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this is a pre order item and will be shipped when it becomes available , the release date is 12th december 2018 [ this can sometimes change ] 

Analog Africa Limited Dance Edition No. 10

Orchestre Abass (De Bassari Togo)

12" vinyl lp 

Catalog No. AADE010 (1xLP)

Label: Analog Africa

Format: -1x LP (180gr) Single LP Gatefold „de Luxe“ with

liner notes & pictures

Barcode LP 4260126061309

Release Date 12th December, 2018

Press Sheet - Orchestre Abass

In 1972, Orchestre Abass released two incredible singles on Polydor. These records - featuring

Samarin Banza, Haka Dunia and other afrofunk masterpieces - were powerful enough to knock

any music head out, but it wasn’t until the discovery of some unreleased material by the band that

the seeds for this project were planted.

It all happened in 2008 in Ghana. I was going through some tapes that had previously been the

property of PolyGram one of the major record companies based in west Africa. In the late 80s political

instability and curfews had paralysed the music industry forcing Polygram to close their Ghanaian

subsidiaries leaving all of their recordings behind. These recordings had been packed in boxes and

left vegetating in an Accra warehouse for three decades until I came along. To my surprise all of the

tapes looked unharmed and I was particularly relieved to hear that the Orchestre Abass tape was in

an excellent state of condition. I began fiddling around with the idea of releasing an album of the

band and that plan got an additional boost with le “coup de grace” which had landed in the form of

an ultra rare tune called Honam discovered in Sotoboua, a small northern Togolese town in the

middle of nowhere. That find completed this selection.

I had previously discovered some similar music in Northern Benin and in Nigeria and I started

picturing an area that spread all the way from Northern Ghana to Northern Cameroon, an area I

dubbed ‘The Islamic funk belt’ due to the fact that Super Borgou de Parakou, Napo De Mi Amor,

Uppers International and Hamad Kalkaba just to name a few - all from that ‘belt’ - were groups

made up of musicians with an Islamic background. This can be felt and heard in the music and

particularly in the singing since many of the musicians had attended koranic schools and the

languages used in the songs often had Arabic elements fused in - Orchestra Abass was one of them.

With their heavy, organ-led sound combining with the deftest of musical touches, these records were

the work of a rhythmic powerhouse and we are honoured to be in a position to present the

recordings of Togo´s funkiest Band.

Unfortunately Malam Issa Abass, the founder, guitarist and organ player of the band, was killed in

1993 by a grenade thrown into his bedroom and to help me reconstruct the biography of the band I

tracked down Thon Komla, one of the band´s songwriters and Abderaman Issa, the guitar player

of the band.

All the music was licensed directly from the various composers of these songs. The vinyl is pressed on

180 High Quality Virgin Vinyl and the gatefold contains previously unseen pictures and a detailed

biography of the might band.

A1. Haka Dunia B1. Shamarin Banza

A2. Soo Soo Mungha B2. Honam

A3. Ekule Nugble Nu B3. Kissagui

B1. Shamarin Banza

B2. Honam

B3. Kissagui