From the liner notes: " In short, this beautifully performed and superbly recorded album is a fitting musical excellence from Ghana's longest-lived group. It's therefore not surprising that Nana Ampadu is the most brilliant musician and wonderful lyricist who works in a standard and modern format using traditional rhythms and innovations to give the best to his large audience. Nana Ampadu is always together with his people. The people with Africa Feeling."
Well, I could hardly put it any better than it is expressed on the back of this Makossa Records International pressing of the 1981 lp "Agatha".
A joyful and deliciously polyrhythmic slice of Cote de Ivoire highlife, the 'single' version of Agatha came out in 1979. In the decade prior and the ones following, Nana has recorded at least "400" songs as singles and over "70" albums. From the Nana Ampadu website: ( http://www.nanakwameampadu.com/mylife.htm ) ...These styles are based on 'yaa amponsah', heard in its purest form on the band's hit single "Agatha" , and embrace other less-well-known regional styles such as odonson, a street rhythm performed by percussionists and singers, and osode, a music sung by Ghanaian fisherman in the west of the country. Ampadu's lyrics, almost invariably sung in one of the Ghanaian languages rather than English, are steeped in street and tribal lore, sometimes including coded criticisms of government policies and personalities."
Personally, I can say that since a friend loaned me this lp a few years ago, I have gotten a lot of joy from listening to and DJing these songs. I've always found this genre of West African music to be almost a guaranteed 'uplift' to my mood in any situation, and I think that this album is a splendid example of the best of the form. Even better, it has only four long cuts, which allows me to wallow in the permutations of the groove within each of the songs to an orgasmic degree.
The availability of this music seems sketchy; there is a cd repackage (minus the original art) that is possibly out of print, and three of the four tracks pop up on several other Nana Ampadu CDs, with the exception being "Akwantifi Wuo", which seems to not be found on CD at all. Being fond of the original package and song list, and not having heard back from Nana's website, I'm going to go ahead and pass this lovely record along.
I've placed a mockup of the full lp cover here, and since my version of the cover art is merely a color copy made for me by the owner of the record, I've re-typed the wonderful and extensive liner notes on the back of the record, as my original copy is very hard to read. The text is just as charming as can be. "Thank God you've had this beautiful Album." Well, thank you, Nana Ampadu I and the band!
the four MP3s: 01 Agatha 02 Menye Osansani 03 Akwantifi Wuo (Mother) 04 Momfa Nto Meso
Argh, will every rare album I own be posted on Beware of the Blog? I got this one years ago at the WFMU record fair, and in all the years of Afrofilia since, never saw anyone else mention it. Now my exclusive domain crumbles.
Posted by: Dan Bodah | March 21, 2009 at 09:39 PM
This one was recently posted here
http://ylow.blogspot.com/2008/11/african-brothers-international-band-of_22.html
It is one of the groups best.
Posted by: Icastico | March 21, 2009 at 10:46 PM
Is the band from Cote d'Ivoire or Ghana? And thanks for the post...
Posted by: Quizmasterchris | March 21, 2009 at 11:56 PM
Dan-- I feel you! Indeed- I have to think and search hard to find things that WFMU hasn't outed yet.
Quizmaster-- Good question. All I can say is study the lp liner notes and Nana's website. The Ivory Coast is mentioned, but I probably wouldn't place them there.
Posted by: Mindwrecker | March 22, 2009 at 12:11 PM
greetings! cheers for your comment on my blog ... great music indeed ... the difference in covers is due to the fact yours is the US issue & mine is the original Ghanian pressing (i used to have both copies but sold on my US version a short while back to fund further afro purchases!) ... peace ;)
Posted by: DOOM | March 23, 2009 at 06:39 PM
African Brothers are most definitely from Ghana! I have had this record for years - it's one of my favourites for the cover & notes as well as the music.
Posted by: Dave in Montreal | March 25, 2009 at 11:36 AM
What is up with the record hoarders complaining about this music getting posted? Your kind sucks! This music is so hard to find and there are many of us out there that love it to death and look for any avenue to find this stuff in any format. So when someone is generous enough to share these lost sounds with the world it's an awesome gesture. Why should any band's output & legacy end up locked away in some fat guy's basement while he sits there in his camouflage jacket staring at the wall? That's just wrong on so many levels. Sharing this stuff also helps foil the few criminals (you know who you are!) out there who rob these albums from naive West Africans and charge hundreds of dollars for the LP's on ebay. The whole thing stinks so a VERY BIG thanks to Beware of the Blog for sharing these wonderful tunes with us!
Posted by: Louie Dejesus | January 04, 2010 at 02:04 AM
Dear
Iam a ghanaian based abroad and would like to know how to get an album of Nana entitled ''anomaa nua wobe ko wonkrame''
Posted by: Bamba | May 12, 2010 at 12:15 PM
I love this kind of music. It's got that special groove! Thank you for spreading!
Posted by: Robin Fuchs | July 19, 2010 at 03:29 AM
the mp3 links are wrong, can you correct them ?
thanx for the info on this great band
Posted by: stefano | July 10, 2012 at 09:49 AM