Browse by Artist: RANSOME-KUTI AND HIS KOOLA LOBITOS, FELA

Artist:	RANSOME-KUTI AND HIS KOOLA LOBITOS, FELA
Title:	Highlife-Jazz and Afro-Soul (1963-1969)
Label:	P-VINE RECORDS (JAPAN)
Format:	3CD
Price:	$50.00
Catalog #:	PCD 18511/3

Long awaited 3CD collection (39 tracks) of Fela's earliest material to be released. Nice 48 page booklet of photos and notes (Japanese/English). A bit of overlap with the '69 Los Angeles Sessions CD, but mostly previously unreleased and super rare tracks, packaged with love. "The release of this collection of Fela Ransome-Kuti's pre-Afrobeat music is a major event for fans of both Fela's music and African popular music in general. Many of these recordings(originally issued on European-based labels such as Decca, EMI, Phillips, and Parlophone, as well as Fela's own FRK label) were thought to be lost forever and certainly, were unknown to all but the most fervent Fela enthusiasts. And even these enthusiasts had to endure low fidelity tapes which had been copied over innumerable generations, from original recordings that were not themselves of the highest quality. What little has been known of Fela's highlife period has been largely due to the efforts of Mr. Benson Idonije, Fela's early manager and a long-time proponent of Fela's highlife music. These recordings now re-enter public circulation in much-improved sound quality, via the thankful efforts of the dedicated record collectors who have assembled this compilation. As an overview of a period when one of Africa's greatest musicians was attempting to find his own style, this comprehensive collection finally makes a crucial and fascinating chapter of Fela's career available to African music enthusiasts around the world." -- Michael Veal.

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