It’s finally Friday. Man, what a long week. More Lebanese, some Ugandan, a little Irish and more is in the pipeline. Now I’ll just find the time… in the meantime another brief Nigeria interlude:

Shortly before I first moved to Africa I picked-up a copy of Strut’s 2001 release, Nigeria 70. I was into West African music a bit before this, but that compilation really knocked me out. It made me excited to move nearby.

A few months later I would visit Nigeria for the first time. Thanks in large part to Nigeria 70 and the crate digging that it inspired my ability to talk about groups like Ofo & The Black Company and The Funkees opened many musical doors with the locals.

Those trips to Lagos and the music I picked-up there, all in a way inspired by Nigeria 70, formed the base of what would eventually become this web site and a long-lasting passion for West African contemporary music.

Lagos Jump is Strut’s latest Nigerian offiering. It’s out this month, available everywhere. With good liner notes by John Collins and a solid line-up of tracks, Lagos Jump is definitely worth checking out.

That Immortals track is especially killer.. makes me want to go surfing at Badagari beach. I’ll leave it for you to discover, especially since the K7/Strut guys asked that I post only the first track.

Sir Shina Peters – Yabis

Remember when we used to just sit back and listen to good Nigerian music?

And on an unrelated note, I’m going to spend about 60 days in China starting next month. Any tips on where to find/see/hear the good parts of Beijing’s music scene?

This Decca courtesy of the tireless Colombian, Fabian.

Heavy Brothers Construction – Jehova

Thanks to lots of great Mauritian music submitted by Benn loxo listeners I’ll be back with a second Mauritius week tomorrow morning.

In the meantime, let’s take a quick breather.. friend and Benn loxo listener Alex has a Monday treat for you:

“Tonight I’ve found a rare track that deserves to spread among the world of African music fans. It’s a rare B-side of Fela Kuti’s from 1970, just as he invented the style of Afrobeat music.

Beautiful Dancer has a hard groove like the other song on this record, the well-known Black Man’s Cry. While Black Man’s Cry became famous after it was featured as the opening track on Fela’s 1971 live album with Ginger Baker, Beautiful Dancer has been lost and never featured on any re-release since the original 45rpm record (which was only released in Nigeria and France). It features Fela’s Africa 70 with Tony Allen on drums. There are a few more of these rare singles from Fela’s early career that have never been re-released, such as Keep Nigeria One, Beggar’s Song (Orin Alagbe), and Going In and Coming Out. If anyone has copies, please e-mail Matt.”

Thanks, Alex. As he said, if you have any of these un-released Fela tracks please let us know in the comments or by e-mail.

Fela Ransome-Kuti and his Africa ‘70 – Beautiful Dancer

Farid from Colombia just sent me an amazing album: African System Orchestra’s 1981 RAS release, Canon Kpa Kum.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but as far as I can tell African System Orchestra is an Igbo Nigerian group who were playing at around the same time as groups like the Imo Brothers International and the Peacocks.

Editor’s note: turns out I was wrong: Ndongo Pecos and presumably the rest of African System Orchestra are apparently Cameroonian, living in Nigeria when this album was recorded.

But these tracks certainly don’t sound like your average 70s Nigerian highlife. I guess by 1981 much of Nigeria was in the throws of Afrobeat and disco, which must have rubbed-off on the Igbo highlife bands too.

Does anyone have any more music like this? I’m refering specifically to late 70s, early 80s Igbo music with a bit of an afrofunk-disco drive to it?

Great party music. Thanks, Farid.

African System Orchestra – Canon Kpa Kum
African System Orchestra – African System No. 1

A few days ago we heard some 1960s highlife from Lagos.

Following the Nigerian civil war, or Biafran war for independence, depending on your history book, juju replaced highlife as the dominant musical force in Western Nigeria. While there were still a few Yoruba highlife musicians left in Lagos the dominant Igbo highlife stars had left town and juju musicians like Ebeneezer Obey were taking over.

Original Music’s 37th release, Lucky Stars Rosy Mornings, explores the exploding juju scene in Nigeria’s second city, Ibadan, located in western Nigeria, during the 1960s.

The compilation is filled with scratchy, lovely tunes that remind us how juju sounded before it sped up and got whacked over the head with a synth during the 1980s.

Professor Sunny Agaga & his Lucky Stars Band – Olorun Lomo Ola
F.A. Jimmy West & his Rosy Morning Band – Ijesha Ile