Afro Rock Volume One is one of the most important compilations of heavy original ’70s Afro funk and soul to be released in recent years. Originally surfacing on Duncan Brooker’s indie Kona label in early 2001, the album single-handedly kick-started the thirst among jazz, funk and soul fans and diggers to rediscover lost music from Africa made during the ’60s and ’70s from a time when many countries were gaining independence and celebrating a Pan-African identity within their music.
The album was one of the first to reach a far different audience in the traditional world music market and spawned many further projects and labels in its wake. A year later, the Nigeria 70 compilation surfaced on Strut, and labels like Soundway and Analog Africa would continue to unearth amazing lost gems from the Motherland. Out of print since 2002, the album is being reissued on Strut in its original form with an extra bonus track, a dynamite unreleased psychedelic cut by Kenya’s Ishmael Jingo.
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OTHER VINYL RECOMMENDATIONS:
Holly Golightly Medicine County
Beirut Lon Gisland
Mulatu Astatke Mulatu Steps Ahead
Manassas Pieces
Various Artists Up in the Air OST
Graham Parker Imaginary Television
Stephen Stills Manassas