Lagos Jumps!

The companion set to the amazing Nigeria 70, The Definitive Story Of 1970´s Funky Lagos (see post below) has finally arrived at the For The Sake Of The Song headquarters. And man, it´s another goodie. Nigeria 70 - Lagos Jump, subtitled Original Heavyweight Afrobeat Highlife & Afro-Funk, is no match for the former, but there´s still plenty of funky stuff to enjoy here.

By way of an illustration, let´s hear it for two cool tracks from the album. Eric (Showboy) Akaeze was a singer, dancer, multi-instrumentalist and renowned Nigerian hitmaker. His ten-piece band The Royal Enricos (great name!) have these trancy highlife rhythms down pat. The lyrics show that life wasn´t always easy during the transition from colonial rule to independence: "If you leave your house, you gwan be dead...”

Eric (Showboy) Akaeze & His Royal Enricos - Wetin De Watch Goat, Goat Dey Watcham MP3

Meanwhile, Sir Shina Peters nicks the intro of Bob Marley´s I Shot The Sheriff and gets away with it gloriously. Fun song. That repetitive guitar line works wonders, while Shina´s lyrics laugh at wannabe Westerners in his country. "My mother be like European..."

Sir Shina Peters & His International Stars - Yabis MP3

Funky Lagos

If you feel attracted to the funky powers of Nigerian music other than the obvious classics of afrobeat figurehead Fela Kuti, I´ve got a recommendation for you. Nigeria 70, The Definitive Story Of 1970´s Funky Lagos on the Strut label is an exemplary two disc compilation that will surely knock you out. Diversity is the keyword here, although the continent´s trademark complex rhythms are always there. In fact, this thing is so groovy that I immediately ordered its companion set too, which is called Nigeria 70 - Lagos Jump. More on that one when the mailman comes a-knockin´.

To further wet your appetite, here´s a couple of funky highlights, Lagos stylee. Bongos Ikwue rides that fine lazy backbeat for all he´s worth. Cool organ riffs all around here. "God made a man, and a man made a woman, but the woman made the devil..." As the liner notes put it: let´s say political correctness was not on the agenda.

Bongos Ikwue - Woman Made The Devil MP3

Drummer Tony Allen was more or less the inventor of the afrobeat rhythm - supposedly one of the most difficult drumming techniques known to man - during the time he served in Fela´s band. He left Kuti in ´78 to find more musical freedom and started the Afro Messengers, a nod to Art Blakey´s Jazz Messengers. The hypnotic No Discrimination is yet another proof of the man´s special powers.

Tony Allen & His Afro Messengers - No Discrimination MP3

The quite brilliantly named Sahara All Stars Band Jos ruled the scene in the north of Nigeria. Just get into the groove and... enjoy yourself!

Sahara All Stars Band Jos - Enjoy Yourself MP3

Fela Marathon

My new blogging colleague Fil over at Star Maker Machine took on a Fela Kuti track a few days ago as part of this weeks Ghosts and Zombies Halloween theme. The song in question - the well-known Zombie of course - is a real scorcher. As he writes: "Just about any '70s Fela will do, but if you can only have one of his songs, Zombie is the one to get".

I fully agree, but it got me to thinking about other Fela tracks I cherish. And as the Nigerian legend´s afrobeat is highly addictive, I found myself hosting a total Fela marathon last night. Good fun. And at last, I settled for the following three songs. First up is the ultra-funky Eko Ile from ´73: no wonder they sometimes call Fela the African James Brown. Next comes the jazzy No Agreement (´77), featuring Art Ensemble of Chicago trumpeter Lester Bowie in fine form. And last but not least there´s the hypnotic Expensive Shit (´75).

The anecdote about the latter is too good not to relate briefly here: Nigerian cops once planted a joint on Fela, who immediately swallowed it to destroy the evidence. He was then kept in jail until he could pass the drugs from his system. Miraculously, nothing turned up when his fecal sample was sent in for analysis, as he got help from his fellow inmates. Looking at the costs of this farce, Kuti coined the phrase expensive shit. True story.

Fela Kuti - Eko Ile MP3

Fela Kuti - No Agreement MP3

Fela Kuti - Expensive Shit MP3