The Caribbean is in the spotlight in this week's column, with two new and contrasting albums from different parts of the region featuring.
One is a compilation of underground Afro-Colombian gems recorded in the mid- to late-70s in Barranquilla, Colombia; the other is a release of rare tracks from a Bahamian troubadour and master guitarist.
La Locura De Machuca 1975-1980: Experimental Psychedelic Afro-Champeta & Cumbia From Colombia (Analogue Africa, 2020) is a mind-bending compilation from Discos Machuca, a label certainly not well known outside of Colombia, but thanks to the persistence of Analogue Africa label boss Samy Ben Redjeb the music the label created is now available to international audiences.
I've written at length on Colombian music in the past; accordion-driven Vallenato, cumbia and porro have featured as have legends like Joe Arroyo and Fruko Y Su Tesos, and folkloric masters like Toto La Momposina have all featured in the column over the years, as have great record labels like Disco Fuentes. Afro-Colombian music is also a firm favourite as well.
But it is a challenge to try to define any of this music using the dimensions of established genres; it simply defies categorisation.
The story of how the album came into being is unusual to say the least. Why, for example, should Rafael Machuca, a tax lawyer with a top government job, decide to set up in the music business in 1975? It turns out he needed to book an event for a party in his office. His brother-in-law sent him to Plaza de los Musicos in Barranquillo and there he found Los Hermanos Carabello trying to make their way. He immediately joined them on tour and began recording the lesser-known underground bands that he found in the coastal regions of Colombia.
For the next six years he recorded bands he found in clubs and some he created (such as Samba Negra, the only band I recognised on the compilation). He deliberately marketed his releases in a different style to the typical "cheesy" girl-in-a-bikini cover on Discos Fuentes, adding a psychedelic look. He had a clear musical concept in mind, too; he took folkloric, traditional music (often Afro-Colombian), added snatches from hard-to-find African vinyl (and sometimes he made covers of African pop songs) and progressive/psychedelic rock from the West. As a result, you can hear music that Afrobeat musicians were playing in Nigeria and Ghana but it is added to driving percussion and sparkling guitars.
One comment I've read describes the music here as "B-movies of Colombian music", which seems spot on. The music equivalent of Out Of The Past, Underworld USA or Gun Crazy? Yes, I like that.
Right from the opening track, the hypnotic percussion workout Eberebijara by Samba Negra which features handclaps, smooth organ and chunk guitar, let you know it's going to be a wild ride. Every one of the 17 tracks is a delight, from the mad lyrics and Calypso-esque Monkey Dance to the Afro-beat of Rio Latino to the psychedelia of Juipiti by El Grupo Folclorico, there's some brilliant music on display. My current favourite is the weirdly disturbing La Mazamorra Del Diablo by vallenato band Anibal Velasquez, but each time I listen to the album a new favourite track jumps out. Don't miss this album, highly recommended.
Meanwhile, back in the Bahamas, the spirit of one of the island's most revered musicians, the late singer/master guitarist Joseph Spence lives on with a new release set for July this year. Encore: Unheard Recordings Of Bahamian Guitar And Singing (Smithsonian Folkways) features previously unreleased tracks by this influential musician.
Album covers John Clewley
Spence, who died in 1973 at the age of 73, mumbled, hummed and scatted his lyrics over a brilliant fingerpicking style that developed out of the vocal harmonies he learned from Bahamian fishing songs. He was "discovered" by musicologist Samuel Charters who recorded him in the late 60s; his complex, layered guitar style was a revelation to musicians in the folk revival of the early 1960s. Guitarists influenced by him included Taj Mahal, Grateful Dead and many others, including British folk legends Richard Thompson and John Renbourn. I learned of his work from Ry Cooder who has performed and recorded several of Spence's songs over the years.
Spence's 1964 recording Happy All The Time has been reissued several times as is an excellent addition to any music collection.
Encore was recorded during a trip to New York City and in his hand-built home in Nassau by producer Peter Seigel in the mid-60s. Some of the tracks are well-known Spence classics like Out On The Rolling Sea, Bimini Girl and one of my favourites, Give Me That Old-Time Religion, as well as some never released before, like Death And The Woman and Won't That Be A Happy Time, but the centrepiece of this album is the haunting story of a marine tragedy, Run Come See Jerusalem. This song is about a 1929 tragedy in which the ship Pretoria sank off the Bahamas. Although he didn't write the song, Spence was there when it happened; he helped pull bodies from the water and was haunted by the event for life.
Spence was a unique musician who developed his own way of singing and playing from the local communities he grew up in. A great musician, who deserves wider recognition. Highly recommended.
John Clewley can be contacted at clewley.john@gmail.com.
