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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    1. DRUM MESSAGE 3.25
    2. ASANTE SANA 6.39
    3. FOLLOW ME 5.36
    4. SABI 6.32
    5. MOTHER AFRICA 5.02
    6. NEVER FLY AWAY FROM THE FUNK 5.07
    7. PLAY A SWEET RHYTHM ON THEM DRUMS 6.36
    8. ADOWA 3.20
    9. SABI (BLACK FIRE MIX) 6.27
    10. KAZI’S AWAKENING 6.07
    11. TO THE ANCESTORS 12.15

    Includes unlimited streaming of Drum Message via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      £11 GBP  or more

     

  • Drum Message (2LP)
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    A1 DRUM MESSAGE 3.25
    A2 ASANTE SANA 6.39
    A3 FOLLOW ME 5.36

    B1 SABI 6.32
    B2 MOTHER AFRICA 5.02
    B3 NEVER FLY AWAY FROM THE FUNK 5.07

    C1 PLAY A SWEET RHYTHM ON THEM DRUMS 6.36
    C2 ADOWA 3.20
    C3 SABI (BLACK FIRE MIX) 6.27

    D1 KAZI’S AWAKENING 6.07
    D2 TO THE ANCESTORS 12.15

    Includes unlimited streaming of Drum Message via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

1.
Drum Message 03:25
2.
Asante Sana 06:32
3.
Follow Me 05:26
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Adowa 03:19
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11.

about

Strut return to the rich archives of Black Fire Records for the Drum Message album by Ghanaian master percussionist Okyerema Asante from 1977.

After playing a short spell early in his career with Ebo Taylor’s Blue Monks band at Tip Toe’s in Accra, Asante joined the fledgling Hedzoleh Soundz during the early ‘70s at their Napoleon Club residency in the city. After playing Fela’s Shrine, Fela recommended them to Hugh Masekela as an ideal backing band and Hedzoleh joined Masekela on a US tour in December 1973. Sharing the same management company, Charisma, Asante first met Plunky and Oneness Of Juju during an East coast tour with Masekela, starting a relationship with the band that has endured until today.

Recorded at Arrest Studios in Washington D.C. in October 1977 and featuring musicians from Oneness alongside Gil Scott Heron cohort Brian Jackson on piano, Drum Message represents an important milestone for Asante: “This album really came from my heart. I wanted to project the African spirit in the music and come out with some unique African jazz. To be able to record it on Black Fire was extra special.” The album also involved some serious physical graft: “The studio was up on the 14th Floor and the elevator was often broken down. I showed up with a van full of African drums and Jimmy Gray from Black Fire and myself had to carry them all the way up there, each day!”

The resultant album was well worth the sweat. ‘Adowa’ adds jazz arrangements to a traditional Asante rhythm and Oneness classic ‘Follow Me’ is skilfully re-worked (“I used the bass drum in place of the bass guitar so it was all based on rhythms.”). New versions of Asante dancefloor favourite ‘Sabi’ sit alongside the mellow groove of ‘Asante Sana’ (“I wanted something cool like reggae or highlife on that track, a similar vibe. So, I went in between.”).

credits

released November 5, 2021

2021, Strut Records - a division of K7 Music GmbH

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about

Black Fire Washington, D.C.

Official archive of Jimmy Gray's seminal independent soul and jazz label & collective that he ran out of Richmond, VA between 1975 and 1993. Working from the original master tapes and unreleased session, artists include Oneness Of Juju, Lon Moshe, Byard Lancaster, Theatre West, Wayne Davis and more.... ... more

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