I’ve already written about my serendipitous discovery of this album when Oneness of Juju came up on the randometer in August 2018. Though I’d been an unconscious fan of the raw funk and polyrhythms of African music since hearing their influence on Talking Heads’ Remain In Light album, which turned me on to Eno and Byrne’s My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts and a world of music beyond. Obviously, Africa is a continent, not a country, and its music and culture is as diverse (if not more so) than the continent of Europe. But what Russ Dewberry (British DJ and club promoter) has succeeded in doing here is exemplify a type of music rooted in a shared culture and love of funk, rather than a geographical place. One of the artists, Wganda Kenya, is actually from Columbia. And classic Afro-Latin funk crossover album Ritual by Nico Gomez & His Afro Percussion Inc was recorded by the Dutch-born Gomez in Belgium. It serves to demonstrate the enormous influence that these funky rhythms (“original Afro-Beat” as the subtitle has it) have had across Western pop, post-punk new wave bands and dance music. It’s a veritable who’s who of African funk: Miriam Makeba, Mandingo, Mombasa, and some stunning tracks such as The Gaytones Soul Makossa, Nkengas Jungle Funk, The Ashantis’ Everybody Groove and the track that made me first fall in love with it all: Oneness of Juju with the sublime vocals of Lady Eke-Ete on River Luv Rite. This is still one of my favourite compilation albums ever, an absolute joy to listen to throughout. #afrobeats #africanfunk #afrojazz #strutrecords #clubafrica #onenessofjuju #miriammakeba #compilationalbum #recordcollection #nowplaying #nowlistening #randomrecordreview https://www.instagram.com/p/CFIZ8A1p-S8/?igshid=1dg8wlod0o43o
