Nigeria 70, The Definitive Story of 1970’s Funky Lagos – 2001

🎵🌍🎶💥📀 In 2001, the English label Strut set out to publish a rich retrospective of Lagos-based Nigerian funk from the 70s. This “sum” was released on vinyl and CD. On the one hand, the vinyl version is hard to find, and on the other, the CD version includes many extra tracks that would have been a shame to overlook, starting with Blo‘s superb “Chant To Mother Earth”. In both cases, however, this is a real “must-have”, immersing us in the tropical fusion of funk, jazz, juju music, afrobeat and all the influences that have blended with the history and travels of the region’s peoples. Famous names (Fela, of course, Sunny Adé and Tony Allen) rub shoulders with others less well known to the public, but whose deep groove, trance and lo/fi afro-funk are fascinating. The down-tempo of Koola Lobitos, the disrespectful Afro-blues of Bongos Ikwue and his “Woman made the devil”, the saturated guitars of Ofo The Black Company, the inevitably political Afrobeat of the Lijadu Sisters and the early electro sounds of Shina Williams at the turn of the 80s are all excellent reasons to let yourself be carried away in this “definitive” history of a historically prolific period at the crossroads of civilizations as different as they are rich and troubled. The only downside is the strange choice of using Prince Nico Mbarga’s superb photo to illustrate the boxed set, even though none of his music is featured…