4.0 out of 5 stars
Great musicianship, February 25, 2005
This review is from: Sawale (Audio CD)
As Herb Caen said about their previous cd, "Terrific music !" Find this (1992) cd if you can. Ken Okulolo brings a unique influence from his time with King Sunny Ade's African Beats. Kotoja shows significant growth since their previous (1991) cd "Freedom is what Everybody Needs". The first 2 songs (and the tenth) remind me of Johnny Clegg. My Favorite songs are Sawale, Money Wahala, Water No Get Enemy, and We No Dey Run. There are also 2 instrumentals, of which Evil Eye is jamming - of course both are notably good.
I gave this cd Sawale 4 instead of 5 stars because I would have liked to hear a bit more keyboards; and a few songs need a little more development (Iye Iye, & Ejiro Oghene). The guitars and drums find a perfect balance. Vocals are good. Babatunde Williams' (formerly of Fela Kuti's Africa 70) trumpet is massive. Very well produced. A great addition to any world music collection.
Kotoja means "Let's be Friends" in the Yoruba dialect of Nigeria. If these guys played in the park on a sunny weekend day, everyone in town would be smiling & groovin' ...... Peace out.
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