Wganda Kenya - Que Buena Esta (1979)

One of the most influential bands from the Caribbean coast of Colombia has to have been Wganda Kenya. I first heard Wganda Kenya in Central America, where in the early '80s two songs from this album absolutely ruled the airwaves and parties: Rosalia and Suavecito (Avispa). Other cuts of this great band can be found on recent Soundways releases, but here is a classic album.

African culture is prominent around the entire Caribbean rim, including the coastal communities of Central and South America. Sample coastal music from any of the rim countries, and you will find direct links to ancestral African cultures. Wganda Kenya, taking a name that itself invokes Africa, takes cumbia and mixes the rhythms up to create something completely different, more African. I hope Fabián can gives us many details in the comments.

Enjoy!

On a technical note: This is one of the most damaged records I own. The file I offer is remarkably cleaned using a program called ClickRepair, which removed a ton of surface noise without damaging the music, at least for my ears. The final cut on both sides have a vinyl material defect that creates some noise I could not remove. Oh well. If you would like to hear the album before processing with ClickRepair, you can get it here.

Apart from just plain great music, this post is un saludo a los muchos colombianos costeños que me han contactado através de este sitio. Thanks!