In 1980 a 15-man band from Dar Es Salaam got together in a Nairobi studio with some young Brits who wanted to cash in on the Afropop boom that was sweeping the nation thanks to Nigeria's King Sunny Ade. Mzee 'Elder' Makassy was the leader and principal vocalist of the band named after him; Tshimanga Assosa of Maquis Original contributed singing and songwriting skills. The songs are sung in Shona, Swahili and Lingala.

Mose Se Sengo a.k.a. 'Fan Fan' is often mentioned in connection with the band as he had been chef d'orchestra before striking out on his own. The excellent, bustling Kasongo Shinga played bass, there were two drummers, a tumbador, and four horn players, including Twalib Mohamed as trumpet soloist and Akuliake Saleh on alto sax. In short, a classic East African dance-band line-up.

The opening track 'Mambo Bado' become a dance-floor hit. It still gets you going from the first note. 'Mambo Bado' should have prompted the group to international stardom but Virgin failed to promote them. In 1984, they broke up after the release of a little known album Muzuki Orchestre Makassy. Fortunately, guitarist Mose Fan Fan used some of the bands early recordings on an album called Agwaya.

This is one of the few albums from this time, which still sound exciting. It’s now been released on CD with two bonus tracks. This however is a needledrop of the vinyl first edition, on Virgin. This will bring a smile to your face and get you on the dance floor even if you’ve never been there before. 

Vinyl needledrop using:

Linn LP12, Lingo, Ekos and Dynavector XX2 moving coil cartridge.

Via 

Naim 62 pre-amp.

Into

Pioneer PDR-609 CDR.

Using

TDK audio CDR.

EAC rip

Cover (from original lp sleeve)


FLAC



Don’t forget seed the weed!