Friday, April 1, 2011

Orlando Julius Ekemode - Dance Afro-Beat (1984)

When I danced to the irrepressible music of Orlando Julius in small clubs around the San Francisco Bay area during the mid-80s, I had no idea I was privileged to experience the genius of one of Nigeria's most influential musicians. I just felt incredibly lucky that this extraordinary African band lived nearby and performed regularly.

OJ Ekemode began recording in Nigeria in the mid-1960s, and by fusing local rhythms with the international musical influences flowing through Africa at the time – Cuban, funk, jazz, soul - he helped lay the foundation for Afrobeat. While Fela Kuti and Tony Allen built and expanded on that foundation in Nigeria, OJ became Afrobeat's ambassador, living in various places and always, always, creating.

Dance Afro-Beat was recorded in Nigeria, but released in the US on Ekemode's Afro-Beat Records label, and soon after picked up and distributed by Shanachie Records. Today's offering is from an album acquired while the ink was still wet. Unfortunately some of my Nigerian album collection suffered some water damage, a few years ago, and several record sleeves were ruined. Luckily no harm was done to the vinyl, and after using a vacuum record cleaner, the sound is as good as new. I apologize for the album art; I gleaned it from the web, where images of the Shanachie release are easy to find.

While preparing this great recording for posting, I was delighted to discover that almost ALL of Orlando Julius' early recordings have recently been released on CD. I urge you to get them while they last. I did!

Yesterday's mail brought me Super Afro-Soul and Orlando Julius and the Afro Sounders, both impressively packaged releases packed with photos of and information about this extraordinary talent. You can click on their images to find them.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

cool! i too used to dance to o.j at the ashkenaz back in the day. i used to have this lp and probably traded it in, while converting my collection to cds (bad move, but that's another story...)
i'm thrilled to hear this again, thanks!

Rhythm Connection said...

Maybe we danced together? You are very welcome for this great record. I have Sisi Shade to post soon, but my album jacket is completely trashed. I'm looking for better art, with no success yet. Stay tuned. . .

Richard said...

This was the first African album that I fell in love with. During the 1980s, after O.J. had moved the bay area, he apparently toured extensively and would show up in Albuquerque two or three times a year. He would play an old, converted movie theater downtown, and needless to say, a very good time was had by all! His band, expecially in the early years when they were all Nigerians, was fantastic! I'm sure that I have an old, very worn copy of this out in the garage, but thanks for making it easily available.

Francky said...

Thanks a lot to share this beautiful jerky muzak.
And hello from Belgium!

Anonymous said...

Hi, look here http://matlo44-funkytown.blogspot.fr/2012/11/orlando-julius-dance-afro-beat-complete.html , this bastard stole your rip & post it.

Anonymous said...

thank you so much! amazing blog btw!