Jo Bisso - Dance To It

Year : 2015/1976

Label : Africa Seven/Disques Espérance

Genre : Soul, Afrobeat

Style : Funk/Soul, Disco

Debut album of Jo Bisso, a cameroonian singer, producer & arranger influenced by US Soul & Funk music from Otis Reading to James Brown, singing as well his native tongue as french and english. From 1976 to 1979, Jo Bisso released four records to the disco accents and produced albums of his fellow countrymen Sookie and the disco duo, "Venise", led by Linda Henderson & Sharon Criswell. Settled in Paris from 1971, he signed on Decca France his first single "Flying To The Land Of Soul" (1974) as J.B. Afro Soul, produced by Pierre Jaubert, the man behind "The Lafayette Afro Rock Band" name (ex-Ice), before to sign on Disques Espérance, a world & african music label based in Paris. The album opens up with the title track "Dance To It", a catchy disco funk in two parts, the rest of the album is a blend of Jazz (Don't Fight The Feeling), Soul music (Let's Keep It Together), Funk (Give It Up) with afro/disco beats, and concludes with the beautiful ballad "Odwa". All songs composed and arranged by Jo Bisso except "Ramaya" written by A. Simone/St. Regal and "Odwa" by Ossibissa.

Mary Afi Usuah - African Woman

Year : 1978
Label : Clover Sound
Genre : Soul, Rock
Style : African Funk, Afrobeat, Disco

Mary Afi Usuah was an a opera former singer to the raw power, reminding Betty Davis or Tina Turner's voices and Sly & The Family Stone for the music, one of the greatest songstress than the African continent has produced. From 1969 to 1978, she only released three albums (the first was reissued by the Frank Gossner's label, Voodoo Funk), and toured in Europe as chorister for Duke Ellington, Deep Purple or Led Zeppelin, before returning to Lagos to take a position at the Ministry of Culture. "African Woman" is the meeting between soul music, afrobeat and nigerian highlife including pure funk (What’s A Woman To Do), reggae (Our Generation) and disco sounds (Tell Me Now). For "African Woman", She composed all lyrics, in english and african languages, supported by the Heads Funk Band, aka Akwassa, featuring bassist Joe "Castro" Matthews and guitarist Felix Odey, also in charge of the songs arrangements.  All lyrics by Mary Afi Usuah, arranged by Sylvester Akaiso, Joe Matthews and Felix Odey.

Peter King - Shango

 

Year : 2013  

Label : Mr Bongo   

Serie : Classic African Recordings   

Genre : Soul, Afrobeat   

Style : Funk/Soul

Originally recorded in 1974 at Camden Town Studio, London, "Shango" was never released, despite the success of his following albums, before british label STRUT does it in 2002. The album showcases the bop expressions of Nigerian saxophonist/flutist Peter King influenced by Sonny Rollins, Gene Ammons and the John Coltrane's play. "Shango" combines highlife music, afrobeat, soul jazz and the typical James Brown's Funk including the heavy grooves "Shango", "Watusi", "Freedom Dance" and the soulful song "Prisonnier Of Law". Peter King recorded the "Shango" sessions featuring his afro-ska band "The African Messengers" formed in the sixties in London including Humphrey Okoh-Turner (as), David Williams (eb), Paul Edoh (cg), Arthur Simon (eg), Mike Falana (tp), James Menin (ds).