The Hygrades, The Funkees & Wrinkar experience : A Selection of Afro Rock & Funky 7 Inches from Nigeria

Hi everyone !

As promised, here comes a little summer selection of 10 funky / afro rock tracks taken from some seven inches of my personal collection.

These 7', from famous Nigerian bands, were issued at the time on the Nigerian division of the well known English label EMI / HMV (remember the deaf dog ?) and are really hard to lay hands on, specially in this condition.

Armand de Preseau - A selection of Afro Rock & Funky Nigerian 7 inches

You can download this mix here (as always, right clic, save as or download), and listen to it near the beach or the pool, drinking a fruit cocktail.

(due to an imminent travel from the rainy Paris to the Southern France, i didn't have the time to clean some of the records before recording the selection, so sorry for the dusty quality of some tracks !).

Tracklist :

1 - The Hygrades : In The Jungle (Vocal)
2 - The Funkees : Breaktrough
3 - Dan Satch & His Atomic Dance of Aba : Je nr'okan
4 - The Apostles : Your Bussiness
5 - The Ceejebs - Life In Cannan
6 - Founders 15 - Amen
7 - Danie Ian & His Spades : New Day
8 - Wrinkar Experience - I am a natural Man
9 - Mono Mono : Wake Up the Ded Onez
10 - Wrinkar Experience - Soundway

See you soon dear readers !

With love from the Southern France,

Armand

Egypt : A Holliday Souvenir (feat Salah Ragab)

Hi dear readers !

For this new article, I decided to present to you a very nice Egyptian compilation from various artists : Egypt - a holliday souvenir.

This record pressed in Greece and issued in the 1970's on the EMI label was offered to tourists visiting the mystic country of Egypt.

All the tracks on this LP are winners, and it contains one astonishing tune, "Amber of the Nile", from Salah Ragab (or Rageb), an Egyptian Jazz Player.

This tune is actually a different version of his well known track, "Egypt Strut", that exists only on this compilation (and that is faaar better according to me), a mixture of Funk, Jazz and Oriental Groove.

Salah Ragab - Amber of the Nile

Here are some pictures on the inside parts of the gatefold cover, that show several famous historical places around the Nile to be visited by tourists.

As a tip, another track (the last one) taken from this record by Karim Shukry, an Egyptian crooner (my favourite song of the LP !)

Karim Shukry - Take me Back to Cairo

Enjoy !

Ali Farka Toure - Le Jeune Chansonnier du Mali

Hi there !

I presented last week a great Malian band, L'Orchestre Rail Band du Buffet Hotel de la Gare de Bamako, and I decided for this week to stay a little bit more in this beautiful country with another greeeat artist, Ali Toure "Farka".

Father of the "Desert Blues" genre, Ali Farka Touré was a very well known Malian artist (considered as one of the greatest African guitar player ever), who recorded many albums during his life (his last from 2005, "In the Heart of the Moon", recorded with Toumani Diabate won a Grammy award) and who collaborated with many national & international artists.

Ali Farka Touré died in 2006 in Bamako at the age of 67.

The track presented here, Manakoide, is taken from one of his first albums (my personnal favourite), out on the famous Sonafric label in 1976.

Ali "Farka" Touré - Manakoide

Remember John Lee Hooker : ) ? 

Enjoy !

Armand

Orchestre Rail Band du Buffet Hotel de La Gare de Bamako

Picture artwork by my friend Faud from Les Mains Noires

Hi dear readers !

Today, I decided to make you (re)discover one of the great African Orchestra, from the Mystical country of Mali : L'Orchestre Rail Band du Buffet Hotel de la Gare de Bamako, also nicknamed Le Rail Band.

State-sponsored by the national railroad Malian Company (it explains the name of the band), Le Rail Band was the most powerful Malian orchestra, that released more than ten LP's and many 7' from the 70's to the late 80's.

The Rail Band's leader was the great Tidiani Koné, an outstanding musician who was also a griot (a kind of religious leader/ influent personality), who decided to give his chance at this time to a young albino singer, Salif Keita, that would become world famous in the future.

The track presented here, Mouo Dilo, was released on a 7' on the Nigerian division of EMI, and produced by the Nigerian government for the republic of Mali (release date unknown, 1971 I estimate)

Orchestre Rail Band - Mouo Dilo

This track, one of the first tracks of Le Rail Band  (this is maybe the first 7' of the Band !) was re-recorded a few years later in a slightly different version under the name of Moko Jolo, for the second LP of the Band out in 1973 (my favourite one), a great mixture of Funk, Griot Music, Mandingo and Bambara Folklore, narrated by Salif Keita's diamond voice.

Orchestre Rail Band du Buffet de la Gare de Bamako - Moko Jolo

To Finish, as a bonus, another track taken from this great record, Bajala Malé (also called Badialan Mallet), an hypnotic quiet ballad - enjoy !

Orchestre Rail Band du Buffet de la Gare de Bamako - Bajala Malé

This article is dedicated to people of Mali, in reaction against what is happening right now in Tombouctou (Timbuktu), the destruction of holy malian sanctuaries and ancien tombs by the "holy army of Al Qaeda"