Afro Jazz Folk Collection Vol 2

Three years ago, Mieruba – a rarity among crate-digging enterprises in that the label is actually based in West Africa – issued a first volume of rare recordings by Super Biton, a band that has been an institution in the Ségou region of Mali since 1964. Now comes a welcome second volume of equally rare tracks from the 1970s. All but one of these tracks were recorded live and they sound like a band ready to give its audience whatever it wanted. Swaying Afro-Latin dance rhythms à la Baobab? Then ‘Bouguel’ is for you. If it’s a traditional Mande song you’re after, there’s ‘Atou N Diaye’. Jazzy brass and funk guitar? Try ‘Diarabi Muso’. There’s even a syncopated rumba that might have come right out of New Orleans on ‘Nantan’ complete with Louis Armstrong-style trumpet, while the folkish ‘Farafina’ is the best sounding track, simply because it’s the only studio recording.

Super Biton were still going strong in 2015 when Simon Broughton reviewed their performance for Songlines at Ségou’s Festival On The Niger and reported that they ‘sounded dated.’ Happily these tracks from half a century ago sound authentically timeless rather than out of time.