“A genuine hard bop session, swinging and persuasive, coming out of South Africa in an era when black musicians weren’t making any recordings, let alone forward-looking modern jazz albums.”
Jonas Gwangwa (1937 – 23 January 2021) was a genius trombone player from Soweto, South Africa. That's him in the middle between 2 other South African geniuses, Hugh Masekela (now late), on the left, and Caiphus Semenya (now 81), on the right, for their band Union of South Africa. pic.twitter.com/6yxyZ9XlYg
Leader Stanley Todd Kwesi assembled a monster ensemble of musicians from the Ghana Arts Council, intending to form a new Afro-Rock group that would be more traditional & African in sound, and hopefully surpass Osibisa in popularity (alas it was not to be). (via Discogs)
Languta
Kaa Ye Oya
Adade
Yei Baa Gbe Wolo
Patience
When
Nye Tamo Ame
Rekpete
Hedzoleh Soundz were a band from Accra, Ghana formed in the late 1960s. The word Hedzoleh means freedom in the Ga language. The album, recorded in Lagos, contains eight tracks: six are written by Hedzoleh, one by Masekela, and one is traditional. Their original melodies were based on traditional Akan & Ewe music and employed dark, organic-sounding African drums instead of modern western congas. Hugh Masekela was introduced to Hedzoleh by Fela Kuti. In addition to this album, Masekela recorded two more with Hedzoleh: I am Not Afraid and The Boy’s Doin’ It.