Panama! Volume 2 – Latin Sounds, Cumbia Tropical & Calypso Funk on the Isthmus 1967-77

Volume 2 showcases more of the unique tropical music created in Panama in the fertile decades of the 1960s and ’70s. The thin, tropical bridge that connects North and South America, Panama is home to three million culturally diverse people, and its’ music is a soulful blend of Latin American, Caribbean, European and Indigenous forms. From Calypso Funk to Típico Soul, from hard Descargas to rustic Cumbia-related styles, Panamanian musicians fearlessly combined and brilliantly executed styles that reflected their multi-cultural environment during a turbulent time in the young country’s history. This collection presents more of the golden age of Panamanian music and the music of the Combos Nacionales on rare recordings that have never been released outside the Isthmus until now.

CD catalogue number: SNDWCD013

Barcode: 893775001507

Vinyl catalogue numnber: SNDWLP013

Barcode: 893775001514

Release date: 01 June 2009

Track list:

1. La Murga De Panama – Papi Brandao y Su Conjunto Aires Tablenos
2. Tamborito Swing – Los Silvertones
3. Flora – Maximo Rodriguez y Sus Estrellas Panameñas
4. Decidete Mi Amor – Papi Brandao y Sus Ejecutivos
5. Te Toca Tocar La Tumba – Skorpio
6. Descarga Superior – Los Superiores
7. No Llores Porque Me Voy – Idamerica Ruiz con Osvaldo Ayala y Su Conjunto
8. Mi Bella Panama – Los Revolucionarios (Soul Revolution)
9. Dreams (edit) – The Duncan Brothers
10. Ain’t No Sunshine – The Soul Fantastics
11. Ese Muerto No Lo Cargo Yo – The Exciters
12. La Confianza – Meñique El Panameño con Bush y Los Magnificos
13. Borombon – Camilo Azuquita
14. Jazzy – Los Papacitos
15. La Escoba – Alfredo y Su Salsa Montañera
16. Juck Juck Pt.1 – Sir Jablonsky
17. Love Letters – Lord Cobra y Los Hnos. Duncan
18. Ceferino En Salsa – Ceferino Nieto
19. Si La Vez – Ormelis Cortez con Su Conjunto Viva Guararé
20. Piculina – Chilo Pitty

Sir Victor Uwaifo Guitar Boy Superstar 1970-76

One of the true enigmas of the Nigerian music scene, Sir Victor Uwaifo has been an instantly recognisable figure throughout his five decades in the music industry. He built his first guitar aged 12 and went on to be awarded Africa’s first gold disc in 1969. His incessant energy have seen him record countless LP’s and single and become one of Nigeria’s true superstars. A musician, poet, philosopher, sculptor, painter, ambassador and recently Commissioner for Culture, he has carved a unique place for himself in the history of African music. This compilation focuses on his ‘Ekassa’ period in the first half of the 1970′s. These recordings were made after his return from Lagos to his home town of Benin City in Edo State at the start of the new decade. Uwaifo mixed the ancient culture of Benin Obas with highlife & a dash of rock and soul to form his new style.  Amazingly many of these cuts have remained unavailable since then…until now.

CAT: SNDWCD012

BARCODE: 827565038626

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AVAILABLE FROM: Amazon UK

Track List:

1. Kirikisi
2. Igboroho
3. Idogo
4. Egbe Natete
5. Edenederio
6. Obodo Eyo
7. Talking Instruments
8. Agho
9. Iye Iye Oh
10. Mother Witch – Shu’husu’hu
11. Atete
12. Ebibi
13. Osalobua Rekpama
14. Do Lelezi
15. Akuyan
16. Dododo
17. Madaka
18. Happy Day From Me To You
19. West African Safari

Nigeria Rock Special! Pyschedelic Afro-Rock & Jazz Funk in 1970s Nigeria

Ginger Baker first visited Nigeria in 1970 at a time when local rock music was just finding its feet. By then the sound of Jimi Hendrix & bands like Santana had started to seep in to the mainly soul-based sets of a handful of young bands playing western influenced pop. Recognising the talent of hands like Cluster International and The Afro-Collection Baker include some of these musicians into his bands Airforce & Salt to tour Europe & America. Back home in 1972 and exposed the world of progressive and psychedelic rock at its peak, Joni Haastrup started his Mono-Mono band & Berkley Jones, Laolo Akins & Mike Odumosu set up BLO. The craze that following hit the youth and student population of Nigeria hard – mixing fuzz guitar & heavy, African rhythms with elements of Led Zeppelin, Traffic & the Chambers Brothers. 15 of the best LP and 45 cuts of the scene are available here for the first time in 30 years.

