Trust Africa Airways For Elevating the Mood

Beautifully assembled compilations from lesser-known African artists....

Various Artists

Africa Airways 3: The Afro-Psych Excursion 1972-1984

Africa Seven (2016)

Seek out this pan-African compilation the next time you need a fast-acting mood changer. The third in the uniformly revelatory Africa Airways series, it offers eccentric, deeply grooving pick-me-ups that show how musicians from across the continent embraced – and then modified – elements of late ‘60s-early ‘70s rock.

It tells us some things we already knew – that Hendrix and Santana hit everybody everywhere (see Africa Black’s blazing instrumental “Nzango”) – and some things we didn’t. Like how popular those cheesy-sounding electric organs like the Farfisa were: Gambia’s wicked Ifang Bondi and The Afro Mandingue Sounds use organ as a spice on the suite-like and heavily improvised “Atis-A-Tis,” while the instrument (along with synthesizer) proves vital to the expertly interlaced pulse of “Kanaga 78” from Malian legend Sory Bamba. (Africa Seven reissued Bamba’s Du Mali in 2016; it’s also highly recommended.)

Just about all the tracks are excursions; these are bands with deep performance experience, and that, plus the shared commitment to “searching for its own sake,” is audible throughout. Listen for the lively crosstalk that bubbles between the percussionists, and for the ongoing, almost jabbering ricochets between the soloists and the rhythm players. It’s the sound of ideas traveling fast, and even if you’re not experiencing live-music withdrawal symptoms, it might make you nostalgic for those days when a lone thunderclap from a conga drum at one side of the stage inspires a rainbow of guitar beauty on the other.

Suggested order for exploring the Africa Airways series: Vol 1, Vol 3, Vol. 5, Vol. 2. Slight buyer beware on Volume Six: The subtitle says “Mile High African Funk 1974-1981” but the grooves run a bit heavy in the disco direction.