Jill Turner : enjoys tight jazzy brass, more screams than James Brown Taking it From the Bridge and funky grooves on the latest release form Vampisoul, Victor Olaiya's - All Stars Soul International.
A must have retro slice of Nigerian highlife. Vicotr Olaiya hasn't been tagged the Evil Genius of highlife fornothing. Originally released in 1970 his music builds on his experience of playing in dance bands and pulls in all the musical influences of the time: jazz, gospel, funk, soul and r&b on the radio from artists across the Atlantic and of course energetic beats and rythms.
With track titles like, Cold Sweat, Let Yourself Go, Magic Feet and I Feel Alright you get the drift. James Brown himself visited Nigeria in 1968 and according to the sleeve notes soul music flourished in the clubs of Western Nigeria. The music is infectious and will have you up on your feet shaking your tail feathers or jerking your hips whilst performing the frug or the back stroke as part of an imaginary backing group.
In between the obvious JB influences are tracks New Nigeria, Things Got to Be Better and Everybody Needs Love showing the spiritual side of Dr Victor Olaiya as he works themes of peace and reconciliation in his music, following the bitter suffering and tragedy of the civil war that lead to the loss of so many Nigerian and Biafran lives.
Perhaps the only downside are the length of the tracks and the awkward chops between them. We only get a fragment of Mother Popcorn, just over one minute long. However I suspect it would come as a bonus to a creative dj who can drop that in one.
However, and perhaps in compensation, the album comes with a 16 page booklet in period colours of lime green, turquoise and brown with text by Max Rheinhardt. It all goes to create a desirable package, which opens the door to the Nigerian music scene, from the roots of highlife, the importance of ET Mensah and Booby Brown but most importantly the “career” of Dr Victor Olaiya that until now has been one of Nigeria’s and informed DJ’s best kept secrets.
The album also demonstrates just how much the New York funk and later disco scene owes to Africa and perhaps the music of Dr Victor Olaiya.
The album is released on 1st June 2009, on Vampisoul.
Read the press release.
If you like this you may like:
High Life Time....Nigerian and Ghanaian Sounds from the 60's - 70's
Guitar Boy Superstar - Sir Victor Uwaifo 1970-1976
Buy a copy of All Star Soul International
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