Kanonu, Aleke
Aleke
After spending much of the '70s humping his congos around New York as a session musician, Nigerian Aleke Kanonu pulled in some favours to record an album of his own. The result was 'Aleke' (1980), a criminally obscure Afrobeat/funk/jazz masterpiece featuring Buddy Williams on drums, George Davis on guitar and a cameo from Wynton Marsalis on flugelhorn. There are only four tracks on the album but they are all killers. 'N'Gwode' sounds like Fela Kuti and Manu Dibangu hanging out with Bobby Womack, probably somewhere across 110th Street. 'Keep New York Clean' struts like Shaft after a successful bust. And 'Mothers Day' keeps things sweet and soulful, before Wynton Marsalis brings back the groove with his flugelhorn on 'Home Sweet Home'. (Peter Moore, www.africanrevolutions.com). CD version contains the 'Happiness'/'Nwanne Nwanne Nwanne' 12" from 1982 as bonus tracks.