Various – Edo Funk Explosion Vol.1
Analog Africa – 26 March 2021
The determination and tenacity with which both dedicated individuals and independent record companies/labels scour the world in order to bring often obscure, difficult to source or simply hitherto unavailable music is a blessing truly appreciated by many music lovers. One such specialist label is Analog Africa, founded in 2006 and based in Germany, which over the years has been responsible for opening the ears of many to the wonderful sounds of African countries including Burkino Faso, Cape Verde, Congo, Senegal and Zimbabwe.
Now to their extraordinary list of releases can be added another truly fascinating compilation in the shape of their latest offering Edo Funk Explosion Vol.1.
Compiled by Analog Africa founder and researcher Samy Ben Redjeb along with fellow collector and enthusiast Bela Patrutzi, the album celebrates a sub-genre of music, Edo Funk, a hybrid style which evolved in the late 1970s in Benin City, southern Nigeria, a time during which Analog Africa says that musicians began “integrating elements from their native Edo culture and fusing them with new sound effects coming from West Africa’s night-clubs.” The album itself presents music from around the period of 1980-85 and focuses on contributions from the genre’s three greatest historical innovators and originators.
Thus, as if characters in a pack of tarot cards, we are presented with Osayomore Joseph, the politician, Akaba Man, the philosopher and Sir Victor Uwaifo, the psychedelic, who each deliver four tracks on this 12 track album.
In contrast to the more polished Nigerian disco productions of the period, Edo Funk possessed much more of a raw, basic feel, ‘stripped-back to propulsive rhythms, horns, guitar and keyboard’, and whilst each of these seminal artists brought their own unique musical trademark stamp to the sound, what united them was their creative ability to strip funk of its essence, to distil it and then use it as the basis for their own explorations and excursions into the heart of Edo culture. The result is an explosive funky experience second to none.
Already a star in Nigeria, having had several hits in the early 1970s, Sir Victor Uwaifo is often credited with conceiving Edo funk, when, having built his legendary sixteen-track Joromi Studio in Benin City in 1978, he was able to build upon his unique guitar style by introducing synthesisers, swirling Hammond organ & Leslie Cabinet-type sounds, trance-like bass lines, complete with various effects. This musical alchemist is thus responsible for producing some of the greatest of these genre-defining recordings. Credited as Sir Victor Uwaifo And His Titibitis, the vibrancy of the music on his four offerings is palpable. With the squelchy synthesisers adding delicious psychedelic flavours, particularly effective on the superb Aibalegbe and Iranm Iran, the juxtaposition of the traditional, with the, (at the time), new, is exceptional.
Unafraid of expressing political thoughts, be they denouncing government corruption or Nigeria’s colonial past, Osayomore Joseph, was one of the first musicians to bring the sound of the flute to the horn-dominated world of Edo Funk. Featured on this compilation as a solo artist in addition to performing with The Creative Seven and The Ulele Power Sound, his innovative use of the flute, blends dazzlingly with the Afrobeat rhythms and electric instrumentation. Africa Is My Root and the toe-tapping, hip-shaking gem that is My Name Is Money will have you reaching for your dancing shoes.
Demonstrably less overtly political than Joseph, and certainly sonically less psychedelic than Uwaifo, Akaba Man, ascribed the epithet ‘the philosopher king of Edo Funk’, is represented by four top-drawer tracks, three with The Nigie Rokets, and one with The African Pride. Singing mainly in Bini, the native language of the Edo people in Edo State, and with a sound featuring trance-like grooves awash with cosmic synthesisers, the rhythms are irresistible. The bass lines, vocals and heart-warming brass on Ta Gha Hunsimwen, underscored by hypnotising percussion beats, encapsulate perfectly what this genre can offer.
From the opening track to the last, this is an intoxicating album. Edo Funk Explosion Vol. 1 is an essential compilation, illuminating the work of these three groundbreaking artists and their incendiary sound, the likes of which had never been heard before. It is available on 2xLP/Gatefold LP with 20-Page Booklet / CD with 36-Page Booklet digitally.
Edo Funk Explosion Vol. 1′ is available for pre-orders: https://analogafrica.bandcamp.com/album/edo-funk-explosion-vol-1
All Image Credits: Analog Africa