CAT: SNDWCD011

BARCODE: 827565035922

Track  List:

1. Ofege - Adieu
2. The Action 13 - More Bread to the People
3. The Hygrades - In the Jungle (Instrumental)
4. The Wings - Odenigbo
5. Ofo The Black Company -  Eniaro
6. The Elcados - Ku Mi Da Hankan
7. Mono Mono - Kenimania
8. Tabukah ‘X’ - Finger Toe
9. The Funkees - Acid Rock
10. Colomach - Cotocun Gba Gounke
11. Joe King Kologbo & His Black Sound - Another Man’s Thing
12. Question Mark - Freaking Out
13. Original Wings - Igba Alusi
14. Tunji Oyelana - Omoba D’Eru Ri
15. BLO - Chant To Mother Earth

Nigeria Disco Funk Special! The sound of the Underground Lagos Dancefloor 1974-79

Lagos, Nigeria, 1974-79: The Funk & Disco capital of West Africa. More nightclubs, bars, spots and dance-floors than any place along the coast from Dakar all the way to Kinshasa. The only 24 track recording studio in the same stretch with more DJs & imported American LPs and 45s than any of it’s neighbours. Soundway presents 9 slabs of rhythm form a time when Saturday  and Sunday nights in Lagos City were for looking good and going out. All of them vital musical feathers in the Lagos DJ bow alongside the latest  Brass Construction, BT Express & James Brown imports that were hot of the plane.

CAT: SNDWCD010

BARCODE: 827565033423

Read a review of the album on Pitchfork.

Track List:

1. The Sahara All Stars – Take Your Soul
2. T-Fire – Will of the People
3. Asiko Rock Group – Lagos City
4. Johnny Haastrup – Greetings
5. Bongos Ikwue & The Groovies – You’ve Gotta Help Yourself
6. Jay-U Experience – Some More
7. Voices of Darkness – Mota Ginya
8. Dr Adolf Ahanotu – Ijere
9. S-Job Movement – Love Affair

Nigeria Special! Modern Highlife, Afro-Sounds & Nigerian Blues 1970-6

Nigeria 1970. Highlife, Afro-beat, Rock, Jazz & Native Blues rub shoulders and are turned out at an unprecedented level. New styles meet old styles. Newfound national confidence follows the near break up of the nation following the Biafran war. New fashions meet old fashions, creating new fusions. Soundway presents 26 original and previously un-reissued tracks from the time. Obscure a-side, b-sides & albm cuts that have resisted a second look until now.

CAT: SNDWCD009

BARCODE: 827565029525

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AVAILABLE FROM: Amazon UK

Read Charlie Gillet’s review in the Observer Music Monthly

Disc 1

1. The Anambra Beats – Ayamma
2. Celestine Ukwu & his Philosophers National – Okwukwe Na Nchekwube
3. The Don Isaac Ezekiel Combination – Amalinja
4. The Funkees – Akula Owu Onyeara
5. Dele Ojo & His Star Brothers Band – Oja Omoba
6. The Harbours Band – Koma Mosi
7. The Semi Colon – Nekwaha Semi Colon
8. Sir Victor Uwaifo & his Melody Masters – Osalobua Rekpama
9. St. Augustine & His Rovers Dance Band – Onwu Ama Dike
10. The Sahara All Stars of Jos – Feso Jaiye
11. Mono Mono – Ema Kowa Lasa lle Wa
12. Tunji Oyelana & The Benders – To Whom It May concern
13. The Tony Benson Sextet – Ugali

DISC 2

1. The Nigerian Police Force Band (“The Force 7”) –  Asiko Mi Ni
2. Godwin Ezike & The Ambassadors – Torri Wowo
3. Opotopo (Easy Kabaka Brown) – Belema
4. Dan Satch & His Atomic 8 Dance Band of Aba – Alabeke
5. Popular Cooper & His All Beats Band – Arraino
6. Collins Oke Elaiho & His Odologie Nobles Dance Band – Simini-Yaga
7. Bola Johnson & His Easy Life Top Beats – Buroda Mase
8. The Hykkers – I Want a Break Thru’
9. George Akaeze & His Augmented Hits – Business Before Pleasure
10. Shadow Abraham with Mono Mono Friends – Omo Yen Wu Mi
11. Leo Fadaka & The Heroes – Blak Sound
12. Osayomore Joseph and The Creative 7 – Eguae Oba
13. Etubom Rex Williams & His Nigerian Artistes – Akpaison

Colombia! The Golden Age of Discos Fuentes – The Powerhouse of Colombian Music 1960-76

Disco Fuentes (Fuentes Records) has since 1934 been the largest record label in the vast country of Colombia, a place where music is impossible to escape. This collection concentrates largely on the golden years of 1960-76 and is hand picked by Soundway from a huge catalogue of hot, tropical music styles. Cumbia, Gaita, Fandango, Salsa and Champeta al feature in our selection from on of the worlds best Latin music archives.

