Jambú
"The future of music happened decades ago," reads the catchy claim of Samy Ben Redjeb's Frankfurt-based imprint Analog Africa, specialising in unusual African music from the '70s, basically stuff you never even knew existed, but has nonetheless had a strong impact in certain regions of the world. As such, many of the Analog Africa releases are not just about the music, but also come with detailed liner notes and equally unusual stories.
Last Friday, the label dropped another amazing compilation, focussing this time on a melting pot of mythical sounds from the Amazon, namely the city of Belém, aka the "Caribbean Port", in the northern Brazilian state of Pará that "has long been a hotbed of culture and musical innovation", home to "Amerindians, Europeans, Africans – and the myriad combinations between these people” as well as diverse musical genres, including "Carimbó, Samba-De-Cacete, Siriá, Bois-Bumbás and Bambiá."
Together with Australian DJ and producer Carlo Xavier, Samy Ben Redjeb began to immerse himself into this rich parallel universe, the history thereof, its recording industry as well as its thriving sound system culture. The musical result being "Jambú e Os Míticos Sons Da Amazônia": "The music and tales found in Jambú are stories of resilience, triumph against all odds, and, most importantly, of a city in the borders of the Amazon who has always known how to throw a damn good party."
Jambú also happens to be the name of a plant found in Amazonian and Paraense cooking and known among other things for its "appetite-stimulating effect." That being said, this compilation has definitely whet our appetite for more of these extraordinary, organic musical blends.
To listen, support and to find out more about the extensive research that went into this great project, head over to the Analog Africa release page on Bandcamp.
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