The record label NetWork has no doubt offered listeners the best every introduction to African music in the seventies with its compilation
Golden Afrique, a double album which covers the period 1971-1983. It is an impeccable selection, mixing famous artists with lesser known ones, all working in post-colonial West Africa. The opener,
Les Jaloux Saboteurs from the Chadian singer Maître Gazonga, recorded in the then hub of the African music industry, Abidjan, sets the tone. Guitars and driving rhythms back sarcastic, even militant lyrics. But this music is also very much about getting people up on the feet and dancing, and millions of people across globe at the time were working up a serious sweat to tracks like
Amie, also recorded in Abidjan, capital of Côte d'Ivoire. The Guinea and Senegal music scenes were also very active, welcoming exiles such as the South African diva Myriam Makeba. Orchestras too were subsidised through various institutions, fostering young talent and bringing together almost all the most important musicians over the last thirty years.
Panafricain sounds
Groups like the Bembeya Jazz National, the Orchestra Baobab, the Ambassadeurs du Motel, the Rail Band, the Etoile de Dakar and the Super Eagles were all part of this African renaissance which set the dancefloors on fire, often taking their inspiration from American music and transforming it into something distinctly African. All these acts feature on this album. There is also the superb instrumental Kadia Blues by the Paillote orchestra (named after the place that young people held late-night parties), the all-female Amazones from Guinea, whose album Au coeur de Paris is now regarded as a dance classic… their Samba sounds as fresh today as it ever did. And there is also Super Mama Djombo, who heralded the independence of Guinea-Bissau in 1974. The history of this group is emblematic of the hopes (soon to be crushed) of this post-colonial African revolution. Their message (sung in local Creole) is one of national reconciliation. The singers put on the show but it was the guitars that really got people dancing – and the music of these groups quickly crossed frontiers to develop into a pan-African sound. The "griot" tradition took a backseat while the new generation of musicians sung their politically-inspired lyrics, anchored in the reality of day-to-day life. As the title of this compilation implies, it was very much a golden age of music right across Africa, before the decline of the 1980s set in.
Afro-funk
The compilation released by Luaka Bop (founded by former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne) is more focused and more psychedelic-oriented, which should please hardcore fans. It includes the Super Eagles'
Love’s A Real Thing, a superb Afro-funk fusion track. Manu Dibango and Sorry Bamba are featured as well, but it the lesser known – or the completely forgotten – artists here that make for the most interesting listening. Recorded in Abidjan in 1975, Moussa Doumbia's
Keleya demonstrates James Brown's influence on the region, albeit revamped with a wild keyboard sound.
Guajira Van by Number One from Dakar has a more Caribbean sound, with rollicking guitars and clave-style percussion. The best rediscoveries, however, are
Better Change Your Mind by the Nigerian William Onyeabor and also the prophetic
Allah Wakbarr by Ofo & The Black Company. These hugely danceable Afro-funk hits combine thrashing guitars with political lyrics that have a more doomy vision of the future. Fela Kuti's Afrobeat was definitely not the only one cooking up a storm across the continent at the time. A British label is also reviving the forgotten works of the Orchestre Poly-Rythmo from Benin, who open the Luaka Bop compilation as well. On
The Kings Of Benin, justly subtitled “Urban groove 1972-80”, traditional music like gotahoun and gogbahoun mix it up with African-American influences, mainly funk and soul but also Latino sounds.
The learned Francis Bebey
This return to the roots of the original sounds, transcended by an embracing of the major currents that changed the era, is the trademark of African productions that have withstood the test of time. The first volume of another compilation,
Original Masters, honours the memory of the Cameroonian Francis Bebey, author and composer but also poet and storyteller. The compilation kicks off with
Stabat Mater Dolorosa, emblematic of Bebey's fusion of rhythms from Douala and classical music from Paris, falling between his roots in his native land and his exploration of Western music. There is not one false note here (
Si les Gaulois avaient su…,
Travail au noir), but plenty of humour and eminently danceable beats (
Agatha). Mbalax music from Senegal is also very much about dance – Youssou N’Dour is its leading exponent and he is now the subject of a Rough Guide compilation. It is focused on the 1980s, when Youssou was not yet a global star but sang with the group Etoile de Dakar. Here we hear him at his very best, backed with a brass section, thumping drums and a truly unique guitar sound.
Golden Afrique Vol. 1 (NetWork/Harmonia Mundi) 2005
World Psychedelic Classics 3 / Love’s A Real Thing (Luaka Bop/V2) 2005
TP Orchestre Poly-Rythmo The Kings Of Benin (Soundway/Nocturne) 2005
Youssou N’Dour & Étoile de Dakar Mbalax Roots (Rough Guide Music/Harmonia Mundi) 2005
Francis Bebey Original Masters Vol. 1 (Weedoo Music/Nocturne) 2005
