or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
or
Amazon Prime free trial required. Sign up when you check out. Learn more
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Legends of East Africa: The Original Recordings
 
See larger image
 

Legends of East Africa: The Original Recordings

Orchestra Makassy Audio CD
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
Price: £13.00 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.
Only 2 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).
Want guaranteed delivery by Friday, June 1? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details

Jubilee Offer: Patriot Classics for £2.50

Jubilee CD for £2.50
Join in the celebration with Diamond Jubilee: A Classical Celebration, featuring rousing classics like "Land of Hope and Glory", available for just £2.50 on CD until Wednesday.

Shop now


Amazon's Orchestra Makassy Store

Image of Orchestra Makassy
Visit Amazon's Orchestra Makassy Store
for all the music, discussions, and more.

Special Offers and Product Promotions


Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this with Giants of East Africa £11.46

Legends of East Africa: The Original Recordings + Giants of East Africa
Price For Both: £24.46

Show availability and delivery details

  • This item: Legends of East Africa: The Original Recordings

    In stock.
    Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
    This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions

  • Giants of East Africa

    In stock.
    Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
    This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions


Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought


Product details

  • Audio CD (7 Feb 2005)
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Label: Arc Music
  • ASIN: B0007D0AF0
  • Other Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 7,486 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Product Description

CD Description

Original recordings from Orchestra Makassy's stellar album AGWAYA * The long awaited CD release * Plus two previously unreleased tracks * In 1980 a 15-man band from Dar Es Salaam got together in a Nairobi studio with some young Brits who wanted to cash in on the Afropop boom that was sweeping the nation thanks to Nigeria's King Sunny Ade. Mzee 'Elder' Makassy was the leader and principal vocalist of the band named after him; Tshimanga Assosa of Maquis Original contributed singing and songwriting skills. The songs are sung in Shona, Swahili and Lingala. Mose Se Sengo a.k.a. 'Fan Fan' is often mentioned in connection with the band as he had been chef d'orchestra before striking out on his own. The excellent, bustling Kasongo Shinga played bass, there were two drummers, a tumbador, and four horn players, including Twalib Mohamed as trumpet soloist and Akuliake Saleh on alto sax. In short, a classic East African dance-band line-up. The opening track 'Mambo Bado' become a dance-floor hit. It still gets you going from the first note. 'Mambo Bado' should have prompted the group to international stardom but Virgin failed to promote them. In 1984, they broke up after the release of a little known album Muzuki Orchestre Makassy. Fortunately, guitarist Mose Fan Fan used some of the bands early recordings on an album called Agwaya. The CD is a mixture of haunting ballads such as 'Nakolela Cherie', about a man whose wife has abandoned him and their kids and 'Kufisilika Sio Kalema', a mover and shaker in the Virunga style. Most of the songs contain wry social commentary. 'Mosese', a track written by FanFan, is about a man complaining to his fiancée, this is followed by 'Athumani,' a song in which a young married woman complains about her husband running around. The bass is high in the mix for the moody 'Mke Wangu' another classic track in which the singer tells of a man who lavished material goods on his wife only to have her leave him. It's as if Fan Fan, Makassy and his many disciple's had never been away. 'The Original Recordings' is a fresh, retro sound - which will leave you wanting an extra helping.

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
 
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

Customer Reviews

4 star
0
3 star
0
2 star
0
1 star
0
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
East African Soukous 17 Oct 2009
Format:MP3 Download
Delightful light sound of Kenyan soukous from the eighties. If you want to sample try Mambo Bado or Nakolela Cherie - they will not disappoint. If you like this, then look up Super Orchestra Mazembe too..
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Format:Audio CD
this CD really captures the feel of East African Sound. it recalled some wonderful nights in Nairobi. this gets many plays in my car
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:  7 reviews
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Exquisite! 1 Dec 2005
By J. Awika - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
This definitely is one of the best CDs I have ever listened to (and now own - thanks to Amazon). This is the real deal, all songs are ORIGINAL Makassy recordings - no 'mordenized' renditions, and no filler material. Excellent artistic quality expected of Mzee Makassy when he teamed up with the likes of Fan Fan Mosese and Ongala Remmy. 100% pure, authentic enjoyment from the first to the last track...and I'm talking as an 'expert' on East, Central and Southern African music (I own at least 200 African CDs and grew up in the region).
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
finnaly released, what a great album 7 Mar 2005
By John Hoven - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Audio CD
This cd is one of the best albums of all time.Unbelievable that it took 24 years to get this music on cd.The album came out as an LP close before the CD was introduced.The 8 first titles are from the original agwaya album and are of a level african music you probably never heard before.If you like african music, do yourself a big favor and buy this one.The only weak spot on this cd is the end, when I have to press on the play button of my cd player again.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Legends of East Africa Orchestra Makassy 6 May 2005
By Mario - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Audio CD
This is one of the finest records ever to come out of Africa, and is one of the planet's finest popular music recording. I have Agwaya (original LP) and have been searching for these guys on CD for years. An absolute must have.
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   
Related forums


What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?


Listmania!


Look for similar items by category


Look for similar items by subject




i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback


Amazon.co.uk Privacy Statement Amazon.co.uk Delivery Information Amazon.co.uk Returns & Exchanges