Guy Warren "The Divine Drummer" (RetroAfric Records, 2002)
These kooky, free-jazz/world beat percussive explorations probably are not for everyone, but they are kinda weird and unique. Ghanaian drummer Guy Warren (aka Kofi Ghanaba) is one of the more elusive figures in the jazz world, as well as the African pop scene. He did a lot of work with a lot of great African bands in the '40s and '50s, founding the Tempos band that later made E.T. Mensah famous, and later got into the hard bop and free jazz scenes of the 1960s, gigging with some of the greats of the style. Then he kinda wigged out and got super-experimental, as these 1969-70 sessions amply demonstrate. It's weird stuff -- Max Roach meets the rainforest -- recorded with minimal instrumentation and a trance-y overall vibe, though also fairly artsy and irritating, in a way that might be familiar to folks who have heard Alice Coltrane or Pharoah Sanders.

Wazimbo & The Orchestra Marrabenta Star De Mocambique "Nwahulwana" (Piranha Records, 2001)
A pretty slick update of the marrabenta style from Mozambique... The glossy production, with smooth horn charts and liberally slathered, heavily processed electric guitar, left me a bit put off. The passion of the musicians seems pretty remote to me, too similar to all that slick stuff from South Africa.

Wells Fargo "Watch Out!" (Now Again Records, 2016)
An exhaustively researched homage to one of Zimbabwe's pioneering rock bands, deluxe-packaged inside a hardback booklet with a sweeping seventy-page essay about the band's history and cultural context inside late-era Rhodesia's repressive police state. Formed right when political tensions were coming to a boil in the early 1970s, Wells Fargo was an apartheid-era heavy-rock group inspired by Deep Purple, Jimi Hendrix and other hippie-era guitar-centric bands. Playing at small clubs and in state-sanctioned "youth follies" talent shows, Wells Fargo gained a popular following first in the segregated black townships and then among white rock fans who began to attend their shows. They drew the ire of the Rhodesian government both because of their often-political artistic stance and because of their increasingly integrated audiences. Although it had a shifting membership, the group was led primarily by drummer-vocalist Ebba Chitambo and lead guitarist George Phiri who had both worked their way through a variety of pop and rock bands in the Bulawayo townships, crossing paths at various gigs before forming this band in 1973. Chitambo was the main driving force and most constant member, and the extensive liner notes focus on him as the band's central character, detailing his awakening to American-style hard rock and his stubborn persistence in holding together a band that often didn't fit in with the prevailing taste of the times. Along the way, biographer Matthew Shechmeister adds insight into the tenuous nature of Zimbabwe's early music industry , particularly how the music of many pop-oriented groups was only barely preserved, since most of the country's early rock music wasn't released commercially, but rather recorded onto fragile radio transcription discs only intended for broadcast on local radio stations: typically only a handful of copies were pressed, and few of them survived long enough to be copied and preserved in the digital era. There were also some seven-inch singles and cassette albums galore, but overall the creative output of these rebellious bands was lost to the tides of time, especially as tensions rose between the white minority government and an increasingly radicalized liberation movement. The musicians in Wells Fargo were one of the most prominent and consciously political bands in the rock scene, recording a single, "Watch Out," which became an underground anthem for fans who understood the song's coded revolutionary lyrics. The Rhodesian special branch police had the band on their radar as well, and officials harassed the musicians throughout the 'Seventies, breaking up their shows and severely beating them at one notorious gig. As the liberation struggle broke into an open warfare in the late 'Seventies, American-style rock music remained an act of political defiance, but Wells Fargo eventually found itself trapped between the racist government -- which despised rock because of its culture-crossing appeal -- and the black militants, dogmatic Marxists who increasingly felt that the liberation movement should reject "white" and "bourgeois" musical styles such as psychedelic rock and funk. Over the course of the 1970s, the group released several vinyl singles and recorded demos of other hard-rock songs, which together make up this collection which, if we're being honest, is pretty rough-edged and not always that cohesive or enjoyable beyond its historical interest. It has its moments, sure, but it's not my favorite African rock record. Anyway, after independence was won in 1980, Wells Fargo shifted into playing more afro-centric material, along the lines of the liberationist chimurenga pop-traditional crossover pioneered by Thomas Mapfumo and others. The decision to ease away from their rock roots proved wise, as Wells Fargo remained an active working ensemble all the way up until 1989, when they finally disbanded. Although the music is arguably a bit rough, this is a fascinating collection, worth checking out for the scholarship as much as for the sounds.

