Oneness of Juju – African Rhythms Pt1&2
The Oneness of Juju
Listen/Download – Oneness of Juju – African Rhythms Pt1
Listen/Download – Oneness of Juju – African Rhythms Pt2
Greetings all.
I don’t know about where you folks live, but things got awfully cold, awfully quickly around here.
It’s nothing like the weird snow-fucking that our friends in the UK are getting, but cold enough that I have to make sure the little corners are all bundled up when they trot out the door, and I might add, at the point where I am contemplating putting the fireplace into use.
I’m also perched by the mailbox waiting for a couple of exceptional vinyl acquisitions to arrive, one of them taking its sweet time (apparently) swimming here from the EU. I was lucky enough to grab a couple of longtime want list items at reasonable prices, so as soon as they fall through the mail slot, and I get them digimatized, you’ll see them here and hear them on the Funky16Corners Radio Show.
Speaking of seemingly unobtainable items, allow me to take you back a little over a year to March of 2009, when my man DJ Prestige and I packed up the Funky16Corners-mobile and headed down to DC and RVA to do our DJ thing, and naturally get in some out of town digging.
While we were in DC, the mighty DJ Birdman took us to a couple of sweet spots, one of which yielded two copies of the 1975 LP by Oneness of Juju (one each for Prestige and Birdman). I was pissed I hadn’t found it first (who wouldn’t be?), but happy to see my buddies make such a good score.
Flash forward a bit to my next trip down to DC in July of last year where I did a couple of gigs with Birdman (including an allnighter at Marvin), around which were scheduled even more digs. Part of our trip involved a run down to Richmond, which included a stop at the storied Plan 9 record store.
As expected, there was a veritable sea of vinyl to be perused, but I had been instructed to inquire of the man behind the counter whether or not he might have some of the “good stuff” held off to the side.
Now, as any seasoned digger will tell you, not every record store is likely to have a box or two of special stuff set aside, and among those that do, some of the special stuff isn’t all that special, it’s just expensive.
So, having already grabbed an armload of 45s and LPs, I asked to see the good stuff, and spent the next half hour or so checking it out on the store turntable.
Though there was a lot of interesting stuff, not much of it was grabbing me, until I got to the bottom of the stack and saw something that set my Spidey sense a-tingling, that being a 45 of the Oneness of Juju performing ‘African Rhythms’.
I had heard, and dug this tune on a CD comp of Afro-funk a few years before, and knew the band had a Richmond connection, but I don’t think I expected a copy of the 45 to fall into my sweaty hands.
After a bit of haggling (which didn’t amount to much, since I’m such a shitty haggler) I added the 45* to my keeper stack and took it home.
The group has it’s roots in mid-60s New York City, where saxophonist Plunky Nkabinde (aka J. Plunky Branch), a native of Richmond, VA went to college, met bassist/singer Ken Shabala and formed a band called the Soul Syndicate.
In the late 60s, the pair moved to San Francisco and joined Ndikho Xaba (one of many South African expatrites who came to the US to make music in the 60s) in the group Ndikho and the Natives.
Two years later, along with vibist Lon Moshe they left and formed the avant garde group Juju.
Over the next few years Juju recorded a few albums of Afro jazz (one for Strata East), eventually moving to Richmond, VA in 1974.
The group reconstituted, physically (with personnel changes) and artistically (with a much funkier vibe) and was rechristened as the Oneness of Juju. They became a big draw in and around Washington, DC, playing with many of the big local acts, as well as touring artists.
The Oneness of Juju recorded their eponymous LP (on the Black Fire label), which included ‘African Rhythms’ in 1975, and featuring their new vocalist Lady Eka-Ete.
The 45 edit of ‘African Rhythms’ opens with a tight breakbeat** (courtesy of another Richmond native, Ronnie Toler). The bass, guitar and saxophone weave in and out of the percussion before that band starts to chant the title of the song.
Over the course of more than seven minutes, you get a real taste of the unique combination of sounds that the Oneness of Juju could produce. Not only do you get a tune with enough contemporary funk energy to get people out onto the dance floor, but there is also the jazz edge the band brought with them from their previous incarnation.
The next 30 years saw the group become a free-flowing entity, morphing in both personnel and style, always led by Plunky, who in addition to performing also taught music in public schools and at the university level, as well as traveling to Africa. They recorded as Plunky and Oneness, as well as providing backing on Plunky’s numerous solo recordings.
They really represent a remarkable bit of musical history (which can be read in much greater detail at their web site) that would probably make an incredible book.
I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll be back on Friday.
Peace
Larry
*Despite its visually pristine condition, the 45 has some background noise which is especially obvious during the beginning and end of each side. My apologies for the crackle…
**The record was sampled by Quasimoto among others
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Afro Funk, Digging, DJ Gigs, Funk, Funk 45, Funky16Corners, Jazz funk, Soul, Soul 45
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Funky16Corners, Soul
Themocracy
Nice one Larry! Can’t beat a bit of Afro-jazz-funk!
For the real Afro-jazz-funk-groove (otherwise known as Afrobeat) you gotta go with the incomparable Fela, but this is some tasty stuff never-the-less.
Don’t know if you have listened to much Fela yourself Larry, what with the plethora of funky stuff you must already be working your way through?
Would definitely recommend the ‘Black President’ best of from Wrasse as a quality intro should you unaccountably find yourself looking for something to listen to…
https://www.wrasserecords.com/Fela_Anikulapo_Kuti_9/The_Black_President_155.html
Anyway, cheers for another selection of quality tunary over the past few weeks!
Stu, Glasgow, Scotland
Hey Stu!
I love Fela (I keep the Black President comp in the car to listen to while driving).
The only Fela vinyl I have is a Euro 45 of.’Shakara’.
Larry
Hello Larry,
Your story warmed my heart, took me way back and gave me hope for the future. I am still at it: performing regularly, recording and going to release a new CD in February, my 26th! Thanks for keeping the vibe, the music and the messages alive.
Wisdom, Peace and Love Through Music,
Plunky of Juju
geez I LOVE this record, and there’s Plunky! I love this site!