Sir Victor Uwaifo – Joromi (Original Version)
https://amf.didiermary.fr/sir-victor-uwaifo-joromi-original-version/
Victor Efosa Uwaifo was the first African to be awarded a gold disc for his 1965 hit “Joromi.” According to him, a childhood, seaside encounter with a mermaid spurned his followup hit, “Guitar Boy“.
A restless musical enigma whose sound drew heavily upon the folky rhythms and melodies of his Edo roots, Uwaifo’s music ruled […]
RIP “le Maestro” Boncana Maïga
https://amf.didiermary.fr/rip-maestro-boncana-maiga/
A great African music master is gone. Boncana Maïga, nicknamed “le Maestro,” passed away on February 28, 2026, in a clinic in Bamako. Composer, arranger, musical director, producer, multi-instrumentalist (mainly flute and saxophone), he co-founded “Las Maravillas de Mali,” in the 60s after travelling to Cuba, where he was sent [...]
Professor Rhythm 3 (1991)
https://amf.didiermary.fr/professor-rhythm-1991/
The 1991 record “Professor 3” by Professor Rhythm is a vivid reflection of urban South Africa as apartheid was ending. Thami Mdluli’s production project had young and old dancing to a sound that sought to unite Blacks within Southern Africa. The late 1970’s and 80’s had been trying times for people of color. […]
Le Grand Kalle
https://amf.didiermary.fr/le-grand-kalle/
Le Grand Kalle: His Life His Music was a 2013 compilation (2-CD plus 104-page book) that brought together for the first time the breadth of Kalle’s recording career spanning over 3 decades including tracks taken from shellac and vinyl that had been unavailable for many years. In the turbulent and euphoric times that surrounded Congo’s […]
Super Mama Djombo – Luta Kana Maina #1
https://amf.didiermary.fr/super-mama-djombo-luta-kana-maina/
“Luta Kana Maina n°1” is from album “Na Cambança” by Super Mama Djombo at the end of the 70s.
Super Mama Djombo is a band from Guinea-Bissau who sing in Guinea-Bissau Creole. The band was formed in the mid-1960s, at a Boy Scout camp, when the members were only children (the youngest was six years […]
Franco, King of Rumba
https://amf.didiermary.fr/franco-king-of-rumba/
François Luambo Luanzo Makiadi (6 July 1938 – 12 October 1989) was a Congolese singer, guitarist, songwriter, bandleader, and cultural revolutionary, the King of Rumba.
#Compilation #Congo #Documentary #FrancoLuambo #OldAfricanMusic
Easy Motion Tourist
https://amf.didiermary.fr/easy-motion-tourist/
If you love old African music, from the Golden Age of Nigerian music in particular, you’ve known the song “Easy Motion Tourist”, made popular by Fatai Rolling Dollar in his last records before his death. But, there’s a long story behind this song since the ‘50s: who created it, who made it famous…
What’s for […]
#50smusic #Highlife #Nigeria #PalmWineMusic #OldAfricanMusic
Psychedelic Classics 3: Love’s a Real Thing
https://amf.didiermary.fr/psychedelic-classics-3-loves-a-real-thing/
World Psychedelic Classics, Vol. 3: Love’s A Real Thing – The Funky Fuzzy Sounds of West Africa
These twelve astonishing tracks are drawn from a broad spectrum of early 70s West African psychedelic [...]
#70smusic #Compilation #ManuDibango #Psychedelic #OldAfricanMusic
Medjo Me Nsom Jacob et son Ensemble
https://amf.didiermary.fr/medjo-nsom-jacob-ensemble-assiko/
Medjo Me Nsom Jacob (aka Oncle Medjo), born in January 1914 in Afane (center south Cameroon), was probably one of the last traditional Mvet player, but on a guitar, that he learned in 1942. His music style is called Assiko.
He was a prolific, inspired and altruistic artist who died in poverty in 1984 although […]
Hommage à Zanzibar – Gibraltar Drakus
https://amf.didiermary.fr/hommage-a-zanzibar-gibraltar-drakus/
Head for Cameroon with Gibraltar Drakus and its Hommage à Zanzibar, a short LP originally released in 1989, reissued in 2023.
The member of the emblematic bikutsi group Les Têtes Brûlées, offered a final tribute to the great guitarist Zanzibar (Théodore Epemeen, 1962-1988), who revolutionized the genre. [...]
Toto Guillaume – Françoise (1977)
https://amf.didiermary.fr/toto-guillaume-francoise-1977/
Born in August 1955, Toto Guillaume (Guillaume Toto Bessawa Nkaké) is a Cameroonian guitarist, songwriter, arranger, and producer, also known as the “captain of the national Makossa team,” a group of young Cameroonian and Caribbean musicians who played on the majority of Cameroonian songs recorded in France from the late 1970s to the late 1980s. […]
Les Go de Kotéba – Bara
https://amf.didiermary.fr/go-de-koteba-bara/
Les Go de Kotéba est un groupe de 3, puis 2 chanteuses et danseuses créé en 1993 à Abidjan. L’album contenant ce titre est sorti en 1997.
