Legends of Benin follows on from the superb African Scream Contest release, which showcased funk music from Togo. This new compilation follows a similar format and the records were again sourced by intrepid collector Samy Ben Redjeb, direct from the Motherland. The tracks span the years 1969 – 1981 and showcase four artists working in this small West African nation during that period.

Proving that James Brown’s influence on African music spread much further than Nigeria and its obvious exponent Fela Kuti, the Analog Africa label has taken up the gauntlet from those other African funk specialists, Soundway Records.

The music on this compilation puts an individual spin on funk music in an African context, and many of the tracks go in many directions at the same time – delving into salsa or reggae on Antoine Dougbe and Gnonnas Pedro’s compositions.

Antoines Dougbe’s work is so idiosyncratic that he labelled the music he made ‘Afro Cavacha’, blending Congolese Rumba, Latin arrangements and Vodoun’s rhythms. His work was recorded by and with Orchestre Poly-Rythmo (whose work was recently reissued by Soundway).

Gnonnas Pedro crafted a style of music which became popular at burial ceremonies and is known as Agbadja. Even though his music is at the tempo you can easily dance to, it can also come across as being introspective and spiritual, particularly on ‘La Musica En Vérité’.

In places, this music can also come across as sounding like the recent Congotronics project, with tracks like ‘Tin Lin Non’ laying on thick the amplification and distortion. Honoré Avolonto was responsible for Benin’s most successful LP. His music is more distinctively Afrobeat in nature with its rhythm section playing an extended, drawn-out groove before the militaristic shouts and the call-and-response strike up between the lead and backing singers.

These tracks are all heavily danceable with the drums coming out high in the mix, plus a heavy dose of polyrhythmic percussion. Catch a Samy Ben Redjeb DJ set and you’ll see what we mean It’s a breath of a fresh for the collector with a limited cash budget because the original 45s will set you back a packet from the specialist record dealers. The package comes with a 44 page booklet with authoritative liners notes, photographs and record covers with the sort of detail usually reserved for jazz boxed sets. Seek it out.

Preview the album at http://analogafrica.blogspot.com/