Mr Bongo

“One of the finest Brazilian jazz funk fusion albums ever recorded; thoroughly deserving of its cult status. First official reissue outside of Brazil. Cesar Camargo Mariano is a celebrated Brazilian jazz pianist, composer and producer, born in Sao Paulo in the 1940’s. He has played and worked with the likes of Elis Regina (to whom he was married at one point), Som Tres and Sambalanco Trio and still plays very regularly today.

‘Sao Paulo Brasil’ saw Mariano and co. step deep into jazz funk/fusion territory – and nail it. Tight, tough drum grooves, intricate arrangements, layers of synthesisers, percussion and FX transport and tell a story from the first beat. Official Mr Bongo reissue. Licensed from Sony Music.” – Mr Bongo

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Olli Ahvenlahti is a Finnish pianist, composer and conductor, born in Helsinki, Finland in 1949. A pianist, composer and conductor, Ahvenlahti has been one of leading Finnish Jazz artists since the 70s. He has recorded with several artists and groups including UMO Jazz Orchestra (1977-1982). He went on to become conductor for Finland in, believe it or not, the Eurovision Song Contest, conducting seven entries for the country from 1990 until 1998. Since the 1990s he has worked as a composer and arranger for Finnish radio and television company 'YLE’. 

'The Poet' was originally released on Love Records in Finland in 1976 and is now hard to find and expensive to acquire. The most sought after track 'Grandma's Rocking Chair' became very popular with dancers in the early 90’s London acid/jazz scene due to its pace and percussion, and has appeared on many compilations since. It was reworked by Kenny Dope in 2001 and released on Finnish label 'Jazzpuu’.

This Mr Bongo re-issue is packaged in our new and improved heavyweight card sleeves, pressed on high quality vinyl, with label designs and artwork as per the original release. – Mr Bongo

1967 album from the legendary Brazilian singer, composer & producer, Marcos Valle. Arranged by Eumir Deodato. Superior high-quality audio reproduction - mastered from original tapes. - Linear Notes | Mr Bongo

Visions was almost entirely performed and recorded in one take during an intense studio session. The record is a partly-composed, partly-improvised suite of free-flowing music intended to be enjoyed as a complete body of work. Tavares plays piano and guitar, Whitty the saxophone and flute, and the duo are joined by Julian Anderson-Bowes on bass and Matthew Chalmers on drums.

Matthew Tavares and Leland Whitty are Grammy-winning artists and achieved international acclaim with BADBADNOTGOOD; Tavares was one of the band’s founders before amicably departing in 2019, whilst Whitty remains an active member. Beyond BADBAD, the pair’s credits include music with Kendrick Lamar, Little Simz, Kali Uchis and Kaytranada, plus Tavares' 2018 debut solo album Déjàvu and production work for Travis Scott, Justin Bieber, Post Malone, Camilla Cabello and others. - Mr Bongo

 Super-funky business from Nigerian-born multi-instrumentalist, Peter King; fuses funk, jazz and highlife vibrations. ‘Omo Lewa’ follows his ‘Miliki Sound’ album, also available on Mr Bongo. Recorded in London, originally released in 1976 by Orbitone, this is one of his finest records. 

Released November 8, 2019 Licensed from Clinton Roberts.

Official Mr Bongo reissue. – Mr Bongo

First official reissue of hidden-gem album by Lagos-based bandleader Shina Williams. Shina Williams ‘Agboju Logun’ was a ground-breaking fusion of afrobeat, electronics, boogie and disco. First released on Phonodisk in 1979 as part of the ‘African Dances’ album, then in 1984 as an alternative version on Rough Trade’s Earthwork off-shoot, it has gone on to attain cult-like status. 

So it remains a bit of a mystery how so little has been documented about the follow-up. Shina’s self-titled album was originally released on Help Records in 1980. It differs from the upfront afro-disco-funk of ‘African Dances’ as it diverts into deeper, hypnotic, afro-beat territory. Though listed as a six-track album, each side (composing of 3 tracks) is built-upon one continuous groove with call and response female & male vocals and instrumental solos coming and going as each side progresses. The results are raw, hypnotic, locked-in grooves, which sit perfectly on forward-thinking contemporary dancefloors. – Light In The Attic

Tough, mid-tempo Ghanaian funk & Highlife grooves from Ebo Taylor Junior, son of the mighty Ebo Taylor. Originally released in 1978; now extremely difficult and expensive to find in its original form. Today Ebo Taylor Jnr plays keys in his fathers band that continues to tour when he is able to. – Light In The Attic

London “tropical punk” band The Skints have been making some waves the past few months with their most recent release Swimming Lessons. I can’t help but be thoroughly impressed with this album from start to finish. With its outstanding use of musical flavors such as reggae, soul, dubstep, punk, ragga, and rap, it all ties together effortlessly. In fact, so effortlessly that one doesn’t really quite realize that all these genres are being integrated into one soundscape experience. Swimming Lessons is a beautifully crafted project that puts together dark, thoughtful lyricism with intricate use of musicianship. It is a fusion of musical genres that displays political yet personal messages.

Moments like “Learning to Swim” dive us into a delightful reggae and punk experience. It is the perfect start to Swimming Lessons as it introduces all the beautiful experiences we will hear for the remainder of this 14-track journey. “Gets on Top” is sure to be a crowd favorite with its infectious use of rap and island flair. We get into a different kind of territory when we hear instant classics such as “What Did I Learn Today?” and “The Island,” where some of the island muse takes a back seat to advance the punk aesthetic. This isn’t a bad thing, as it serves as a pleasant pallet cleanser, showing that the band is capable of producing a really great rock record. Overall, this album is a huge success in more ways than one. Its combination of tropical, rock, and rap genres keeps the record interesting which delivers a melodic, rhythmic adventure force to be contended with. –Spill Magazine

Official Mr Bongo Reissue | Highlife & straight up funky Musiq

Extremely hard-to-obtain LP from the Ghanaian master composer, producer and musician. Originally released in 1982 by the WEA International label and then again in Germany in 1985 by Ambolley himself; this is one of his finest albums in our opinion.

’Ambolley’ fuses Highlife, disco and boogie sonics perfectly and features the anthemic club cut, ‘Highlife’, that we have spinning for a while – always does the job! - Mr Bongo

Classic Brazilian album from master drummer, Ronald Mesquita, originally released in 1972. Featuring songs by Jorge Ben, Antonio Carlos-Jobim, Gilberto Gil, Edu Lobo and others.

Mesquita is probably most well-known for playing with Luis Carlos Vinhas and his ‘Bossa Tres’ outfit, along with his own group, ‘Ronie E A Central Do Brasil’, that he formed after his return from the US in the early 1970’s. He also played on several songs on Tenorio Jr.’s ‘Embalo’ album that we recently reissued. - Mr Bongo

Hard-to-obtain, vintage highlife from three true giants of the sound; Ebo Taylor, Pat Thomas & Uhuru Yenzu. Originally released in 1982. In 'Hitsville Re-Visited', the mighty trio add a dose of uptempo funk into traditional highlife grooves. The legendary Ebo Taylor was involved in many funk and highlife records to emerge from Ghana in the 70's and 80's. He worked with bands such as Apagya Show Band, C.K. Mann as well as Pat Thomas, on this, and several other records. – Mr Bongo | Bandcamp