CAT: SNDWCD008

BARCODE:  827565019120

RELEASED: 03/04/07

RESTOCKS DUE IN APRIL 2009

‘Blistering tracks that draw you deep into the jungle with their percussive mayhem […] this is a scene to explore, and this album’s 28-page booklet of liner notes will provide plenty to ponder after your party’ (Songlines Magazine, April 2007)

Track List:

1. Salsa Na Ma – Fruko Y Sus Tesos
2. Cumbia En Do Menor – Lito Barrientos
3. Hong Kong - Michi Sarmiento Y Sus Bravos
4. La Piojosa – Sonora Cieneguera
5. Improvisando- Fruko Y Sus Tesos
6. Patrona De Los Reclusos – The Latin Brothers
7. Tifit Hayed – Wganda Kenya
8. Fandango en percussion – Pedro Laza
9. La Samaria – Orquesta Nunez
10. El Mondongo – Los Corraleros De Majagual
11. A La Memoria Del Muerto – Fruko Y Sus Tesos
12. Primavera – Michi Sarmiento Y Sus Bravos
13. Elyoyo – Wganda Kenya
14. Gaita de las Flores – Lucho Bermudez
15. Cumbiamba – El Sexteto Miramar
16. Mirame San Miguel – Michi Sarmiento
17. La Picua - Pedro Laza y sus Pelayeros
18. la pata y el pato – Climaco Sarmiento
19. Las Calenas Son Como Los Flores – The
20. Latin Brothers – Los Calenas Son Como Los Flores
21. Pacifico – Afrosound

Panama! Latin, Calypso and Funk on the Isthmus 1965-75

Review in the Telegraph (UK newspaper)

A fly-blown buffer zone between North and South America, Panama barely registers on the international cultural radar. Indeed, its one significant musical export, the loping cumbia rhythm, is generally associated with Colombia. Yet these grainy ’60s and ’70s recordings by bands you will absolutely never have heard of constitute one of the year’s most exhilarating listens so far.

The sheer heat generated by blasting salsa instrumentals such as Los Exagerados’s Panama estra bueno y ma makes most modern recordings seem pitifully tight and sterile by comparison. There’s an all-or-nothing fervour of the kind that can only be achieved through live, one-take recording – a relentless, super-fast piano figure providing a springboard for brass solos of truly nerve-jangling intensity.

The tempos settle slightly as the music reflects the influence of American funk and Trinidadian calypso. Victor Boa’s Soy Solo Para Ti has a glorious, quasi-African piano swing, while Bolito y Su Tentacion’s incandescent jam Descarga Tentacion has the feel of ’70s Latin New York at its most sophisticated. A plinking salsa-flavoured calypso, sung by one Lord Cobra, completes this revelatory album. Mark Hudson

CAT: SNDWCD007

BARCODE: 827565012220

AVAILABLE FROM: Amazon UK

Track List:

1. Los Exagerados – Panama Esta Bueno y … Ma
2. Bush y Sus Magnificos – Nana Nina
3. Victor Boa y Su Musica – Soy Solo Para Ti
4. The Exciters – The New Bag
5. Los Fabulosos Festivals – El Mensaje
6. Lord Cobra and Pana-Afro Sounds – Rocombey
7. Los Dinamicos Exciters featuring Ralph Weeks – Let Me Do My Thing
8. Freddy y sus Afro Latinos – Maltrato
9. The Exciters – Exciters Theme
10. Los Caballeros de Colon – Con Los Caballeros
11. Bolita y su Tentacion Latina – Descarga Tentacion
12. Los Silvertones – Old Buzzard
13. Los Mozambiques – Viva Tirado
14. Papi Brandao Y Su Ejecutivos - Viva Panama
15. Maximo Rodriguez y Sus Estrellas Panameñas – Mambologia

Read a review of the record in Dusted Magazine

TP Orchestre Poly Rythmo The Kings of Benin Urban Groove 1972-80

From the Republic of Benin, West Africa, The Orchestre Poly-Rythmo are one of Africa’s least-known big-bands. Here we hope to redress the balance with a collection that reflects their many poly-rhythmic moods. A mixture of hard Afro-funk, driving Afro-beat, deep Afro-Latin and Cuban grooves, all with a unique flavour that ruled the dance-floors of 70’s urban Benin.

