Mary Afi Usuah: Ekpenyong Abasi
Mixture of ’scintillating highlife, smoking Fela and spaced-out, funkdafied Black Jazz’
- A1 Ima Mma Uyem
- A2 From Me To You
- A3 Afia Mma (Hulalah)
- A4 Mma Ama Mbo
- B1 Ekpe
- B2 Call Me Your Lover
- B3 Ekpenyong Abasi
- B4 Ebre Mbre
A stupendous blend of scintillating highlife, smoking Fela and spaced-out, funkdafied Black Jazz, from 1975 — Mari Affiong Usuah from Oron town, by way of Calabar in southeastern Nigeria, fronting a knockout band led by Daniel ‘Satch’ Asuquo from the Atomic 8 (and formerly of Bobby Benson’s orchestra). The Afrofunk cuts are especially killer — with James Brown just percolating through by the end — but it’s a stunning, magnificent album, through and through. Beautifully sleeved, too, with excellent notes by Uchenna from Comb & Razor. ‘Gob, smacked,’ he recalls, of his first listen; ‘mind, blown’.
Mary Afi Usuah: Ekpenyong Abasi
Mixture of ’scintillating highlife, smoking Fela and spaced-out, funkdafied Black Jazz’
A stupendous blend of scintillating highlife, smoking Fela and spaced-out, funkdafied Black Jazz, from 1975 — Mari Affiong Usuah from Oron town, by way of Calabar in southeastern Nigeria, fronting a knockout band led by Daniel ‘Satch’ Asuquo from the Atomic 8 (and formerly of Bobby Benson’s orchestra). The Afrofunk cuts are especially killer — with James Brown just percolating through by the end — but it’s a stunning, magnificent album, through and through. Beautifully sleeved, too, with excellent notes by Uchenna from Comb & Razor. ‘Gob, smacked,’ he recalls, of his first listen; ‘mind, blown’.