Oneness of Juju - 1975 - African Rhythms

Oneness of Juju 

1975 

African Rhythms

01. African Rhythms 7:17

02. Kazi 4:20

03. Funky Wood 1:13

04. Tarishi 3:55

05. Mashariki 3:22

06. Chants 1:14

07. Don't Give Up 5:41

08. Incognito 8:10

09. Poo Too 3:43

10. Liberation Dues 4:34

11. African Rhythms (45 Version Parts 1 And 2) 7:17

12. Afrobeat 3:59

Tracks 1 to 10 originally released as Black Fire LP 'African Rhythms' (BF 19751).

Track 11 originally released as Parts I and II on a Black Fire 45 (BF-1001).

Track 12 previously unreleased. 1975.

Balafon, Congas, Drums, Percussion, Vocals – Babatunde

Bass [Fender Bass], Percussion, Vocals, Artwork – Muzi Nkabinde

Clavinet, Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes], Piano, Percussion, Vocals – Al Hammel Rasul

Drums – Ronnie Toler

Flute, Percussion, Saxophone, Vocals, Producer – Plunky Nkabinde

Marimba, Vibraphone – Lon Moshe

Vocals – Eka-Ete Jackie Lewis

From a trailblazing band featuring members well-versed in jazz, funk, gospel, and African music, the debut album by the Oneness of Juju displayed a group playing with the dexterity of Kool & the Gang, the forward-thinking musical ideas of Herbie Hancock, and the social consciousness of Gil Scott-Heron. The title track is fiercely kinetic, with vocal choruses prodding listeners to dance and Plunky's echo-drenched saxophone floating serenely over the top of a funky space-jazz backing. Elsewhere, the band lapses into a few dated mid-'70s arrangements (reminiscent of Pharoah Sanders, Lonnie Liston Smith, etc.), but the playing is always wonderful -- Plunky especially distinguishes himself in many different modes -- and the production is crystalline. "Don't Give Up" and "Liberation Dues" are two other highlights, with positive-minded chants and funky arrangements. [In early 2002, the British jazz/funk/world reissue label Strut brought African Rhythms back from the brink, with two bonus tracks: an instrumental version of "Liberation Dues" and the single version of "African Rhythms."]

For bandleader James “Plunky” Branch, ‘African Rhythms’ marked a significant return to his home town of Richmond, Virginia after a politically charged five years based on the East and West coasts. His personal journey had taken him from activism at Columbia University to San Francisco where Zulu musician Ndikho Xaba used theatre to “resurrect” Afro-Americans with a new African identity. The first incarnation of Plunky’s band, Juju, drew attention to the struggle in South Africa under apartheid, layering heavy Afro rhythms under uncompromising avant garde jazz.

Back in Richmond, Plunky tapped into the mid-Atlantic preference for Southern R&B and gospel: “Juju had always been blues-based and it was a natural progression to add R&B and dance rhythms. It didn’t change our message.”

Produced by Jimmy Gray of Black Fire Records, the new sessions included the title track (“We wanted a song to dance to with a message – ‘you are dancing to African rhythms’”), the positive message of ‘Don’t Give Up’ and political commentary on ‘Liberation Dues’.

Originally just a regional hit on the East coast and in Washington DC specifically, the album gradually spread, influencing the nascent DC go-go scene. The UK revived the album during the rare groove era of the late ‘80s and the title track has since become a soul-jazz favourite worldwide.

"Magical, mystical, Afrocentric, progressive -- words that could be used to describe any number of musical compositions by Sun Ra or his cosmic brothers and sisters, from John to Alice Coltrane, early '70s projects on record labels like Detroit's Tribe or Houston's Lightin' or the interests of one Washington, DC native named Jimmy Gray that centered under one, perfect moniker: Black Fire. Gray spent nearly three decades pushing boundaries as a Black American promoter, distributor, and, finally, record label owner. Together with Oneness of Juju's leader James 'Plunky Nkabinde' Branch, Gray oversaw sixteen releases on Black Fire Records between 1975 and 1996. These are the definitive reissues of five of the label's key titles: all were lacquered -- most directly from master tape -- by legendary Los Angeles mastering engineer Bernie Grundman, With this set, Oneness Of Juju and Black Fire's story burns forth into its fifth decade, its message not tempered, its sound pure. Its cycle, once again, complete. Each release is packaged in a thick, tip-on sleeve and includes a deluxe booklet with extensive notes on the album, the Black Fire collective, and the musical and cultural revolution they created."