Osibisa

Don’t let Roger Dean’s airborne pachyderms fool you. While there’s plenty of impressive musicianship on Osibisa’s debut, it’s not of the progressive variety. Largely forgotten now, this England-based West African/Carribean combo followed Fela Kuti in bringing Afrobeat to Western ears, on this record with the help of T. Rex/Bowie collaborator Tony Visconti. Not the most authentic representation of African sounds — hard to imagine many Farfisa organs in Ghana in the early seventies — but it swings like a mother. The jazzy interplay and classic rock showboating on “Music for Gong Gong” and “Akwaaba” bridges all the worlds they come from effectively, and they even throw in a Buddy Miles-style funk jam called “Think About the People” to bring this multi-cultural flight of fancy to a satisfying landing.