Le nom du groupe vient de Go — déformation de “girl” en nouchi — et de l’ensemble Kotéba d’Abidjan, une troupe de théâtre traditionnel mandingue fondée en 1974 par Souleymane […]
Maitre Gazonga – Jaloux Saboteurs
https://amf.didiermary.fr/maitre-gazonga-jaloux-saboteurs/
Jaloux Saboteurs par Maitre Gazonga est un classique…
J’ai (re)découvert que ce titre faisait partie de la bande originale du film “Black Mic-Mac” de Thomas Gillou avec Jacques Villeret et Isaac de Bankole (1986). Je me souviens que cette BOF m’avait marqué et que je l’ai cherchée longtemps… On y retrouve Papa Wemba, Youssou N’dour, […]
N’Guessan Santa – Manny Nia
https://amf.didiermary.fr/santa-nguessan-manny-nia/
N’Guessan Santa (N’Guessan Kouakou Hugues, born in December 1951 in Bouaké and nicknamed the “studio shark”), below in “Manny Nia” from a 7″ vinyl, was a songwriter, arranger, guitarist, bassist, drummer and Afrofunk/Afropop singer. In the 70s, he was part of bands such as Les Fétiches, Les Super Fétiches, and New System Pop. […]
Ivory Coast Soul
https://amf.didiermary.fr/ivory-coast-soul/
“Ivory Coast Soul – Afro Funk From Abidjan from 1972 to 1982” is a compilation released in 2010 on 2 vinyl LPs.
Volume 2 was released in 2012 and covers music produced […]
#70smusic #80smusic #AfroFunk #Compilation #CôteDIvoire #Remixed #OldAfricanMusic
Dr K. Gyasi & His Noble Kings (1974)
https://amf.didiermary.fr/dr-kwame-gyasi-noble-kings-1974/
Kwame Gyasi (1929–2012), aka Dr K. Gyasi, was a Ghanaian highlife musician. He originated the Sikyi highlife sub-genre which combined electric organ with the known highlife genres.He formed the Noble Kings Band with which he spent a large portion of his career.
No collection should be without this classic by Dr. K. Gyasi and his […]
Connecting 4 continents through music…
https://amf.didiermary.fr/djeli-moussa-diawara-salsa-cora/
One song, 4 continents connected…
A few years ago, I had an interesting exchange on ex-Twitter, after a radio DJ in Auckland, New Zealand, opened his show with a nice “old” song, associating it with the wrong artist…
A radio DJ in NYC who was listening to the replay was also wondering who could “really” […]
The Rise And Fall of Nigerian Rock
https://amf.didiermary.fr/wake-up-you-rise-fall-nigerian-rock/
Wake Up You! (1972-1977)
This compilation is a tribute to the many bands that formed this relatively unknown 1970s Nigerian Rock & Psychedelic circle. It includes tracks from Ify Jerry Krusade, The Hygrades, The Hykkers, Waves, The Funkees, Theodore Nemy and many more.
Miss Smodern
https://amf.didiermary.fr/miss-smodern/
Miss Smodern est l’une des raretés de la musique africaine, en particulier, car il n’y a pratiquement pas d’information sur le titre, ni les interprètes.
Le nom “S’modern” ou “Smodern” semble avoir été utilisé par de multiples variations de groupes des années 50 à 70, a priori pour des groupes vocaux Zulu féminins… […]
Paul Ndlovu – Tsakane!
https://amf.didiermary.fr/paul-ndlovu-tsakane/
Before Shangaan Electro, there was Shangaan Disco in the 80s & 90s. It’s township pop music, just like Kwaito, but the difference is based on its ethnic origin, the Tsonga (Shangaan) language. Although the sound evolved and reached a larger audience, the ethnic name remained. […]
Blo – Chapter One
https://amf.didiermary.fr/blo-chapter-one/
Blo, AfroFunk-Rock from Nigeria in the 70s.
Chapter One was Blo’s debut album, originally released by EMI in 1973. Blo were remarkable for a variety of reasons: they were arguably the first rock trio to emerge from Africa and its members — Berkely ‘Ike’ Jones on guitar, Laolu ‘Akins’ Akintobi on drums and Mike ‘Gbenga’ […]
Youssou N’Dour – Nelson Mandela (live)
https://amf.didiermary.fr/youssou-ndour-nelson-mandela/
This version of “Nelson Mandela” is from “Youssou N’Dour & Le Super Etoile de Dakar – Fatteliku” released in 2015.
This album was recorded live in Athens on Peter Gabriel’s So tour in 1987.
#LiveMusic #Madiba #Sénégal #SouthAfrica #YoussouNDour #OldAfricanMusic
Orchestre de l’Université d’Abidjan (OUA) – Pétrole mouillé
https://amf.didiermary.fr/orchestre-universite-abidjan-oua-petrole-mouille/
Créé dans les années 70-80 en Côte d’Ivoire, pour faire de la musique un élément d’épanouissement intellectuel et artistique des étudiants ainsi qu’un excellent instrument de pacification et d’éveil des consciences, voici l’Orchestre de l’Université d’Abidjan (OUA), groupe mythique de la scène [...]
#70smusic #80smusic #CôteDIvoire #FullAlbum #OldAfricanMusic
Tamfoum Ibrahim & Amabano Band – Salam
https://amf.didiermary.fr/tamfoum-ibrahim-amabano-band-salam/
Ibrahim Tam Fum Kayenge Dembo (Fidel) is a guitarist born in Kinshasa who played in many bands. Here in a video shot in the Netherlands with Amabano Band.
