Review: K.O.G - Zone 6 Remixed EP (Heavenly Sweetness)

If you recall 'Zone 6, Agege' from earlier this year, you'll know K.O.G is a now a rising star with his own releases and through his collaborations with Nubiyan Twist, Scrimshire and ONIPA.

Heavenly Sweetness released the 15 track album which so suited their Afro/Jazz/Carib/Disco/Funky groove and this stands out as an Anglo Ghanian Fela stylee.

Kweku Sackey (aka K.O.G) has a gorgeous vocal that moves effortlessly between English, Pidfin, Ga and rap, poetry, soul and gospel.

So just to remind compilers of 'Album Of The Year' lists, here's a remix EP from the global dancefloor. 

I predicted back in the spring to mark your card for 'Ebenezer' as we're now in festive season and Aroop Roy takes a Fela to a disco party so we can get thiall the Scrooges outta town.

The Canadian Ghislain Poirier is as well travelled as Aroop and has just as many remix credits (most recently Gut's 'Kenke Corner') so no surprise that he was a top choice for 'No Way' which is just as fast as the original but heavier on the percussion making it another choice play for the dancefloor.

I said at the time that it would be a tough to decide on a single but I had no idea what Village Cuts (UK duo) could add to 'No Way' but we're Carib-bass heavy-Highlife and it's great or that Captain Planet (Bastard Jazz) who tweaks 'Shidaa' in a more jazzy hip-house with classy sax, organ and guitar arrangements.

The set is completed with the album vesions of 'Shidaa' and 'No Way' which makes this EP, a six of the best. In fact, don't wait to hear, “Hey! You boy”, get your 'Zone 6 Remixed' EP now! 

Artist: K.O.G

Title: Zone 6 Remixed EP

Release Date : 9th December, 2022

Catalog Number : -

Label : Pura Vida Sounds / Heavenly Sweetness

Format: 12" EP / Digital

Review: Malombo Jazz Makers, Jabula and Jazz Afrika – Spirit of Malombo (Strut Records)

South African jazz produced a couple genuine world stars in Hugh Masekela and in Dollar Brand/Abdullah Ibrahim. There were also some revered exile musicians in the form of the former Blue Notes Chris McGregor, Mongezi Feza, Johnny Dyani and Dudu Pukwana who moved to London and pioneered their very own brand of fiery free jazz as The Brotherhood of Breath (and in innumerable small groups) from  the ‘60s. Never a Blue Note, and perhaps less inclined to the avant-garde, was drummer Julian Bahula, who carried on playing an authentic township dance-based groove for many years through a succession of bands  Originally a star with the Malombo Jazz Men, that group transformed itself into Jazz Makers which is where this compilation picks up the story.
The Malombo Jazz Makers, which included flautist Philip Cindi invoking the traditional penny whistle sounds of the townships, and guitarist Lucky Ranku, were active in anti-apartheid cultural activity within South Africa and had been particularly aligned with the Black consciousness movement led by Steve Biko. As for  many other creative and dissident South Africans, conditions became intolerable at home, and Bahula moved to London in the early ‘70s where he proceeded to become virtually synonomous with the anti-apartheid movement. His new group, Jabula, were seldom missing from the fundraisers of the day.

Luckily the music took a more melodic turn with Jabula, as two discs of township jazz and its emphasis on swinging rhythm could pall as a ‘listening’ experience. The more fusion-oriented Jabula material breaks up the tempo and mood. That said, it’s hard to find anything to fault here. This is direct, powerful music  and a long overdue retrospective for a player who might’ve had a lucrative career as a session player, but chose to dedicate himself to the greater struggle of liberation.

The album is available now via iTunes or the Strut Store

Review: DJ Oil - Phantom (BBE Music)

A quick look at Discogs tells us that DJ Oil previously had a solo album out a few years back on Discograph, which totally passed this writer by. When I wondered why I realised I had pretty much given up on the trip-hop genre, which was so ubiquitous through the ‘90s and noughties, but fell off the radar as it became ever more ‘ambient’ and unchallenging.  Well, this release should have said radar beeping furiously, because it’s anything but soporific mood music. DJ Oil has definitely put the ‘hop’ –hip-hop’s urban grittiness—back into trip-hop, while the trip is all about our lives now, more often a nightmare than a hazy escapist fantasy. This impression is conjured by his inventive use of rousing spoken-word passages, field recordings and an array of cool analogue and digital effects.

It turns out DJ Oil, Frenchman Lionel Corsini, was part of The Troublemakers, an acclaimed group who (uniquely) had albums out on both deep house label Guidance and legendary jazz label Blue Note. That tells you something of his affiliations to African-American music, and it’s this rootedness in that musical tradition that really sets this apart from other contemporary downtempo efforts.  It has more to do with James Brown, Fela Kuti and John Coltrane than  it does the chocolate-box confections that had seemed to sound the death-knell of the trip-hop genre (we won’t name names because we’re sure you’ve nodded off to them all yourselves), and it’s hard not to see the Black nationalist rhetoric  as also a coded commentary on contemporary France in the light of recent events. This will keep its place in my boxes alongside contemporary downtempo beat-makers as diverse and brilliant as Madlib, Nightmares On Wax, Fredric Galliano and Boards of Canada.

Buy now via at iTunes: geni.us/DJOilPhantom
CD / Vinyl at: www.bbemusic.com

Album: Red Hot + Fela (Knitting Factory Records)

Fela Kuti lives on. AIDS awareness organization Red Hot has partnered with cross-genre collaborators representing rock, hip-hop, Americana, and classical for the release of Fela Kuti compositions on Red Hot + Fela. The album features classic Fela anthems like "Lady" recorded by tUnE-yArDs, Questlove, Angelique Kidjo, and Akua Naru, "ITT" by Superhuman Happiness, "No Buredi" reimagined as an electro-house track by Nneka, Sinkane, Amayo, and "Afrodisco Beat 2013" by Tony Allen, M1 + Baloji. It also includes cover versions by Spoek Mathambo, Brittany Howard (from Alabama Shakes), the Kronos Quartet along with TV On The Radios' Kyp Malone and Tunde Adembimpe, and many more.

Buy the LP

Download the incredible 'Buy Africa' for FREE