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‘Tanbou Lou’ stands as the most straight-forward afro-latin track in the set.įrom the two roots reggae tracks, ‘Kingpin’ ranks higher in my book with conscious lyrics and sizzling vibes featuring Gary ‘Slim’ Moore on vocals. ‘Conquering Lion’ stands beautifully between rock steady and jazz-funk with some latin vibes – an excellent, innovative track. The afro-tropical jam continues with ‘Ya Basta’ with rampant Caribbean horns, eloquent strings between melody and riffing and sharp-cutting shouts waking us up from complacency to the declining modern world (militarism, despotism, imperialism etc.).
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‘Cartao Postal’ is the first latin mash-up in the album, fervent, party-ready and free to download. The band pays homage to Orchestra Baobab once more with the album’s closer ‘Nijaay’. ‘Kelen Ati Leen’ is a more typical funk track, deep and psychedelic, a masterful cover of Orchestra Baobab’s original with Senegalese and now Quebec resident El Hadji ‘Élage’ M’Baye on vocals. The production is electrified, analogue with no rounded edges – it sounds as true and sharp as to blow up the overwhelming digital staleness. ‘Bibinay’ together with ‘Serve and Protect’ are their high-standard afrobeat offerings in this album with enchanting polyrhythmic pulse, an authoritative saxophone section and fully-textured vintage keys.
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With ‘Solidarity’ they reaffirm their position as the premier activist afro-tropical/jazz/funk ensemble. Apart from re-introducing their trademark afrobeat anthems, absent in their previous record, Souljazz Orchestra cast the roots reggae sound in their musical arsenal for the first time in their career. Here we have a further expansion towards latin afro-tropical sounds and that cannot be more timely as the genre has been experiencing an upsurge with acts like Ondatropica.
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‘Solidarity’ is a very different album and that honours the band – it verifies their overall approach which is about broadening, deepening and refining their sound rather than resting on their successes. Surely, the bands three records before that are all exciting especially 2007’s ‘Freedom No Go Die’, but ‘Rising Sun’ delivered something so imaginative and adventurous exceeding even the wildest expectations – a deep afro-jazz milestone that transgressed anything we knew before about combining western and exotic styles. Let’s put it straight, ‘Rising Sun’ (2010), Souljazz Orchestra’s previous album reached an artistic level that very few bands can achieve. Genre: Afrobeat / Afro-tropical / World / Roots Reggae