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  • 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 digital pre-order of Drum Message. You get 4 tracks now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.
    shipping out on or around October 1, 2021
    Purchasable with gift card

      €21 EUR or more 

     

  • 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 digital pre-order of Drum Message. You get 4 tracks now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.
    shipping out on or around October 1, 2021
    Purchasable with gift card

      €12 EUR or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Pre-order of Drum Message. You get 4 tracks now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.
    Purchasable with gift card
    releases October 1, 2021

      €11 EUR  or more

     

1.
Drum Message
2.
Asante Sana 06:32
info
buy track
3.
Follow Me 05:26
info
buy track
4.
Sabi (Album Version) 06:29
info
buy track
5.
Mother Africa 04:58
info
buy track
6.
Never Fly Away from the Funk
7.
Play a Sweet Rhythm on Them Drums
8.
Adowa
9.
Sabi (Black Fire Mix)
10.
Kazi's Awakening
11.
To the Ancestors

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 inbetween.”).

Drum Message only previously surfaced on a Black Fire CD in 1993. Now receiving its first full international release and its first ever vinyl issue, the album has been fully remastered by The Carvery. Package features unseen photos and a brand new interview with Okyerema Asante tracing the ups and downs of his career in music. Released on CD, 2LP, digital and streaming.

credits

releases October 1, 2021

2021, Strut Records - a division of K7 Music GmbH

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all rights reserved

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about

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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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