There has been a perceivable spike in African music reissues over the last few years with scores of titles hitting the market from funk, jazz, soul, along with genres as rare as afro-psych being found amongst the swarm. Some grumbling about this has emerged from many corners of the globe as the issue of over-saturation rears its ugly head. One can understand the frustration; it’s difficult to keep up with all the great African music being released, which is to say nothing of the formidable task of separating the wheat from the chaff. However, as far as this writer is concerned, all this fine music being loosed upon the public is no cause for discontent. I would instead suggest on spending this summer absorbing some of these fine releases, minus the fussy urgency. If you are the type of muso who wants an in-depth handle on the history, along with the relevant compilations and albums that are floating around before you dip into the veritable sea of reissues, I cannot recommend this piece by Joe Tangari enough. He dissects the narratives that have brought to light all these exquisite pieces of music with a list of the cardinal releases and labels to be on the look out for.
In the midst of all this African harvest, there has been one man who has really elevated the task of burrowing into the mines of the African diaspora to a whole other level. His name is Frank Gossner of Voodoofunk.com and he left Germany on a hunt into the villages of Africa for a trip that ended up spanning 3 years and yielding musical treasures that have defied even the most veteran of record speculators. He has been given shout outs from sources as disparate as NPR and National Geographic to the Beastie Boys. The mixes on his website are a blend of first-rate African funk, jazz, soul and rock music that were culled from his travels.
The one genre that seemed to be missing from the body of all this sonic cache was disco. That there has been an imitation of the African disco sound via many modern house and disco producers is no doubt true, but what has been a real rarity is authentic disco music originating from Africa. That is until Mr. Gossner put together the most recent compilation now being released on Academy Records. As their press release states:
“Lagos by the 1970s was a huge metropolitan city. Due to the oil boom, there was money to be made with music and nightlife and big international record labels like EMI, Decca and Philips had set up their recording studios that for a big part got equipped with vintage hardware handed down from their European franchises. So as the sound of the late 70s and early 80s in Europe and in the US got more and more modern and from today’s point of view just plain shitty, overloaded with ugly sounding Roland keyboards, the sound of Lagos was dominated by powerful horn sections, heavy drums and percussion instruments. There’s plenty of early Moog synthesizers but no synth-generated strings or fake horns.”
You can purchase the compilation here.
A video that chronicles Frank’s travels through Africa along with an introduction to the genesis of Lagos Disco Inferno.
Listen to Geraldo Pino’s “African Hustle”:
A2 -- Geraldo Pino -- African Hustle
With some background:
“Geraldo Pino was a key figure in the Nigerian music scene. Originally from Sierra Leone, he had spent time in Ghana during the late 1960s and came to Lagos in the early 1970s with a unique brand of Funky African Soul that immediately set the city on fire. Even Fela Kuti credits Geraldo Pino for having been a major influence for himself as well as for the entire scene. Geraldo Pino is featured here with his 1978 dance-floor bomb ‘African Hustle.’”
sheer badassness