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LP
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VAMPI 267LP
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2024 restock; first time reissue of Wganda Kenya's Africa 5.000, originally released in 1975. Africa 5.000 (1975) has a legendary reputation as one of Colombia's best hard-to-find Afro-funk records and is a highly prized collector's piece today. The epic "La Torta" (The Cake) kicks things off with a lively Colombian interpretation of Haitian compas. The tune is still remembered as a big picó (amplified sound system) hit at the verbenas (outdoor dance parties). "Fiebre De Lepra" (Leprosy Fever) was also released as a 45 single and is certainly one of Wganda Kenya's wilder tracks. Funky wah-wah guitar, makossa style bass, manic organ, and feverishly insane vocals (from Wilson "Saoko" Manyoma and Joe Arroyo) indicate that Fruko and his pals were having a ball goofing around in the studio. If for no other reason, Africa 5.000 is sought-after for being the album containing Fruko and Javier García's outrageously funky and off-kilter "Tifit Hayed", which has become a tropical dancefloor favorite in recent years. Again the "kitchen sink" approach is employed, including massive Latin bass lines, tasty Farfisa organ stabs, a bluesy, jazzy piano solo, and plenty of humorous vocal sound effects (including animal noises and lip burbling). However, it's the stomping break beats and cowbell counterpoint that has kept dance floors busy. Side B leaps out of the speakers with the heavy, strutting "El Caterete", which was the flipside to the "Fiebre De Lepra" single and is based on the 1970 song "Cateretê" by Brazilian singer/songwriter Marku Ribas. Like its sibling Fuentes studio band Afrosound, Wganda Kenya was ahead of its time, anticipating current contemporary Afro-Latin-funk trends in a prescient way that has inspired a legion of fans across the globe, and this reissue of Africa 5.000 will only serve to further cement the band's growing reputation amongst today's diggers of tropical psychedelia. Includes a non-album bonus cut, plus informative notes.
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LP
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VAMPI 251LP
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2023 repress. Vampisoul present a first time reissue of Wganda Kenya's self-titled album, originally released in 1976. According to Fruko, Wganda Kenya was formed at the request of José María Fuentes in 1974. Fuentes came to Fruko with the proposal to assemble a group with an African and Caribbean sound in order to appeal to the Costeño Colombian market and also inject a little international exoticism into the label. Fuentes wanted to create their own domestic version of the rare (and often unidentified) African and Antillean records played on the Colombian coast in the outdoor picó sound systems in cities like Barranquilla and Cartagena, as well as opening up their markets to international tastes. Fruko was happy to comply, becoming the bandleader and bassist while his pianist from Los Tesos, Luis "Tomate" Mesa, was recruited to play various electronic keyboards. Venezuelan singer Joe Rodríguez was tapped to play drums, Mariano Sepúlveda of Afrosound played guitar, José "Cholo" Gallardo of Los Diplomáticos played saxophone and several Tesos manned the percussion section. Various Fuentes regulars became the vocalists including Jaime Galé, Luis Carlos, and Joe Arroyo. In keeping with the exoticism and façade of foreignness, the vocalists often sang in made-up languages that approximated Indigenous Colombian, Haitian Creole, Papiamento from the Dutch Caribbean or Nigerian Yoruba; at other times they invented Spanish lyrics that mimicked the original foreign language ones, often in a humorous way. Wganda Kenya, like almost all Fuentes acts, cut plenty of non-album singles and cover versions that ended up on Bailables compilations but it was the runaway success of a 45 with their interpretation of the Haitian song "Homenaje a los embajadores" released in 1975 that motivated the Fuentes studio team to continue with the project and begin releasing complete albums under the band's name. In 1976, Discos Fuentes released the self-titled Wganda Kenya album and it is thought by many to be their first full-length record, in Colombia at least; if you take into account the Miami Records release of Wganda Kenya / Africa 5.000 the year before, it actually isn't the band's debut solo album. All the tunes on this record, including the bonus tracks, are covers, and they include interpretations of songs by Haiti's Original Shleu Shleu ("El Evangelio"), Guadeloupe's Combo Moderno ("An Nous Dansé Tumbelé"), and the Paris-based Le Trio Africain Los Makueson's ("Yoro"), among many others. Like its sibling band Afrosound, Wganda Kenya was ahead of its time, anticipating current contemporary global Afro-Latin-funk in a prescient way that is finding more and more fans across the globe. Contains two non-album bonus tracks from the same period. Includes insert with liner notes; 180 gram vinyl.
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