Omera

Ayub Ogada, who died in 2019, was one of Kenya’s finest musicians, a master of the nyatiti (lyre), and a gently hypnotic, soulful singer with an extraordinary history. A one-time busker on the London underground, he went on to record for Real World (check out En Mana Kuoyo from 1993) and play at massive stadium shows, opening for Peter Gabriel. This is surely his final release and was mostly recorded in Kenya during the sessions with guitarist and producer Trevor Warren that resulted in their album Kodhi (2015).

The best tracks on Omera include a charming, laid-back live version of ‘Kothbiro’, with Ogada in fine voice and Warren adding delicate Spanish guitar work; ‘Tamuru’, a gently drifting piece recommended for late-night listening on which Warren adds in guitar and synth; and ‘We Are Just Waiting’, with Warren playing both Spanish and electric guitars. Elsewhere the gently soporific ‘45’ was an unfinished piece, now reworked with over-dubbed guitar and trumpet. A second album of ‘re-imaginings and soundscapes’ by artists who admired Ogada includes ‘Ayub’, a rousing remix tribute by the late great Nick Page, aka Count Dubulah, of Dub Colossus fame.