Most of these tracks have never before been heard outside of West Africa since originally being issued on small presses that long ago became extinct. Being such a small country, Benin has had little in the way of musical exposure over the years and many people don’t even know where it is, sandwiched alongside Togo between Ghana and Nigeria. The band were true to their name keeping a variety of diverse poly-rhythmic musical styles in their repertoire. This was facilitated by perhaps one of the most energetic and powerful kit-drummers in Yehoussi Leopold as well as master Guitarist Bernard Papillon. Poly-Rythmo are still playing today nearly 40 years after the formation of the band, and we hope to add yet another chapter to the immense story of the music of 70sWest Africa with this release.

CAT: SNDWCD004

BARCODE: 827565009220

Available from: Amazon UK

Tracklist:

1. Aihe Ni Kpe we
2. Les Djos
3. Gendamou Na Wili We Gnannin
4. Mi Si Ba To
5. Avoun Doupou Me Douga
6. Kokoriko
7. Ne Te Faches Pas
8. Kou Tche Kpo So O
9. Gbeto Vivi
10. Agnon Djidjo
11. Medida
12. Angelina II

Ghana Soundz Afro-Beat, Funk and Fusion in 70′s Ghana Volume 2

Afro-music continues to inspire a whole host of musicians, producers and DJs but even now the full picture of Afro-music in the 1960s and 70s is still far from being properly represented.  Ghana Soundz Volume 2 goes some way to readdressing the balance.
Following the success of Ghana Soundz Volume One, the second volume involved another a long journey to Ghana by music ethnologist and label owner Miles Cleret. This collection of unheard of and priceless gems visits the harder ground of Ghana, the pulsating
centre that is afro-beat and afro-funk.

CAT: SNDWCD003

BARCODE: 827565005529

AVAILABLE FROM: Amazon UK

Track List:

1. Oscar Sulley & The Uhuru Dance Band - Olufeme
2. Joe Mensah - Africa is Home
3. Ebo Taylor - Atwer Abroba
4. The African Brothers - Sakatumbe
5. Eb Taylor Jnr. & Wuta Wazuri - Mondo Soul Funky
6. The Sweet Talks - Kye Kye Pe Aware
7. The Ogyatanaa Show Band - Disco Africa
8. Christy Azuma & Uppers International – Naam
9. Bob Pinado & His Sound Casters – Me, You, One (Means I Love You)
10. Marijata - No Condition is Permanent
11. K.Frimpong & Vis a Vis - Aboagyewaa
12. The Uhuru Dance Band - Agbadza
13. Uppers Chapter 2 - Samarin Bolga
14. The Apagya Show Band - Tamfo Nyi Ekyir

Afrobaby The Evoluation of the Afro-Sound in Nigeria 1970-79

Nigeria in the 1970s had on of the biggest recording industries on the continent as well as one of the most diverse. The fusion of African rhythms and culture with jazz, funk, soul and rock was a Africa wide phenomenon but nowhere was it more prolific and active than the cities and dance floors of Nigeria. These twelve rarities highlight how the Afro – Sound influenced all areas of the music scene and how it progressed throughout a very creative and energetic decade. From funky afro-jazz, soul and afro-highlife to big, dance floor afro-beat Nigeria led the way in West Africa at the time.

CAT: SNDWCD002

BACODE: 827565005321

AVAILABLE FROM: Amazon UK

Tracklist:

1. The Sahara All Stars - Alikali Adajo
2. Bola Johnson - Lagos Sisi
3. The Mebusas - Son of Mr Bull Dog
4. Fela Ransome Kuti and the Africa 70 - Fogo Fogo
5. The Don Issac Ezekiel Combination - Ire
6. Tunji Oyelana & The Benders - Ipason
7. Fred Fisher -Asa-sa
8. Orlando Julius & His Afro Sounders - Mura Sise
9. Thony Shorby Nyenwi - No Wrong Show
10. Dr Victor Olaiya’s International All Stars - Omelebele
11. Stephen Osita Amaechi & his Afro-Rhythms-Skies – Afro Baby
12. The Martins Brothers Dance Band – Ochonma