Early 70s ensemble funk from Mugo – a DC group made up of students from McKinley Tech High School – combining tightly energetic, fairly sprawling instrumentation and soulful vocals – a number of unreleased tracks from the sessions that also produced their rare 70s single, newly mixed by Kenny Dope for the Kay Dee label! The school band vibe really kind of comes into play via the uncommon mix of instruments, and that works really, really well – B-3, Rhodes and Korg synthesizer provide for some spacier touches, while flute and piano also find room in the group's sound alongside the funky drums, guitar and bass – with feverish vocals and some killer instrumental passages. The performances are inventively strong, too – it doesn't sound like a bunch a kids, that's for sure! We we flipped over the single Kay Dee put out of the group, and we're all the more ecstatic over the great LP! Includes "Change", "Organized (Kenny Dope Edit)", "Space Traveler", "I Love Music", "How Time Fly's", "All About Love", "Love Has Gone", "Sing A Song" and "Water". CD

Classic work from Stella Chiweshe – a set that gave mbira player Stella Chiweshe much wider exposure than some of her previous records, and a nicely bold sound to match! Stella sings lead vocals, and handles her instrument with amazing dexterity – and also uses a few other percussion instruments too – alongside addition mbira, two marimbas, bass, and drums – almost always moving at a nicely rhythmic clip that really pushes the music forward! The album's never too overproduced – still nicely shy of some of the crossover modes of the growing world music generation – but it does have a fuller quality than some of Chiweshe's earliest music, in part because she's an even more powerful vocalist. Titles include "Njuzu", "Chachimurenga", "Kassahwa", "Sarura Wako", "Chipindura", and "Mugomba". CD also features four bonus tracks from a John Peel session in 1988! CD

Classic work from Stella Chiweshe – a set that gave mbira player Stella Chiweshe much wider exposure than some of her previous records, and a nicely bold sound to match! Stella sings lead vocals, and handles her instrument with amazing dexterity – and also uses a few other percussion instruments too – alongside addition mbira, two marimbas, bass, and drums – almost always moving at a nicely rhythmic clip that really pushes the music forward! The album's never too overproduced – still nicely shy of some of the crossover modes of the growing world music generation – but it does have a fuller quality than some of Chiweshe's earliest music, in part because she's an even more powerful vocalist. Titles include "Njuzu", "Chachimurenga", "Kassahwa", "Sarura Wako", "Chipindura", and "Mugomba". LP, Vinyl record album

Classic work from Stella Chiweshe – a set that gave mbira player Stella Chiweshe much wider exposure than some of her previous records, and a nicely bold sound to match! Stella sings lead vocals, and handles her instrument with amazing dexterity – and also uses a few other percussion instruments too – alongside addition mbira, two marimbas, bass, and drums – almost always moving at a nicely rhythmic clip that really pushes the music forward! The album's never too overproduced – still nicely shy of some of the crossover modes of the growing world music generation – but it does have a fuller quality than some of Chiweshe's earliest music, in part because she's an even more powerful vocalist. Titles include "Njuzu", "Chachimurenga", "Kassahwa", "Sarura Wako", "Chipindura", and "Mugomba". CD also features four bonus tracks from a John Peel session in 1988! CD