy, Heavy, Heavy", "Let Them Talk", "Africans Must Unite", "Shake Hands", "Power To The People", and "Let's Have A Party". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the greatest grooves from the legendary Desco Records years – a brilliant album of modern Afro Funk done by The Daktaris – in a groove that's just as hard-hitting as any of Fela's work from the 70s! The album was one of the first to bring back an older African style to current funk – and even years later, it's still one of the best examples of the sound – a razor-sharp session that helped set the stage for better-known Antibalas work to come! Percussion and guitar is super-heavy throughout – produced with that bare-bones Desco style, and handled in a way that makes you think the record might be some treasure from mid 70s Nigeria – a trick the label tried to pull when it was released! Cuts include a cover of Fela's "Upside Down", James Brown's "Give It Up Or Turn It Loose", and the originals "Super Afro-Beat", "Daktari Walk", "Voodoo Soul Stew", and "Quiet Man Is A Dead Man". LP, Vinyl record album

A motherlode of music from the legendary Tunji Oyelana – a key figure in Nigerian music from the late 60s onward – with an influence that's almost as important as Fela's! Tunji's style is pretty darn funky, but different too – almost a pan-African sort of range that encompasses older styles from folklore, grooves from highlife, and the growing turn towards soul, funk, and rock that really sparked on the Nigerian scene once the 70s came around. This double-length package is a great illustration of this range – a wealth of wonderful songs, all graced by the rich vocals of Oyelana, and backed with hip grooves from The Benders – a very cool combo who really know how to change things up! Titles include "Ojo", "Which Way Africa", "To Whom It May Concern", "Jewele Jewele", "Ifa", "Fiya Jemi", "Osekere", "Aiye Nla", "Omonike", "Agba Lode (45 version)", "Aduke", and "Lenle". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the best soul collaborations ever! Fela and Roy Ayers team up for this whopping album that brings together the best sides of these monster soul talents of the 70s! In keeping with Fela's work, the tracks are long and Afro-tinged, with a complicated groove that grows over the length of the track. And in keeping with Roy's work, the album has a sweet soulful feel, with lots of nice jazzy touches, cool vibes, and great vocals by Roy. Two long tracks, both classics: "2000 Black" and "Africa, Center of the World". Long overdue! LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing record from pianist Horace Tapscott – maybe one of his most ambitious projects ever, and a set that stands head and shoulders next to his classic work for the Nimbus label! As with some of those records, this set features his large Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra – performing live at LACMA in 1998, and also augmented by a vocal choir at times – working with a sense of pride and power that's very much in the best 70s spiritual jazz mode! We honestly didn't know that Tapscott had continued the group this far into the 90s – we've only heard them on record up through the early 80s – and the lineup really represents the maturing vision of the music, with some especially great work from Tapscott on piano, Phil Ranelin on trombone, and Michael Session on soprano, alto, and tenor – plus lead vocals from the mighty Dwight Trible. Titles include "Aiee The Phantom", "Fela Fela", "Listen Africa", "Caravan", and "Why Don't You Listen". CD

A well-titled set, given the grooves it's got – a motherlode of rare Afrobeat numbers from the 60s and 70s – served up in a variety of styles that really keeps things hopping! Most tracks here are pulled from other Vampi Soul reissues – and together, they really distill a wide range of African sounds – the funkiest, grooviest styles from the best years of the scene, packaged together as one heavy duty set! There's lots of percussion, gritty guitar, and funky horns – all the sorts of sounds that have influenced the contemporary deep funk underground in recent years – and titles include "Belama" by Opotopo, "Lagos Special" by Bola Johnson, "WTFS" by Fred Fisher Atolobor, "Psychedelic Afro Shop" and "My Girl" by Orlando Julius, "Oriri Jerode" by Godwin Omobuwa, "Progress" by Tony Allen, "Okere/I Feel Alright" by Victor Olaiya, "Ajo" by Fela, and "Afro Disco Beat" by Tony Allen. 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 issued years back as a limited edition 7" single box for Record Store Day – presented here with more music, and a detailed set of notes – really getting at the special scene that was taking place in Nigeria at the time, as the nation was rising to the top of the African scene with a fantastic criss-crossing of musical modes! There's definitely plenty of the funk promised in the title, and the "rock" is usually of the funky kind with great guitar work – and a few later cuts even pick up the pace with a bit of disco, but more in the fast-funk mode, and hardly the slick stuff of the American scene. Titles include "Africans Must Unite" and "Shake Hands" by Geraldo Pino, "We'll Get Home" by The Wings, "E Ye Ika Se" by Alhagi Prof Kollington Ayinala, "Kassa Kpa Sama Kpa" by Colomach, "Beware" by MFB, "You Are The One" by Tony Grey & The Ozimba Messengers, "Single Boy" by The Wings, "Sugar Baby" by Don Bruce & The Angels", "Power To The People" by Geraldo Pino, "Igba Alusi" by Original Wings, "Dance Of The Elephants" by Sonny Okosunds Ozziddi, and "Oba Erediauwa I" by Sonny Okosuns. 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 issued years back as a limited edition 7" single box for Record Store Day – presented here with more music, and a detailed set of notes – really getting at the special scene that was taking place in Nigeria at the time, as the nation was rising to the top of the African scene with a fantastic criss-crossing of musical modes! There's definitely plenty of the funk promised in the title, and the "rock" is usually of the funky kind with great guitar work – and a few later cuts even pick up the pace with a bit of disco, but more in the fast-funk mode, and hardly the slick stuff of the American scene. Titles include "Africans Must Unite" and "Shake Hands" by Geraldo Pino, "We'll Get Home" by The Wings, "E Ye Ika Se" by Alhagi Prof Kollington Ayinala, "Kassa Kpa Sama Kpa" by Colomach, "Beware" by MFB, "You Are The One" by Tony Grey & The Ozimba Messengers, "Single Boy" by The Wings, "Sugar Baby" by Don Bruce & The Angels", "Power To The People" by Geraldo Pino, "Igba Alusi" by Original Wings, "Dance Of The Elephants" by Sonny Okosunds Ozziddi, and "Oba Erediauwa I" by Sonny Okosuns. LP, Vinyl record album

