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Afro-Soul Holy Grail by the “Soul Brother from Benin“, featuring the famous “Vis à Vis” band from Ghana and recorded in Kumasi in 1979.Stanislas Tohon aka Papy Grande was born in the “Country of the kings” (Benin), in Abomey 1955. He’s “Chevalier de la legion d’honneur” in Benin for his brilliant musical career.The famous soul singer from Cotonou started his musical career at this age of 9, played with the greatest such as Gnonnas Pedro and recorded almost 35 albums. Influenced by the traditional “Tchingoume“ music , he invented his own rhythm called “Tchink Système”, a mix of soul and Beninese traditional rhythm . Dans le Tchink Système is an original 4 tracks album recorded in Ghana on 24 analog tracks channel with the incredible “Vis à Vis Band”, completed with the song “Africa“, a rare version of his first 7inch which he recorded a year before with “Les Satelites” from Cotonou. Sang in Fon, his native language from Benin, this album is a soulful call for peace and unity in Africa, a real definition of Afro Soul music! This extremely rare and obscure record is now remastered and strictly limited to 1000 copies.Enjoy!

2 years after the release of his first solo album, Favorite Recordings proudly presents SOLAR, second album by acclaimed Brazilian composer Lucas Arruda, and hundredth releases of the label!!Lucas Arruda’s born in 1983 near Rio de Janeiro. After studying electric guitar, his passion quickly turned into Rhodes and keyboards, expanding his musical range of skills. At the same time he started his own home-studio and a real musical career in Brazil, gaining great local support from people like Ed Motta, William Magalhães (Banda Black Rio), Robert Lamm (Chicago) or Hyldon. In 2012, Fabricio Di Monaco (from Modo Solar) introduced Lucas’ music to Favorite Recordings’ head honcho, Pascal Rioux, and one year after, Lucas Arruda presented his first solo album titled Sambadi, receiving great supports from many international DJs and media, who all acclaimed his natural skills for composition and arrangement.Following this successful first effort, here comes SOLAR, new and second solo album by Lucas Arruda, filled with his fusion style, mixing influences and elements from his Latin musical background, with his genuine admiration for Jazz, Soul and Funk music ;On “Melt the Night” for example, Lucas asked legendary producer Leon Ware for his help, reminding his collaborations in the 80s with Marcos Valle, when they perfectly merged together the sophisticated Boogie and AOR touch from California, with the blazing sense of rhythm from Brazil. For the occasion, they also recorded a blowing version of Marvin & Diana’s classic ballad “Stop! Look, Listen (To Your Heart)“ with the help of Guida de Palma’s (Jazzinho) beautiful voice.For “Uma Onda”, he invites Alex Malheiros, bassist of the famous Jazz band Azymuth, for a splendid tribute to their specific fusion sound and influence on the Brazilian music scene. Finally the song “Agua”, co-written with his longtime friend Fabricio Di Monaco, is a beautiful ballad which illustrates perfectly Lucas’ passion for Soul music stars such as Stevie Wonder or Curtis Mayfield.On top of these great collaborations and a few more surprises, SOLAR also differs from its predecessor by a lot more elaborated production process, offering an authentic and warm sound. Mostly recorded at Sala A Studio in Brazil, many drums parts were also taken at the fully analog Ambience Studios in Finland. The mix was also done in Finland on a Neve 8108 console from 1978, using only analogic technology and a Studer master tape to record the final pre-master.The result is a timeless album, which should definitely established Lucas Arruda as one of the finest and most talented Brazilian musicians these days.

