Released: 14/04/23
Solo album from the percussionist of TRAFFIC and CAN - A boiling cauldron of polyrhythmic grooves and jazz improvisations with a strong early 70ies prog touch - Haunting Exotica jazz passages with “jungle” feel - From naughty swing and bebop to freaked out free jazz and enchanting soul jazz, spiced with a wide brass section - For fans of Osibisa, Eric Burden & War, Ginger Baker Airforce, Santana, Miles Davis,… all around 1969 to 1973 This is the 1973 solo album by Ghanaian percussionist Anthony Kwaku Bah, who was given the nickname „Reebop“ by American jazz legend Dizzie Gillespie.
He passed away early at the age of 39 in Stockholm in 1983, but before made himself a name for his works with UK 70s rock heroes TRAFFIC and German Krautrockers CAN, amongst others. If you might expect here the prototypical Afro Beat and Afro Rock you mostly know from British bands, you will be surprised that this is only one part of the deal. Yes, there are African elements to be found, buried somewhere in this boiling cauldron where polyrhythmic grooves are the base for jazz improvisations by the brass section, that range from naughty swing and bebop, to freaked out free jazz and enchanting soul jazz the way it was popular in the late 60s.
The arrangements are utterly lush with so much going on here in every aspect that you would get lost if there was no trace of melody to be discovered, but there they are and they tell you fantastic stories of exotic places that only exist in your wildest dreams. Kwaku Bah’s rhythm patterns grab you by the horns and pull you into a world of their own. Hypnotical, irresistible, hot and vivid. The tunes combine jazz, soul, funk and each one is constructed like a self – contained story. One could imagine these tunes being used as library music for 70s movies from action to romance. All pieces though are characterized by the constantly pulsating rhythm. To avoid drifting into the field of insubstantial disco dance music, the performances witnessed here were executed with the highest possible emotional intensity and dedication.