Osibisa
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Artist:
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Album:Black Magic Night
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Track:
Lately, my life is filled with coincidences. Sometimes I get lucky and these moments of serendipity revolve around music. This year I have been exploring the catalog of the band Osibisa, and as always, discovering that the connections between me and the music go beyond a simple appreciation of their sound. 
Begun in 1969, with a sound they describe as "criss-cross rhythms that explode with happiness", Osibisa's core crew consisted of three highlife musicians from Ghana and three Caribbean musicians as well as the Nigerian percussionist and sax player, Lasisi Amao. After falling for Osibisa's first two albums, I visited my parents and discovered a trove of their albums, all mysteriously signed by someone named "Loughty".I should have known. When I asked my dad about the records he said "Osibisa? Of course! I used to host a radio show with Loughty (Lasisi Amao)." Just when I think I can out-cool my dad, he brings me right back down to earth. Damn.Fans included Art Garfunkel (who covered the song "Woyaya") and George Clinton, who had this to say about the band: "Osibisa was like Funkadelic back in the '70's... the difference between the two bands is Funkadelic took you to the Mothership and Osibisa took you to the Motherland." With album covers by Roger Dean and their first two albums produced by Tony Visconti, Osibisa melded Western space-rock explorations with African jazz and funk. My current favorite Osibisa album is their second, "Woyaya", and it was incredibly hard to figure out which song to share. I settled on the following, "Survival", for Loughty's wild vocal intro and the obvious joy and fun expressed here:Here they are live in the UK, 1974:
Begun in 1969, with a sound they describe as "criss-cross rhythms that explode with happiness", Osibisa's core crew consisted of three highlife musicians from Ghana and three Caribbean musicians as well as the Nigerian percussionist and sax player, Lasisi Amao. After falling for Osibisa's first two albums, I visited my parents and discovered a trove of their albums, all mysteriously signed by someone named "Loughty".I should have known. When I asked my dad about the records he said "Osibisa? Of course! I used to host a radio show with Loughty (Lasisi Amao)." Just when I think I can out-cool my dad, he brings me right back down to earth. Damn.Fans included Art Garfunkel (who covered the song "Woyaya") and George Clinton, who had this to say about the band: "Osibisa was like Funkadelic back in the '70's... the difference between the two bands is Funkadelic took you to the Mothership and Osibisa took you to the Motherland." With album covers by Roger Dean and their first two albums produced by Tony Visconti, Osibisa melded Western space-rock explorations with African jazz and funk. My current favorite Osibisa album is their second, "Woyaya", and it was incredibly hard to figure out which song to share. I settled on the following, "Survival", for Loughty's wild vocal intro and the obvious joy and fun expressed here:Here they are live in the UK, 1974:
Comments (30)
Very pleasant find. Thanks for posting
Wow! This is sooooo cool!
:=)
Wow, I need this song in the morning. It's the musical equivalent of someone booting me out of bed, shaking me awake, and throwing my head under the sink a couple times.