Sunburst :: Ave Africa: The Complete Recordings 1973-1976

SUNBURST FINAL FRONT COVER HI RES

Analog Africa, Soundway Records, Now Again Records, Awesome Tapes From Africa, and Strut. Together, these five labels have done more to advance western comprehension of African music  than most ethnocentric undergraduate study curricula ever could.  A sonic diaspora, their exploration of vintage continental sounds via a decade-plus of  releases has served as an entry point into the dense geopolitical world from which the music was born.

Strut Records’ latest release Sunburst :: Ave Africa: The Complete Recordings 1973-1976 is no exception.

Describing their muse at the time, Sunburst’s James Mpungo explained: “Our songs are songs that support freedom struggles, songs that encourage peasants and workers to work harder, songs in praise of our leaders. We also sing a lot of songs criticizing our people for allowing themselves to be too westernized and throwing away their traditional values.”

Short-lived, the Tanzanian group initially cut their teeth via live covers-heavy performances and a string of early singles. Their sole LP was released at a time when Zambia was enjoying a stream of releases by bands now considered to be the icons of Zamrock such as Witch, the Ngozi Family, Musi-O-Tunya and The Blackfoot. Enter Sunburst — this is “Vijana“, out June 24th.

Sunburst :: Vijana

Related: Wake Up You :: Aquarium Drunkard Interviews Uchenna Ikonne