Eji Oyewole - 1978 - Charity Begins at Home

Eji Oyewole

1978

Charity Begins at Home

01. Charity Begins At Home 6:12

02. Gele Odun (Oil Boom) 9:54

03. Lagos Complex - Highways 8:36

04. Unity In Africa (Kasowopo Kasekan) 8:06

Backing Vocals – Frank Horley

Bongos – Kayode Dosunmu

Congas – Abu Ismail

Drums, Backing Vocals – Sunny Adefadugba

Guitar – John Medua

Talking Drum – Ayan

Tenor Saxophone [2nd] – Tunde Magbadu

Tenor & Soprano Saxophone, Flute, Piano, Percussion, Vocal – Eji Oyewole

Trumpet, Percussion – Harry James

Born to a royal lineage in Ibadan, Prince Eji Oyewole has had a career as a flautist, saxophonist and sometime bandleader spanning well over half a century. He trained both in Nigeria and then at Trinitythe prestigious music school in London, and his life as an itinerant musician also saw him living for extensive periods in Geneva, Hamburg and in Lyon.

While for many years Fela Kuti (with whom Eji played) and King Sunny Adé commanded international attention to the exclusion of most other Nigerian musicians, as if there was only room for one Nigerian superstar at a time on the worldstage, on the domestic scene things were very different. Eji was part of the huge craze for ‘highlife’, a generic term that in fact subsumed many different styles, united in their fusion of traditional west African forms with jazz influences and electric instruments, and in the bands’ working practices as entertainers at the nation’s numerous hotel/nightclubs.As this cracking album, recorded for EMI Nigeria at the tail end of the ‘70s and now remastered, reveals, Eji’s version of highlife was even more distinctive than most, eschewing the usual emphasis on guitars for a brasher, horn- laden sound, seemingly influenced as much by American funk as it was jazz, and of course with the heavy percussive undertow central to most African music.

This gave Eji a chance to shine, and there are some scorching solos as well as tight ensemble playing across the four lengthy (to ears accustomed to the three-minute pop song) songs. Eji also played piano on the session. The material has an element of social commentary (Oil Boom and Unity In Africa) and should help feed the seemingly insatiable appetites of the many who have been turned onto African music by the enterprising efforts of devoted collectors, labels and fellow fans.

Surely one of the few musicians who has played with Fela, Miles Davis and Bob Marley, Eji Oyewole still plays regularly in Lagos, recently had an album of new material out with his current band The Afrobars, and has been a member of Faaji Agba, a super-group that has toured internationally and been dubbed ‘the Nigerian Buena-Vista Social Club’.

Long-lost classic from the golden age of African music, from a figure who is still beginning to get his props internationally. Recorded at the tail end of the ‘70s, the album reveals, Eji’s version of highlife was even more distinctive than most, eschewing the usual emphasis on guitars for a brasher horn-laden sound.

Tunde Mabadu - 1980 - Viva Disco

Tunde Mabadu 

1980

Viva Disco

01. Alabosi

02. Disco Press Funk

03. Amupara Ko Ma Dara

04. African Parowo

05. Angelina - Sugar Daddy

06. Viva Disco (Instrumental)

Alto Saxophone, enor Saxophone, Vocals, – Tunde Mabadu

Bass Guitar – Nash Doddoo

Drums – Charlie Cool

Guitar – Tunde Sole

Keyboards – Jones Caullins Caulley

Percussion – Oris Amoah

Rhythm Guitar – Pierre Awara

Trumpet – John Evbota Oaikhena

Trumpet – Bassey Effiong

Vocals – Joyland Sammy

Vocals – Jumoke Fashola

Vocals – S. Eluwa

Viva Disco, which once existed only to the most eclectic record collectors out there, was recently reissued, which is how I came across it. There are plenty of hidden treasures in Africa's music scene, and this is one of them. Viva Disco is one of the most unique disco records you'll hear. Woodwinds and horns take center stage here, but the real punch of the album comes from the fantastic basslines and steady drumbeat that carry the record forward.

Original pressings are outside of most people's budgets, but if yo come across a reissued copy, consider checking it out. Everyone's collection could use a bit of diversity in it.

Tunde Mabadu - 1978 - Bisu

Tunde Mabadu

1978

Bisu

01. Vicky

02. Bisu-Omi

03. Red Jeans

04. Ise Orise

05. Blue Bird (Instrumental)

Tenor Saxophone, Vocals – Tunde Mabadu

Bass Guitar – Waidi Buraimoh

Congas – Abel Abu

Drums – Adeniyi Fadugba

Guitar – John Melon

Keyboards – Gboyega Adelaja

Trumpet – Emmanuel Arenyo

Trumpet – Henry James

That's Tunde Mabadu holding a heavy tenor sax on the cover – an instrument which he uses wonderfully on the album's offbeat funky grooves, most of which are very different than more conventional Afro Funk of the time!

There's often a slinky midtempo groove to the music – perfect for Tunde's instrumental solos, and his vocals too – and the instrumentation often has cool use of keyboards that come across as more electronic than other keys of the time – nice and thin, with almost a sci-fi vibe at times, in comparison to the other instruments on the record! The rest of the instrumentation is nice and lean too – added trumpet, bass, and plenty of percussion

Originally released in 1978 on the Blackspot label (DECCA's West Africa division). Tunde Mabadu's ultra-rare debut album, Bisu, which includes the super groovy "Red Jeans", differs from the later 1980 Viva Disco album by a much more pure African style. A beautiful and soulful production in which Tunde's deep voice and sax move on the excellent horn arrangements, percussions, the wah-wah rhythm guitar, and weird keyboards and synths (at times psychedelic as in the nine-minute "Blue Bird"). As wrote on the original liner notes of the era: "His music will mesmerize you from the first track. A dedicated musician especially to his African roots with so much to offer musically".