« A fascinating release » by Blues & Rhythm

The sleeve of the ‘Africa In America’ release gets it just right – Josephine Baker in her famous banana costume representing exoticism and the ‘uncivilised’ (though Josephine is not on the album), juxtaposed with a dapper looking Dizzy Gillespie posing with a conga drum, in youch with his roots but able to move on. This set looks at the presence of both a real Africa and its stereotypical counterpart in the Carribean and North America. Thre are three versions of ‘Signifying Monkey’, by The Big Three Trio, Cab Calloway, and Oscar Brown Jr. ; there is Don Redman with ‘Shakin’ The African’ and plenty of ‘jungle sounds’ from the likes of Duke Ellington, Sidney Bechet, and Slim And Slam. Constrsting with this – on a collection that opens with the voice of activist Marcus Garvey – are a genuine South African recording by Salomon Linda & The evening Birds, ‘Mbube’, which was of course reprised by The Tolkens as ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ – also present here. Jazzwise, there are styles from Eubie Blake to Art Blakey, some merely justified here by the title of the number (I never knew the title of ‘A Night In Tunisia’ was inspired by military operations in that country), there is some vintage calypso material, including Lord Kitchener’s celebratory ‘Birth Of Ghana’, neo-African styles from the Caribbean, mostly field recordings but also including Cuban percussionist Mongo Santamaria, and oddities such as Rockabilly Warren Smiyh’s ‘Ubangi Stomp’, the ‘B’ movie plot of ‘Stranded In The Jungle’, here by both The Jayhawks and The Cadets, and Eugene List tackling Louis Moreau Gottschalk’s 1846 composition, ‘La Savane’. It is a shame no one thought to include Doctor Clayton, who claimed to have been born in Africa, but overall this is a fascinating release – and one which could herald a whole series […]. Norman DARWEN – BLUES & RHYTHM

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Africa In America

ROCK JAZZ & CALYPSO 1920 - 1962