Monumental Afro Soul from El Rego Et Ses Commandos – El Rego's best recordings from the late 60s to early 70s – a beautifully done compilation put together by Daptone and Frank Gossner, the deep digging West African music expert behind Voodoo Funk! Theophile Do-Rego is a legend in his native Benin, essentially credited as the godfather of Benin funk – but to date, he hasn't been celebrated around the world nearly as famously as the superstars of African music hailing from Nigeria and Ghana. That's something that can change really quickly if enough people pick up this truly great compilation of pioneering recordings. Singer El Rego and his excellent, diversely capable band – sax and flute by Baboni Oudou, sax by Michel Diogo, guitar by Oscar De Souza, trumpet by Emmanuel Ganssounou, guitar by Roger Coffi, tumba by Marcelin Kpohonon, additional vocals by Christian Agueh, and bass by band leader Paul Hounnou – take a tighter approach to funky soul. Just a couple tracks on this set roll past the 4 minute mark – which gives it a tighter soul sound, along with some Benin blues and some riveting JB-indebted vocal affections.
Had this glued to the turntable last night! BUY IT. simply amazing. Hats off (again) to Voodoo Frank and Daptone. Buy it on wax!!!
Raw sound, indeed – and possibly one of the most hard-hitting compilations so far from the Analog Africa label! There's a quality here that's mighty fresh, and which shows us that there's still plenty of African nuggets to find, if you know where to dig! Much of the music has a dark, moody quality that's really striking – still the grooves you'd expect, but an exotic undercurrent that's almost like Ethiopian music – although very much it's own vibe too! The mix is really wonderful, and makes these tracks from Burkina Faso a rich musical discovery – one that's very thoughtfully put together by the Analog Africa label, with their usual strong attention to sound and detailed notes – not to mention a very handsome package.
Viva Samy + Analog Africa! Another DOPE comp. Buy it on wax!!!!
Lifted from Dusty Groove.
DAPTONE
VOODOO FUNK
ANALOG AFRICA
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