Turns out, it DOES run in the family – a great talent for Afro Funk grooves, with the same deeply soulful elements that made Fela Kuti's music so great back in the 70s! This smoker from Femi was recorded at the legendary Afrodisia studios in Lagos – with a nice degree of edge in the mix, which really helps preserve all the grit in the grooves you'd hear in classic Afro Funk from years back! There's none of the too-polished, too-contemporary sounds that might otherwise hurt the energy of the group on record – and instead, all the best bottom bits of the percussion, the snakeyness of the keyboards, and the raspiness of the horns comes through beautifully. Titles include "Dem Bobo", "Nobody Beg You", "E No Good", "No Blame Them", "Make We Remember", "Can't Buy Me", and "Bad Government". CD

A tremendous compilation of rare work by one of the hippest African groups of the 70s – the mighty Orchestra Baobab, a combo who wove together many different strands of jazz, funk, and soul! The tunes here are all live ones – recorded in the mid 70s in the group's home turf at Club Baobab, and often done in a looser, more open mode than some of their better-known sessions – a perfect setting for the complicated rhythms, snakey horn parts, and soulful vocals that emerge as the set moves on! A few tracks here get nice and funky – funkier than even we would have expected from the group – and others maintain a compellingly creative sound that really keeps things interesting, with plenty of exotic overtones and otherworldly styles! The whole thing's great – way more than just a collection of 70s Afro Funk, and a record that's nicely links up the worlds of both Fela and Mulatu through its creative interplay of sounds. CD features 13 tracks that include "Jin Ma Jin Ma", "Souleymane", "Saf Mana Dem", "Kelen Ati Leen", "Seeri Koko", "Liti Liti", "Dirarabi", "On Verra", "Cabral", "Wango", "Sey", and "Yolanda". CD

A fresh take on the African sound of the 70s – a compilation that focuses more on the club-oriented tracks of the scene, and less on the harder funkier tunes that have showed up in abundance on recent compilations. The feel here is tighter and smoother than work by Fela and some of the others of the Afro Funk era – more aimed at the dancefloors, and done with a style that borrows heavily from Philly and New York scenes of the mid 70s. There's still loads of great instrumentation on the tracks – burning in a style that owes a lot to earlier African crossover groups, and which is more of a refinement of the funk sound than a completely separate approach. The nicely-priced set was put together by Adrian Gibson of Jazz Cafe, with a keen ear towards the tunes that would make a London crowd move – and titles include "Ashewo Ara" by Kabbala, "Advice From Father" by Buari, "Get That Groove In" by Blo, "Zombie" by Ephraim Uzomechina Nzeka, "Money Is The Root Of Evil" by Dan Boadi, "The Way It Used To Be" by Pacific Express, "Afro Disco Beat" by Tony Allen, "Kaoule Woman" by Malinga Five, and "AIE (A'mwana)" by Black Blood. CD

Funky 70s Nigerian grooves from the great Segun Bucknor – African roots music with the finest, funkiest and soulful sounds this side of Fela! This is music Bucknor recorded in the early 70s upon returning to Lagos after studying at Columbia University and having been fully immersed in the sounds of soul & funk music of the late 60s, fusing those elements masterfully with native Nigerian influences. Many of the tunes are sung in English, with nods to James Brown style funk soul as well as benchmark Afrobeat, it's really wonderful stuff. Funk, Afrobeat and soul from a master at his 70s peak! Includes "Sorrow, Sorrow, Sorrow", "Poor Man No Get Brother", "Dye Dye", "Only In My Sleep", "Adanri Sogbasogba", "Baby Get Your Thing", "Love And Affection", "Son Of January 15th", "La La La (Hard Version) Pt 1", "Gbmojo", "Ayinde Ogo", "Who Say I Tire", "You Killing Me", "Adebo", "La La La (Acoustic Version)" and "That's The Time". 16 in all. CD

