Echocentrics - Pioneira (feat. Tita Lima)

from the album "Hailu Mergia & His Classical Instrument" (ATFA006), out now.
LP/CD/Tape: bit.ly/11HYiSv
MP3: bit.ly/H2pffa
HAILU MERGIA w/ Tony Buck & Mike Majkowski
EUROPE DATES!

03.06. DE Berlin Urban Spree
05.06. PL Warsaw Pardon, To Tu
06.06. UK London Café OTO
07.06. FR Paris Villette Sonique

Hailu Mergia — Ambasel

Cametá, a historical little Amazonian town on the shores of the river Tocantins, is the birthplace of the scorching music known as “Siriá”; a cross pollination between the music of the inhabitants of the quilombos, a Brazilian hinterland settlement founded by escaped slaves of African origins, and the indigenous people of the Amazon rainforest. It is a breathing, pulsing, emphatic beat, and the modernised version of this local music, created by Mestre Cupijó, has been igniting street parties and traditional festivals across the state of Pará in Northern Brazil for decades. And at last in 2014, the combustible sound of Siriá will be celebrated internationally as the feverish, tropical sound of the summer!

Foretelling his talent to flow between cultures, Cupijó was named after a local river when he was born in 1936, into a family of musicians. His father, Mestre Vicente Castro, was also known as Mestre Sicudera, the musical director of Centennial Euterpe, one of Brazil ́s oldest bands, founded in 1874. 

At 12, Cupijó started to play the clarinet. He also became proficient at the piano, mandolin and guitar, although the instrument that came to personify his sound was the alto saxophone. Waltz, bolero, cha cha cha and an assortment of dance hall music became part of Cupijó's repertoire, but it was Carimbó and Siriá, the music played by the black communities of Pará, that had the strongest impact on the young musician.

To grasp the soul of this music, Cupijó went to its source and lived with the quilombolas (maroon) community of the Amazon. Upon his return, enriched by this life-changing experience, he founded the band "Jazz Orquestra os Azes do Ritmo" with the goal of reinventing Siriá and modernising Samba de Cacete, Banguê and other folkloric music of the state of Pará. Airwaves from the Caribbean and Latin America had also brought the cumbia sound of the mighty Colombian orchestras, Merengue from the Dominican republic and Cuban music to the Amazon, all of which had an impact on the music of Northern Brazil, Mambo especially! Mestre Cupijó took these influences and mixed them in with the ingredients he had studied in the Quilombos. That fusion – as we are witnessing on this record – had explosive effects.

His fresh new sound became the soundtrack to Cametá's legendary Carnival and soon his troupe were invited to other festivals along the river. Transportation to these concerts was via small boats, where three or four musicians would share a vessel with their instruments tucked between their legs. In those days there were no posters or radio adverts to promote the shows in any way, yet Cupijó’s shows became notorious. In an interview one of his band members explains: "Whenever there was a party – on a Saturday for example – and it was known that Mestre Cupijó would play, the news would spread incredibly fast, just by word of mouth. We didn’t understand how that was possible, but it certainly was amazing."

After the initial wave of enthusiasm, the first two LPs were recorded with rudimentary equipment in a dance club in Cametá. However, it was the third attempt, recorded in a studio in Belém, which would trigger a phenomenal success. "Caboclinha Do Igapo" and "Mambo do Martela", included on this record, became instant hits. A year later, "Mingau de Açai", one of Cupijo ́s most popular tunes, took the region by storm. In total six LPs were recorded by Mestre Cupijó.

He then created "Concurso de Musicas Carnavalesco de Compositores Cametaenses”, a contest for carnival music composers. The songs composed expressly for these contests in the 70s are still performed today during carnival season. In addition to evolving the Pará music culture in this way, he also owned a makeshift soundsystem, "Musicolor", to spin the discs of local artists before his own shows to the frenzied crowds. Mestre Cupijó proved himself a philanthropist as well as a conductor for the people’s music, and acted as a provisional lawyer for the city of Cametá, specialising in help for the poor. He also had a short spell in politics and was elected by a vast majority to the station of Municipal Councillor of Cametá.
Master Cupjó, the pillar of Pará's festive culture, and a humble pop icon who was ushered prominently into the country’s history books, passed away on 25 September 2012, at the age of 76.

We at Analog Africa are ferociously proud and honoured to have the chance to present these carefully selected tracks from Mestre Cupijó’s six studio albums. We hope that his music captivates you with the magic and bewilderment that is has us. We recognise his compositions as true anthems of life and vitality, vibrantly encouraging all to drink and dance until sunrise! Let go of your inhibitions and immerse yourself in the wonderful world of Mestre Cupijó........ Segura!!!

Mingau de Açai - Mestre Cupijo (OUT NOW)

No mastering, no restoration......Raw in your face!
Enjoy the impact !!

(Share with friends, spread the word, forward to loved ones, download to your ipod .......enjoy !!! )

Buy Analog Africa here

Analog Africa Selection Vol.3 (2013) Download it, Share it, forward it

Various Artists - Footprints EP
Format: 12" vinyl sampler
Release date: March 17, 2014
All tracks taken from the forthcoming full-length album Footprints to be released on April 28 on CD & digital.
www.jazzandmilk.com

Jazz & Milk is back with a brand new compilation series featuring previously unreleased tracks by international label artists, friends & family! The 6 track "Footprints EP" offers a small foretaste of the forthcoming full-length compilation to be released in April 2014.