Wenge Musica "Bouger Bouger" (Africassette Records, 1988)
A mellow set of guitar-centered African pop from Zaire's Wenge Musica. A little too slick for my tastes - not as glossy or bombastic as similar '80s releases out of Paris, but sort of that same general feel. Okay, but it didn't really grab me.

West African Instrumental Quintet "West African Instrumental Quintet: 1929" (Heritage Records, 1992)
Banjo-led tunes with instrumentation that is disarmingly similar to American old-timey music, though very different stylistically. Not much is known about these musicians -- not even which West African tribes they may have came from. The recordings were made in England, and released in 1929-1930 as 78s on the Zonophone label. Although it all begins to sound the same after a while, there are some interesting aural effects on tracks #18-20, where the banjo and guitars are completely out of tune with each other, yet the song goes on, creating its own, off-kilter musical logic. The effect is disconcerting -- even a bit creepy, in a music-box/calliope kind of way.

Western Jazz Band "Songs Of Happiness, Poison, And Ululation" (Stern's Music, 2011)
Classic early 'Seventies dance music from the Western Jazz Band, a Tanzanian social club and professional music group from Tanganyika with a clean guitar-based style they called saboso. Formed in 1959, Western Jazz Band was based in coastal Dar Es Salaam, but reflected the culture of Tanzania's inland regions rather than the sharper, more keening Arabic and Swahili musical styles such as taraab, which were also popular in Zanzibar and on the Eastern coast. Despite this disc's title, ululation and other Arabic motifs are relatively minimal within these tracks -- at least to my ears. This set is heavily influenced by the clean, melodic guitar pop from nearby Kenya and the Congolese soukous scene. I'm not complaining. A very listenable collection, sweet and easy on the ears.

The Witch "Introduction" (Self-Released, 1972) (LP)
A pioneering Zamrock band, Witch are said to have been the first band from Zambia to make a full LP as a commercially-released pop album. They were one of Africa's best-known and most successful hard-rock groups, cutting over a half-dozen albums in their first incarnation. Over the decades, these records have been glommed onto by rock and funk fans far and wide, and reissued multiple times on various labels. Their first two albums were self-released, though quickly reissued and given wider distribution by the independent Zambia Music Parlour label; on the original editions (which had different album art) the group called itself "The Witch," though this was later shortened to Witch. The band's name is apparently an acronym for "We Intend To Cause Havoc," which no doubt they did. Working in an era of economic austerity and facing some governmental pressures, the group went through a few different lineups, but retained its popularity up until the early 1980s; they also switched gears mid-decade to absorb the more traditionally-oriented "kalindula" style, which was popular in Zambia, Zimbabwe and the Congo. Though Witch broke up in the '80s, the band found a wider audience outside of Zambia through a string of international reissues that made them favorites of "international rock" fans, so much so that the group reunited in 2012 and were the focus of the documentary film, Witch: We Intend To Cause Havoc, which was released in 2019.

The Witch "In The Past" (Self-Released/Zambia Music Parlour, 1974) (LP)

Witch "Lazy Bones!!" (Zambezi Records, 1975) (LP)

Witch "Lukombo Vibes" (Zambezi Records, 1976) (LP)

Witch "Witch" (Teal Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Shaddick Bwalya & George Fwombe)

Witch "Movin-On" (Shed Records, 1980) (LP)
(Produced by Shaddick Bwalya, Martin Norris & Bothwell Nyamhondera)

Witch "Kuomboka" (R.N. Music Promotions, 1984) (LP)

Witch "Zango" (Desert Daze Sound, 2023) (LP)
(Produced by Jacco Gardner, Jasper Geluk, Michael Linyama & Peter Musungilo)

Bernard Woma "Live At The Pito Bar" (Avant Records, 1997)
"Difficult music" jazz wunderkind John Zorn oversaw the creation of this album of Ghanaian drumming. Balafon player Bernard Woma (a member of the Dagara tribe) plays in a style that is uplifting and melodic, and and quite powerful... Highly recommended, particularly for percussion and drumming fans.

Bernard Woma "Zie Mwea: Natural Conditions" (Mandara Music, 2001)

Bernard Woma "In Concert" (Jumbie Records, 2003)

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African Music Index
World Music Index

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