Boncana Maïga
Koyma Hondo

Azumah was the coming together of a group of talented young dancer-musicians from Soweto (SouthAfrica) with musician and instrument-maker Smiles Mandla Makama of eSwatini (formerly Swaziland). LongTime Ago is the surprising and enticing, resultant album from 1985, recorded in the house of theatrestalwarts Des and Dawn Lindberg in Johannesburg.Produced by David Marks (3rd Ear Music, Hidden Years Music Archive Project), Des Lindberg and SmilesMakama, this album takes us back to a priceless musical moment in the dark and wild eighties ofapartheid South Africa. Smiles Makama is a gifted and visionary music-maker. He was born in South Africabut grew up in eSwatini, the small kingdom enveloped by South Africa and Mozambique on each side. Hetells the story of the process leading to the recording of this remarkable album: “I was invited from Swazilandby a Soweto-based group, Azumah. […] One of the members knew that there was a wizard in the mountainsin Swaziland, building instruments. As I was in the mountains in my hut and then I saw people arrive. Theyfound me. It all started there.”Instead of simplistic images of a generic ‘Africanness’ or ‘South Africanness’ and pictures of constructed andexotic ethnic identity, a contemporary, fresh listen to this album encourages an appreciation of thecomposition and musical skill at play in this music. Few people speak about the individual innovation andexperimentation involved in the creation of this music (or the music of Amampondo for instance). “WozaMoya” sticks out as a dark and melancholy creation, different tonally to what has come before, evoking thework of Naná Vasconelos or Don Cherry. One thing that remains the same decades later is that encouragingdeeper listening to the sounds of the mbira, the nyunga-nyunga, the uhadi or makhoyane bows is stillchallenging. Discouraging the superficial, short-lived acknowledgement of this ‘unchanging’, ‘African culturalexpression’ is the everlasting hurdle. This is made so much easier by albums like Long Time Ago: whenartists create music to be loved and entangled with, to be challenged by, derived from the musical roots andstructures of these instruments and then expanded upon with creative freedom, risk, humour and funk.Azumah did this in 1985 and we have this album again today, newly released, to remind us of that momentand the moments since when musicians have urned inward and done similar. As Smiles has it: “Indigenousmusic doesn’t fade out. It’s just waiting to be discovered, all the time.”

"What you have here, pouring out of your listening devices, is Parisian Dreams. A genre-busting, generation-spanning, cross-pollination of 21st century beatmaking and 1970’s psychedelic composition. The styles are myriad. Running the gamut, between acoustic folky guitar riffs, through fuzzy movie-soundtrack textures, hitting grooves that land somewhere between dub and funky breakbeat jazz. MPC producer Yeti recently found himself in a session with one of his musical heroes, Janko Nivolic. A veteran composer of psychedelic funk and jazz dating back to the late 1960’s. In his digging and sampling obsession Yeti had marvelled at the compositions of Mr Nivolic for years, collecting these rarities, mostly found on obscure Library records. The title ‘Parisian Dreams’ is highly significant as is explained in this anecdote from Yeti. “At the session that I was involved in with Janko in Paris, he showed up with a score that he had conceived while dreaming the previous night. He awoke at 5 AM, scribbled it down immediately and brought it with him to the session. He didn’t need to take it over to the piano, to check if it made sense. He just knew it did. Blew my mind!” So, sit back and absorb these magical sounds from the sub-conscious of an 80 year-old musical legend, combined with punchy beats, from a revered MPC pad-tapper, specially designated, to give your woofers a workout. DJ Ollie Teeba". (Text by Soundsci/The Herbaliser)

Broc Recordz presents their new release, L'Obsession by the Italian composer Louis Fontaine. The album is a fictional soundtrack, between Library music and Italian OST from the 70's in a Jazz style.

