Saturday, June 30, 2012

Quatre Etoiles - Dance (1985)

Early this year I posted 6 Tubes from this supergroup, before calamity befell many blog colleagues. I had this great record queued, but at the time it was available on Global Groove and I deferred. Dance is one of the most tasty Quatre Etoiles records, in my opinion, and one of its earliest.

So to fill in one of the gaps in the GG cloud library, here is a Zimbabwe pressing of this classic, complete with its marginal sleeve art. You can read more about the band in my previous post.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Ndombe Opetum - 20 Ans de Carriere (1989)


I have been on the road lately, in more ways than one, so have been unable to post regularly. Yet I did learn with sadness of the recent demise of Ndombe Opetum, via the inimitable World Service blog. I highly recommend you go there for a complete biography, pictures and a video.

While I cannot offer any deeper information about "Pepé", I can offer in tribute some music from the masterful composer/singer, who was such a presence in both Afrisa and T.P.O.K. Jazz over many years.  Today's record, on the Anytha-Ngapy label, presents two long medleys of Opetum's memorable songs.

Sadly I lost track of the album, so the (pristine) recording here is from the first-play copy I made years ago on a metal cassette. Unfortunately I have no information on the other personnel involved in this tasty session. Perhaps others could enlighten us in the comments?