El Cuarteto Patria - Cubafrica - VINYL LP

The Mankunku Quartet's 1968 album 'Yakhal' Inkomo' clocks in at just over 30 minutes of jazz perfection. This compact, and to-the-point, album would sit comfortably in amongst some of the best works in the catalogues of any of the quintessential jazz labels such as Blue Note, Prestige and Impulse. 'Yakhal' Inkomo', however, was originally released on the South African record tag World Record Co., which resulted in it becoming an elusive and sought-after piece for jazz collectors. First press copies sometimes fetch as much as £1,000 on the collectors' market. It has been long regarded as one of the finest South African jazz albums and DJ / broadcaster Gilles Peterson cemented this when he included it in his Inchbest of genreInch focussed radio show, 'The 20 - South African Jazz'.

After revealing his Soul Makossa to the public in 1972, Manu Dibango recorded the same year, a strange and majestic musical beast Africadelic.Following a request of afro-urban sounds dedicated to French TV and radio shows seeking athmospheric background music, Manu Dibango entered Mondiaphone studio, Louis Delacour's library music tag. Embracing the composing for image game, the musician recorded in crazy conditions the tracks that will become Africadelic and African Voodoo, ignoring the destiny and future success of these two wonderful albums.Africadelic is a real groovy gem in echo to James Brown or Isaac Hayes, mixing Afro-Soul, Funk and Jazz, with an undercurrent of latin percussions throughout, shaded by a rock guitar and a soul organ, like African Battle and Africadelic, the eponym track.The opening title, Soul Fiesta, immediatly drops a both dramatic and percussive tension before Manu Dibango starts his killer vibraphone riff. While Africadelic or African Carnaval make the most of a boiling horn section, Manu Dibango's saxophone solos regularly give room for the polyrhythmic percussions breaks. Oriental Sunset also enjoys a thrilling flute melody along with the beautiful Dibango's vibraphone. Monkey Beat and Wa Wa are, for their part, some proud funky soul approaches. Finally, Percussion Storm has Manu Dibango's African Pop Group marching off into the African sunset as the maestro unleashes a final and inevitable vibraphone melody.

Manu Dibango is probably the most famous musician from Cameroon and quite possibly one of the most internationally well-known African musicians ever. He is a most versatile musician, having played and recorded almost every style of music you care to mention - soul, reggae, jazz, spirituals, blues, African, electro.Dibango displays his virtuosity on vocals, saxophone, percussions, and keyboards in a set that attempts to pick up commercially where Soul Makossa ended.