Hot Casa Records present Togo Soul 70 (Selected Rare Togolese Recordings from 1971 to 1981). A treasure-trove of rare and unusual recordings mostly recorded in Lomé during the 70’s, a fusion of traditional voodoo chants, raw soul and Afro jazz. Finding these tracks and their rights holders hasn’t become any easier even after few trips all over this west African country bordered by Ghana, Benin & Burkina Faso.We, at Hot Casa Records, decided to select 13 tracks, a snapshot of some hundreds of rare and often forgotten tapes from the most prolific, professional and exciting phase of the country’s recording history, including international stars like Bella Bellow (who even performed to Maracana stadium in Brazil), or Roger Damawuzan, compared as the James Brown from Lomé, and forgotten tapes and brilliant songs in Mina, Kabyié and Fon languages. Many of the tracks featured here are peppered with innovation and experimentation highlighting how diverse the music scene in Togo was at the time, even if the political context influenced their creation.A must have for all music lovers, also used as the soundtrack of the documentary Togo Soul 70, directed by Liz Gomis & DJ Julien Lebrun!

Favorite Recordings proudly presents an exclusive eponymous LP by Brazilian singer and composer George Sauma Jr., originally produced in 1985. Imagine a never-marketed release on which you’d hear not only the beautiful and genuine George’s songs but also the work from two figures of the Brazilian Music Golden Age: Arthur Verocai and Junior Mendes! A much-needed album for all Brazilian connoisseurs. Back in the days, George Sauma Jr. was a young artist from Rio de Janeiro, learning on his side how to play chords and compose songs since he was 10. Still at the university, he’s influenced by Brazilian artists like Cassiano or Tim Maia, deeply fascinated by the arrangements and the “levada” (the groove) of all these new Brazilian songs. Simple and romantic music that resonated to his soul and creativity.Around 1985, the story took an unexpected turn. George tells: “Dna Deyse Lucidy, the mother of Junior Mendes was a candidate for deputy and went to my father’s company to advertise. When I saw her, I shouted, “I’m a big fan of your son!” ” Of course, she could not praise more the work of her son. On her advises, George went to his studio on Rua Siqueria Campos at Copacabana. Junior loved the project and sent him to Arthur Verocai to improve the arrangements. Without money, the decision was taken to record everything at Junior Mendes’ studio on an 8-channel mixer. It was a small set-up but the emotions were there! George surely had other plans for some of his songs but without the budget, they ended up doing everything the best they could. And they did very fine with a top-notch team of musicians: Paulo Black on Drums, Arthur Verocai on Guitar, Ricardo Do Canto on Bass and Helvius Vilela on Keyboards.Leaving the studio with the tapes, George tried to knock doors of international labels, but none did even dare to give him an answer. With less than 1000 copies pressed back in the days and without any distributor or label behind him, he went with proud to record stores, but received nothing than a strong reality check regarding the difficulties for a young Brazilian artist to achieve something on the saturated market of the 80s. Even for free, record stores didn’t want it. In the end, he ended up giving copies to friends and families, knowing deep inside that the songs were good! George tells: “I decided to leave, calm and conscious. I’ve still made three more albums, however on tapes, as it was more affordable. This time, just for my pleasure…”. Thirty-five years after, it’s with great emotion that this first album by George Sauma Jr. is now made available as Vinyl LP with its original offset printed innersleeve & CD.

Les Ya Toupas is a band formed in 1976 by Bopol Mansiamina (Bass - Success Mode, 4 Stars ..), Manuaku Waku (aka Grand Zaiko Wawa) and Ray Lema (Piano, Organ and Guitar).Between 1976 and 1978, they recorded several 7inches including the famous title “Je ne bois pas beaucoup” (1976) compiled on the series of Sofrito (Tropical Discotheque ) in 2011.In 1978, they recorded this unique and unclassifiable instrumental album, Les Ya Toupas du Zaïre, produced by Gérard Akueson (founder of Akue Records and Abeti's producer). The LP is composed of minimalist Afro Jazz rhythms and Deep Funk grooves that are close at times to a tropical trance, all played by musicians who used to offer more classic Rumba rhythms. It is their only album before the departure in 1979 of Ray Lema for the United States and then France. Ray Lema's departure follows a violent disagreement which opposed him to the dictator Mobutu then in place in Zaïre. Let's not forget that the album was released in 1978 and can be seen as their last musical project.