Footprints starts off with the heavy Afro-Funk vibes of the Bad Jazz Troupe, remixed by Jazz & Milk label-founder Dusty. Sam Irl from Vienna takes us on a journey of raw emotion. On "Time" he fed his MPC with filthy vinyl samples, jazzy rhodes chords, deep basslines and smooth synth-arppegios - all glued together on top of a driving House beat. "Sidama de Cali" is a 50/50 blend of Ethiopian and Colombian music by Todd Simon & The Angel City of All Star Brass Band featuring strictly horns and percussion - including Quantic on the guacharaca (colombian version of the guiro) and a 'who is who' of LA's music scene.

The B-side begins rather bass-heavy. On Dusty's "Cosmic Path" gliding synths and vibrant percussion float over a foundation of deep bass and slightly off-kilter beats. Russian talent Lay-Far delivers a soulful broken beat tune - "A Good Old Holiday Groove" draws obvious influence from mid 70's jazz. The EP concludes with the legendary Munich-based formation Karl Hector & The Malcouns. "Who's Foolin' Who?" was written by JJ Whitefield (producer and guitarist for the Poets of Rhythm and the Whitefield Brothers) and reflects his affinity for sounds from across the African diaspora.

Todd Simon & The Angel City All Star Brass Band - Sidama De Cali

Muyei Power or Orchestre Muyei (muyei means ‘our country’) was one of the top dance bands of the1970s in Sierra Leone. Soundway Records' first collection of music from this West African country (‘Muyei Power: Sierra Leone in 1970s USA’) is an album of rock-infused, 'afro' music from a group that traveled the world throughout the mid 1970s. Fusing elements of electric Congolese and Nigerian music with fast, syncopated, uptempo modernised arrangements of traditional songs, Muyei Power produced a series of unique single-only releases that have been unavailable for 35 years. The rare recordings featured here are a glimpse of a dynamic and powerful band at the very height of its powers.

Even though lyrically Orchestre Muyei focused on traditional themes and songs, the arrangements and formulation of the instrumental side of things still very much reflected the mixed nature of urban Sierra Leone music, exemplified by a small collection of bands that also included Afro National, Sabanoh 75 and Super Combo.

For the early part of 1970s the band toured extensively throughout Sierra Leone, Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire before making a handful of 45s in local TV and radio studios.

The recordings featured here however come from a period of touring the college circuit in California during late 1975 and early 1976. Later that year, as they played the colleges of the east coast, they gave the tracks to the owner of the African Record Centre in Brooklyn, New York. He initially released two of them on his in-house Makossa Records label as 7-inch 45rpm singles in 1976. The tracks from 1975/6 were then not heard of again until 1979/80 when the African Record Centre released many of them on a series of Makossa Records 12”s that sounded far superior than the 45s that had been released a few years earlier. 

Orchestre Muyei Power finally split up in 1979 leaving no proper album releases and only a handful of recordings for us to enjoy all these years later.  The tracks have been licensed courtesy of ex lead-singer and bandleader Abou Whyte who now lives in New Jersey and performs as a solo artist.

The CD & LP both come with detailed liner notes, with the vinyl being pressed on 180g vinyl with a free digital download insert code.

Pre-order

Muyei Power - Wali Bena

To Purchase!
https://kadhjabonet.bandcamp.com/track/tears-for-lamont

Kadhja Bonet was born in 1784 in the backseat of a seafoam green space pinto. After spending an extraordinarily long time in her mothers plasma, she discovered the joys and gratifactions of making noise with her hands and face while traveling at maximum velocity through intergalactic jungle quadrants. She hopes you will join her on a journey <3

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/KadhjaBo
inquiries to kadhjabonet@gmail.com

Lyrics:

Now and again I crave a Lover's brew
despite the bitter note that follows through
close my eyes and taste the fantasy
knowing well and good it does deceive

but dawn it coaxes certain phrases out
turn on the light 'fore magic burneth out
and in the dark you'll see whats meant to be
is only marrow's error and a plea

to fall away
leave me in an almost state of grace
and when its through
i'll be just another ghost to you

now as it is we'll part as deities do
we'll kiss and pay respect where love is due
because we've reached the edge of paradise
before we've tasted fruit that does entice

so fall away
leave me in an almost state of grace
and when its through
i'll be just another ghost to you

but then i think of just how brave you are
a child that's never fallen down to hard
and i'm inclined to love you anyway
and pray for bits of whimsy in heartache

so fall away
leave me in an almost state of grace
and when its through
i'll be just another ghost to you
fall away
leave me in an almost state of grace...

Tears For Lamont

Taken from Batida's soon to be released Alegria EP, the second remix laden offshoot single from his debut LP released early this year. Mixing the syncopated, synthetic rhythms of kuduro with elements of classic 1970s semba and congolese-influenced guitar licks Batida's creator Pedro Coquenão and others have extended and re-worked three of the best album cuts.
 
For the EP Batida has re-worked and extended the feel-good cut ‘Alegria’ (which featured on his debut album released earlier this year), stretching it out over six minutes as well as providing a radio friendly edit. As the name of the track suggests 'Alegria' is perhaps the most joyous cut from the record, here strung out for the dancefloor.
 
More info on the release can be found here:
http://www.soundwayrecords.com/catalogue/alegria-ep.html


Buy EP

Batida - Alegria (12" extended version)

Here's a cumbia version of War's 'The World Is A Ghetto' performed by one of my student ensembles named Los Bambis (aka CCECHS Intermediate Band)

The World Is A Ghetto

Remix for Portuguese/Angolan Kuduro act - Batida "Alegria" included on the remix album "Kambas" available for Free Download https://www.facebook.com/batida?sk=app_190322544333196&app_data

The World Is A Ghetto

toddsimon