PERSONNEL:
BIRIGWA
- VOICES AND GUITAR
STAN STRICKLAND - FLUTE AND TENOR SAX
ARTHUR BROOKS - FLEUGELHORN
MAIT EDEY - PIANO AND
MISC. PERCUSSION
PHIL MORRISON - BASS
YUSEF CROWDER - SHIKO DRUM AND MISC. PERCUSSION
VINNIE JOHNSON - DRUMS
ORIGINALLY RELEASED IN 1972,
THIS ALBUM BY THE UGANDA BORN BIRIGWA IS ONE OF THE MOST UNIQUE AND HARD TO CATEGORIZE ALBUMS OF AFRO-FOLK-JAZZ-BLUES-PSYCH
WE'VE EVER HEARD. BIRIGWA CAME TO AMERICA TO STUDY AT THE NEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY IN THE EARLY '70S WHEN HE MADE THIS BEAUTIFUL
RECORD, WHICH FALLS SOMEWHERE BETWEEN TROPICALIA, PASTORAL SOUTH AMERICAN PSYCH, SPIRITUAL SOUL-JAZZ AND ECLECTIC BLUES, ACCENTED
BY HIS SUPER VERSATILE VOCALS WHICH SWING FREELY FROM DEEP TO FALSETTO, PLAYFUL TO WONDERFULLY WEIRD (CHECK OUT THE LAST TRACK!)
TO DOWNRIGHT PRETTY. BACKING BIRIGWA WAS A REALLY STRONG BAND, HIS SOUND BOLSTERED BY THE RICH BASS LINES OF STARK REALITY
MEMBER PHIL MORRISON AND THE PERFECT FLUTE TOUCHES OF STAN STRICKLAND. THINK OF CAETANO VELOSO, JORGE BEN, DEVENDRA BANHART
OR MILTON NASCIMENTO, WITH ONE FOOT IN AFRICA, THE OTHER DIPPING ITS TOES IN SONIC WATERS FLOWING FROM ALL SORTS OF GREAT
AND UNEXPECTED PLACES.
-AQUARIUS RECORDS-