One of the greatest enigmas of the music scene in mid to late 1970s Harare was The New Tutenkhamen, a band which played an eclectic brand of Zimbabwean township music combining traditional rhythms and western influences. The band included some luminaries of Zimbabwean township music. Elisha Josamu was an alumnus of the fabulously-named Hallelujah Chicken Run Band (alongside Thomas Mapfumo), and Green Jangano’s long-running Harare Mambos, and would later form Two Plus Two with bassist Christopher “Chex” Tavengwa. Jethro Shasha played the drums, and would arguably become the New Tutenkhamen’s most famous export, making continental waves working with likes of Salif Keita. Paul Sekerani played the rhythm guitar, with Amos Chatyoka on the organ, while the enigmatic Maggie Mbuli provided vocals and F. Manda played the sax. The New Tutenkhamen recorded I Wish You Were Mine at Teal Records, produced by Crispen Matema, a talented jazz drummer in his own right who had played drums on the all-time classic Skokiaan, and had backed Louis Armstrong on his 1960 Rhodesia visit. Combining the heavyweight producing talents of Matema and the writing chops of Josamu, The New Tutenkhamen band created an album showcasing various musical styles popular at the time. From the afro-jazz jam session aesthetics of “Tutenkhamen Theme”, “Big Brother Malcom” and “Forever Together”, to the almost Van Morrison-sounding “Sunday Morning”; from the upbeat rock ballad “True Love”, to the funk-infused dance song “Togetherness”; from the bouncy jazz exhortations to work hard in “Ane Nungo”, to the brassy, raunchy foot-stomper “Me & Dolly”. The title track “I Wish You Were Mine” is a ska-infused ballad that wouldn’t be out of place in post-war Birmingham, while the star of the show is “Joburg Bound”, itself a fast-paced rock piece with Motown undertones and funky guitar lines. As a collective effort, I Wish You Were Mine provides a fascinating insight into a fraught time in Zimbabwe’s history, and the bands plying their trade through the turmoil, making music for young people, by young people.

Nkumba System, new project led by guitarist Guillo Cros (Romperayo) provides a vibrant fusion of catchy percussions, Afro-Colombian songs and Cameroonian guitar picking style linking Central Africa to the Caribbean! Nkumba System is about to fill the dancefloors with debut album ¡Bailalo Duro!, recorded between Bogotá and Paris.On the imaginary highway of Guillo Cros, makossa crosses paths with cumbia, Zairean rumba combines with that of Cuba and last but not least, currulao melts into Malian desert blues. Cros' journeys led him to meet the Cameroonian singer Mama Ohandja, alongside whom he trained for several years. Thereafter, he resided in Bogotá from 2014 to 2019, collaborated with Pedro Ojeda in the band Romperayo and “Los Propios Bateros” (7” NYCT). His current project Nkumba System was born in 2018, inside Colombia's effervescent tropical music scene. The original line-up includes bassist Jhon Socha (Romperayo, la Makina del Karibe), singer-percussionist Leonel Merchan (La Phónoclórica) and Kike Narvaez on drums. Several singles were released on local labels Tambora Records and Palenque Records, preceeding the arrival of Cameroonian guitarist Simba Daniel Evousa in the band. The drummer Pedro Ojeda, travelling companion in Romperayo, is invited on the track “Mujer hermana”, as well as the Malian singer Mamani Keita on “Paisano”. The album is mixed in Amsterdam by sprawling musician Alex Figueira (Fumaça Preta, Conjunto Papa Upa, Music With Soul), in his studio Barracão Sound, and comes as a Limited Pressing.

Brand new collab between French funk artists, Amadeo 85 releasing his new 7inch starring two French vocalist, Ameega and Lexworxx.Synths used for the A side, MPC 2000xl, Moog slim phatty, ensoniq ESQ1, Yamaha so3, and mikrokorg.For the B side, MPC 2000xl, Juno 106, vocoder synton syntovox 222, and homemade talkbox.

Nairobi, Kenya, 1978. In the Phonogram Ltd. music studio, the popular Congolese Rumba band Les Mangelepa is finishing a session. Things are going well: they have recorded all the music they planned and still have an hour to kill before giving back the studio keys. How about improvising one last song on the spot?And this is how “Nyako Konya” was born. An incredible 9 minutes hypnotic jam, that’ll eventually become one of their biggest tunes, earning them a Gold record and international acclaim throughout Africa.Meticulously restored and remastered by French engineer Nicolas Thelliez, the original version is featured here together with remixes by three talented producers: French House/Disco producer extraordinaire Yuksek and his wall of sound skills, Netherlands’ Afro lovers and world famous studio maverick Umoja delivering a space dub Lee Scratch Perry style, and last but not least, the trademarked syncopated stabs from Brooklyn’s Uproot Andy.