Similar to the Rough Guide travel books, these compilations - this one delving into the smokin' rock, soul, jazz and funk fusion of African music (mostly) from the 60s and 70s - aim to get you in among it and on a level with the locals. And it's a song like Taxi Driver by the Milmani Park Orchestra that transports you to a cab in the 70s as you do some urban adventure sightseeing in the depths of Dodoma, the capital of Tanzania where this group come from. Then there is Ghanian veteran Ebo Taylor who offers up some deep and funky horn-infused psychedelia on Nga Nga (actually taken off his excellent 2010 Love and Death album), and the intriguing 13-minute epic, Wale Numa Lombaliya, from Mali's Rail Band is more akin to a symphony of musical styles than a song.
Also included here are the funky folk stylings of Nigeria's Victor Uwaifo and his 1966 tune Guitar Boy; Uwaifo's 1970's album Ekassa also comes as a bonus disc.
Stars: 4/5
-TimeOut