An obscure album of 80s grooves from the man who virtually invented African Funk! As you can guess by the date, this one's not in the harder mode of Julius' earlier sessions – but it's still got some great choppy Fela-like grooves, and instrumentation that's still quite committed to maintaining all the classic elements of the sound, especially on the horns, percussion, and guitar parts. Titles include "A Dara", "Ashiko", "Dance Afro-Beat", and "Ishe". LP, Vinyl record album

Amazing Afro Funk from one of the greatest groups of the genre – The Lafayette Afro Rock Band, a funky ensemble recording in Paris in the early 70s! The group were working in a hotbed of cross-cultural styles – and brought American funk rhythms firmly into play with African influences – creating grooves that were even heavier and harder than the work at the time by Fela Kuti, and which have stood for years as some of our favorite funk records! This album's one of their best – named after the title cut, their great take on Manu Dibango's "Soul Makossa" (done here even funkier than the original!), and featuring other great tracks, like "Voodounon", "Azeta", and "Hihache" – all of them filled with heavy bass, tight drums, and fuzzy guitar! Other cuts include "Oglenon", "MF Grayson", "Nicky" and "Right Foot". LP, Vinyl record album

The long-awaited debut of Wunmi – a vocalist who's worked with Bugz In The Attic, Louie Vega, and many others over the years – but who finally steps out here in her own full album! The record's been well worth the wait, as Wunmi's got an incredible sound here – a very unique style that we never would have guessed back when she was just dropping lyrics onto other folks' tunes – and a fresh blend of African roots, contemporary club, and influences from American soul. Most numbers have a relatively chunky groove – not really the broken beat of the London scene who've supported Wunmi, but an earthier set of rhythms that carry echoes of 70s Fela, but have a much more contemporary, complex feel overall. Lyrics have a positive, progressive feel throughout – and titles include "Greedy Body", "Illegal Alien", "ALA", "Talk Talk Talk", "Sweet Lullaby", "Message In A Bottle", "Woman Child", "Good Foot Charlie", and "Left 2 Right". CD

No charity needed here – as reedman Eji Oyewole's got a wealth of talent on his own! Eji's a musician with roots in the 60s Nigerian scene, but left to follow a personal path through Europe and the US, where he picked up some wonderfully funky styles which are then brought home to create this completely cooking late 70s album! The style's different than other big Afro Funk names of the time – like Fela Kuti or Manu Dibango – but shares a similar sense of flowing, open grooves – and Eji's ability to act strongly as both a lead vocalist, and a soaring soloist on tenor, soprano, and flute! Rhythms are damn funky at the core – with almost a blacksploitation vibe at times – and the tracks are all quite long, with most of the real "voice" coming from the saxes, which speak volumes on their solos. Titles include "Gele Odun (Oil Boom)", "Lagos Complex Highways", "Unity In Africa", and "Charity Begins At Home". CD

Amazingly rootsy work – much of it played on homemade instruments, and all recorded relatively recently by Moya Aliya Malamusi in Malawi! Despite the contemporary nature of the recordings, though, the sound is quite timeless – a spare, highly rhythmic mode that varies strongly from track to track, given the shifting instrumentation – which often includes some variant of a stringed instrument, either a hand-crafted guitar, banjo, zither, or mouthbow – as pictured on the cover – sometimes with vocals, sometimes without! Notes are great, too – very detailed, and giving a track by track rundown of the music – titles that include "Ndidzafela Chione", "Nyang'omba", "WaPhanke", "Kumbasa", "Mulamu Tiye", "Chingawale", "Khwangale Anafa", "Muntadza Mundova", and "Nantende". CD

Reputedly, this is an African funk band recorded recently by the folks at Desco Records – but as with a lot of their projects, we're not entirely sure whether or not to believe them, since they're always a bit too mysterious about the origins of their material, and this may just be some new grooves, cut by a funk band of non-African origin. Whatever the case, though, the record kicks butt, and is a very tight batch of funky instrumentals that have a classic sound that hints at Fela, Manu Dibango, and other Afro Funk artists of the 70's. There's lots of choppy guitar grooves, heavy percussion, and raw blaring sax solos. Very nice stuff, and every bit as great as the other stuff on Desco! Cuts include a cover of Fela's "Upside Down", James Brown's "Give It Up Or Turn It Loose", and the originals "Super Afro-Beat", "Daktari Walk", "Voodoo Soul Stew", and "Quiet Man Is A Dead Man". CD