Towards the end of the 90s, a penchant for turning up new club-friendly tunes encouraged a slew of record aficionados and DJs to tap into the funky sounds of Nigeria and Ghana, focusing on the grittier end of the highlife spectrum, and the briefer trend of Afro-beat. A flurry of compilations was released, turning new ears onto sounds that were hitherto hard to come by. Whereas those initial reissues were fuelled by the excitement of new discoveries, the current slew of releases mining similar material are harder to place.

Mr Bongo and Secret Stash go head-to-head this month, with LPs by Nigerian saxophonist and arranger Peter King. The two albums in question – Shango and African Dialects – were both recorded in London in the 70s, when Peter King was living in the UK. Like Fela Kuti and Mulatu Astatke, King had studied at the London Trinity College of Music, and made music throughout the 60s and 70s both in the UK and in his native home of Nigeria. African Dialects was recorded in 1979 and released shortly after King returned to his homeland. The title-track bubbles nicely enough, with choppy guitar licks augmented by sparse Fender tones, and there are some nice funky touches on ‘Adura’, but it’s an unremarkable album, weighed down by two average reggae numbers, and slightly sullen mastering.

Shango was recorded in 1974 and first saw the light of day as recently as 2002, when it was first issued by Strut. It is a much stronger affair, starting with the tough title-track, and moving on to several jazz-inflected instrumentals that really showcase King’s musical schooling and diverse musical technique. ‘Prisoner of Law’ shifts and flexes with unexpected key changes and the rolling groove of ‘Mystery Tour’ is peppered with pleasing Moog synth burblings.