Tabansi Sampler

The melting-pot music scene of 70s and 80s Nigeria bursts forth from this compilation, a showcase for the back catalogue of Tabansi Records. Legendary label founder Chief Tabansi championed local West African talent at a time when major labels favoured American imports. He toured Nigeria in a van rigged to blast his hits, attracting customers and promising artists like an ice cream man of groove.

In a move demonstrating Tabansiesque tenancy, Peter Adarkwah, founder of the BBE (Barely Breaking Even) label, has licensed and arranged the reissue of 60 albums from the Tabansi archives. On the evidence of this sampler the result of Adarkwah's herculean labour will be a crate digger's dream.

Any listener with a fixed idea of what West African music is will find themselves challenged. Opening with the hypnotic highlife of Ebo Taylor we romp through the Congolese rumba of Lumingu Puati and into a collection of catchy Afro-boogie numbers that prove West Africa was equal to the American influence. Amid this concoction of quicksilver guitar and audacious groove you will not fail to find something to love.