Kadior Demb

Raucous, urgent dancing afro-jazz from Senegal circa 1979. If you went clubbing there in those days, chances are you’d hear these fellas. The Cuban son/salsa influence typical of this region is blurred and bent into something wild and unique, mixing in traditional rhythms with jangly guitar and an unparalleled percussive force. Even on the ballads, the drums are pounding away like an elephant stampede. Fania All-Stars plus James Brown plus steroids. Great stuff dangit, play any track.

1. (4:13) starting right off with rattling beats, boisterous call-and-response vocals, horns do a lot of the melodic busy-work
2. (4:03) pretty much the same as 1, horns take more of a ballsy center stage
3. (7:14) soft grooving ballad with bluesy guitar licks and crooning vocals
4. (5:23) upbeat summery Cuban melodies, happy tropical dancing anthem
5. (5:39) another slow jam for dancing cheek-to-cheek, gentle guitar strumming and plaintive vocal wailing
6. (4:51) probably the most upbeat minor-key song ever recorded! Enough said—gnarly guitar solo, too
7. (5:28) horn section/vocal call and response over steady chugging rhythms
8. (3:22) wild guitar and horns grounded by a repetitive bassline and a rattling, danceable 6/8 groove
9. (5:19) more upbeat than the rest of the ballads, sounds like a bolero straight out of Buena Vista Social Club
10. (6:28) midpaced jam with some melancholy guitar and vocals, great saxophone solos
11. (7:01) an urgent, loud anthem with squiggly jazz-guitar, subdued horns and nasal vocals