Description

2LP Vinyl – AALP 079

Senegal 70, a hotly anticipated offering in partnership with two of the biggest names in African re-releases – Analog Africa and Teranga Beat – puts a spotlight on Dakar in an age when international stars like James Brown, the Jackson Five and Cuban singer Celia Cruz were travelling to West Africa's new creative hub. The organ rich, reggae-swaggering opener, 'Mariama', is a fantastic display of how everything congealed into one huge punch. Play a few opening seconds of any track here and not a lot changes, but this only adds to Senegal 70's hypnotic force; underlying Latin influences again gave Senegal a slower, groovier music scene than its oft referenced Nigerian counterpart. And while King N'gom's 'Viva Marvillas' sounds straight off the streets of Havana, most of this compilation has a distinctly free feel.