Customer Reviews

VOL. 2-GHANA SOUNDZ: AFRO-BEAT FUNK & FUSION IN 70

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In 1986, I was 19 years old and a budding guitarist with interest in drums. A class was offered at the local community college in West African Drumming by a master drummer from Ghana, and I signed up for it. Soon, my friends and I were in a highlife band, led by the Ghanaian, playing clubs in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. The Ghanaian's name? Oscar Sulley.

It was Oscar who got me interested in music from West Africa, specifically Ghana. I was pleasantly surprised to see some of his early recordings finally getting to see the light of day. His presence on this CD was the reason I bought it, but all of the tracks are standouts. There are some clear James Brown influences in some of these, most notably K. Frimpong & The Cubano Fiesta's track "Aboagyewaa." The call-and-response between the bandleader and the band is almost a direct copy of James Brown from the Jungle Groove sessions. Still, the music is quite good.

To me, the most powerful tracks on the CD are Joe Mensah's "Africa Is Home" (very reminiscent of a Santana groove, "Toussaint L'Overture"), "Kyekye Pe Aware" by The Sweet Talks (A 70's synthesizer-laced groove with some excellent lead guitar work as well), and the huge, fat sound of Marijata's "No Condition Is Permanent." Be warned: Marijata is the BOMB. The performance was so laced with energy that they chose to release it despite a distorted vocal track. It is the defining track on the CD, with horns and keyboards that will knock your socks off.

If you enjoy good funk music and want to check it out with a different spin, I urge you to get this CD. If you like James Brown and Fela Kuti, you will not be disappointed.

this album is insanely funky. it's also nice to hear something different from the "north american" style of funk. not only are the arrangements very interesting (almost..odd?), but the drums are incredible. fans of fela kuti take note. when listened to on headphones, the songs are seriously hypnotic...almost trance inducing. i stood at a store's listening post for most of the album before purchasing it. one wonders what ever happened to these incredible musicians.

the music itself is amazing....any fan of funk music should check this out. a superb mix of afro and western funk styles. (think Cymande meets James Brown meets Kuti, plus more) the sound quality of the pressing is excellent (I have the vinyl version, I'm sure the CD's are just as nice). Unbelievably warm bass, clean drums, shimmering organ, etc. The original engineering on this music must have been awesome. I'm not sure how much additional cleaning / mastering was done for the compilation, but, regardless, the end result in sound quality is nothing short of amazing. overall, I'm very impressed with this compilation...lots of respect to Miles Claret for putting this together. It's definitely inspired me to explore the 70's Ghana scene further.

I was very pleased with my CD. the package when it arrived was immaculate. The cd was better than i expected because i was just trying to get one song but the whole CD is GREAT!!! can listen to it for hours.

Not to belabor the point but this is the most joyous album I have heard in years. The rhythm section is nonpareil - I defy you not be carried along - even if you're a musician yourself who thinks it is not cool to dance!! I think the fusion of American sounds is obvious, James Brown, Santana, etc, but what they have done with the fusion is positively amazing. GO OUT AND BUY THIS ALBUM!!!