mary afi usuah: ekpenyong abasi

A stupendous blend of scintillating highlife, smoking Fela, and spaced-out, funkdafied black jazz, from 1975, reissued for the first time. Mari Affiong Usuah from Oron, by way of Calabar, in southeastern Nigeria, fronting a knockout band led by Daniel "Satch" Asuquo from the Atomic 8 (and formerly of Bobby Benson's orchestra). The afrofunk cuts are especially killer -- with James Brown just percolating through by the end -- but it's a stunning, magnificent album, through and through. Beautifully sleeved, too, with excellent notes by Uchenna from Comb & Razor. "Gob, smacked," he recalls, about his first listen; "mind, blown."