Monday 11 August, 2008

King Sunny Adé and His African Beats - Juju Music (1982)



"After nearly 15 years as Nigeria's biggest musical draw and juju music's reigning monarch, King Sunny Ade went global in 1982 with a brief but fertile stint on the Mango label. The three albums that resulted -- Juju Music, Synchro System, and Aura -- gave Ade unprecedented exposure on the Western market and introduced a slew of music lovers to the sounds of Afro-pop. Juju Music was the first of Ade's Mango titles and remains the best of the lot. Over the course of seven extended cuts, King Sunny Ade & His African Beats lay down their trademark mix of talking drum-driven grooves, multi-guitar weaves, lilting vocal harmonies, and pedal steel accents; for this major-label debut, the band also chucks in some tasteful synthesizer bits and a few reggae-dub flourishes. Besides classic juju pop like 'Ja Funmi' and 'Ma Jaiye Oni,' Ade and his 20-piece entourage serve up percussion breakdowns like 'Sunny Ti de Ariya' and a heady blend of soul, dub, and synth noodlings on '365 Is My Number/The Message.' Throughout, Ade deftly inserts Hawaiian slide guitar licks and Spanish-tinged lines reminiscent of Hendrix' 'All Along the Watchtower.' Juju Music should not only be the first-disc choice for Ade newcomers, but for the Afro-pop curious as well."

Stephen Cook, allmusic.com

1. Ja Funmi
2. Eje Nlo Gba Ara Mi
3. Mo Beru Agba
4. Sunny Ti de Ariya
5. Ma Jaiye Oni
6. 365 Is My Number/The Message
7. Samba/E Falaba Lewe

Thanks to the original uploader.

link @320

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3 comments:

akazuk said...

Thanks for linking my blog. I've been following your blog for some time. Keep up the good work.
Peace!

babaluma
zombibaba.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

thank you for a great post--and a fantastic blog!

gidouille said...

This record was all the rage in Portland in the early 80's. I didn't own it, but many of my friends did, so when King Sunny Adé toured behind it, I had to go see him. I was never much for dancing at concerts, but it was impossible not to jump around to these exquisite liquid polyrhythms.

you have a really interesting set of recordings on your blog.