Osibisa / Woyaya

This is Osibisa's two first albums, sold together in a single jewel case. Each album is around 41 minutes, so they are on separate CDs (I am so glad they didn't try to cut something out to fit on one CD). There is a nice 8 page booklet with most of the original information/artwork but shrunk down to CD size. It is kind of a shame, because it would be nice to have those covers in at least a full CD size instead of shrunk down to put both on the same cover.The sound quality is very good to excellent.Released in 1971, this is from the period when the music was the most important thing in Rock. This is a great mixture of African rhythms, rock, blues and a little bit of progressive rock. Some of the tracks on Woyaya remind me of Traffic.This was a time when world music was getting to be very popular. Santana just hit it big a little earlier. Groups were adding latin and African percussion to their sound. Osibisa probably is not as hard core African as some of the groups during this time. Some of the Ginger Baker experiments went deeper into the African sound. Ayiko Bia must be some sort of tradition African number. Ginger Baker's Airforce also did a number that sounds very similar and called the same thing, only spelled differently (Ginger Baker's Airforce was only the beginning of Baker's foray into African music).I think both albums are great and I was disappointed in the albums that came afterward. They were OK, but too poppy and too Anglicized. I kind of gave up and lost track of the band after they did the soundtrack to Superfly TNT.

Osibisa maintained their name meant "criss cross rhythms that explode with happiness". As a very young fan I saw the band in concert in Sydney in the early 1970s with the original line up found on both these albums. Hundreds of concerts over succeeding decades and I can still recall the enjoyment of that experience. 'The Dawn', the opening track of the eponymous album aptly describes its "happy vibe" and that about sums it up the music contained here. Joyous, infectious and strait ahead. In a way this fusion of high-life, afro-funk and carribean rhythms, with a bit of jazz thrown in for good measure, still retains wonderful energy. So what if Mac Tontoh's trumpet licks owe a lot to Hugh Masekela's, there is a nice sense of spontaneity about his brief solos.Teddy Osei's sax and flute (the latter sounding at times of contemporary Jethro Tull flautist, Ian Anderson) are just right. Robert Bailey's keyboard style always reminded me of Santana's original organist Gregg Rolie. Co-founder, Sol Amarfio and Loughty Lassisi's percussion at times has a similar rhythmic drive and Wendell Richardson's Fender stratocaster playing is never dull. The digital transfer is OK, although audiophiles will doubtless find plenty to fault. At this price, however, it is a great double set (with the complete first two albums) and an excellent introduction to what is probably for many an overlooked gem from the musical soup of the late 1960s and early 1970s. As Teddy says on 'Beautiful 7', "...forget your problems, be happy! Be happy!"

KILLER bass guitar and killer solos all around. The Dawn, Music for Gong Gong, Ayiko Bia, Survival and Rabiatu VERY strong songs. Flute solo at the start of The Dawn, guitar solo on Ayiko Bia and the Flugel Horn that follows are some of my fav solos ever. The DRUMS are Heart Beat. PS Music for Gong Gong a GREAT crusining song.

I had the original vinyl LPs. Subsequent editions on CD weren't good. Then in 2004, the great UK label remastered these in a Two-CD edition. They were OK, not great, but they had some improvement in sound quality.I always tend to go over again and again and check in my favorite albums, new editions and else. I stumbled in product description, and about this in particular, it said: January 1, 2015. Same label, BGO. I got excited and purchased it!Disappointment: It was the same 2004 edition. I contacted Amazon to let them know and to return it and they acted accordingly. I hope this review can help somehow.

The self-titled "Osibisa" album was the only one I ever owned by this British/African band, way back in the early 1970s. The music world was wide open back then, with all sorts of combinations of instruments popping up--lead flute, violin, horn sections. Osibisa combined the horns of Chicago with the rhythms of Santana, adding an African sound into the mix. "Dawn," "Music for Gong Gong" and "Think About the People" are just the best starting points on a solid album. What surprised me, though, was how strong the band's second album "Woyaya" is. Art Garfunkel made the title track part of his first solo album, giving it a pop edge. The rest of the disc is much more mature than the band's debut, with touches of jazz mixed in with the rock, pop, R&B and African styles.

I first ran into Osibisa when I was in high school back in the early 70's. I was thumbing through the used bin at my local record store and the cover of "Osibisa" caught my eye because it was a Roger Dean cover and I was into "Yes" at the time. Was I in for a surprise!This album turned my head around and I haven't stopped listening to world music (and especially African music) since. The beats are danceable and infectious and the joy in the music here is just great! Osibisa was a great introduction to sounds beyond rock 'n roll and this should be a great intro for anyone who hasn't really listened to African pop. Glad to see it available on CD, I'm buying it right now.

Osibisa is an overlooked group whose music while obviously altered to appeal to a wider audience, nonetheless properly represents the Afro-Beat and High Life music of the bars and dance halls of Ghana in the early 1970's. If you can listen to this music and not move, you may be dead. If you are not familiar with West African music, you will be totally amazed. If you are already familiar with Osibisa, well then, you know. I would strongly recommend this music to anyone, no matter their musical tastes. They will love this!

Osibisa were well ahead of the game in the early seventies with their mix of; blues/jazz/rock/African rhythm - 'world music' before Peter Gabriel made a generation aware of it.This re-issue is value for money but not remarkably remastered (IMO). Their first two albums would set the benchmark by which subsequent albums would be judged - at times less favourably. The music is infectious and innovative. At times the flute reminds one of a certain Mr Anderson! When the guitarist breaks out from behind the rhythm section his playing is quite incredible. The only problem being that too much at once can be a bit much as it starts becoming repetitive and the tracks seem to meld into one another.It is housed in a double CD case with a booklet detailing their (uneasy) history as a band. These two albums are their best and a great historical document.The artwork by Roger Dean brought him to the attention of 'YES', with amazing results.

所有していたレコードの音飛びがひどくなったため、廃棄しＣＤを購入したのですが、単体の「osibisa」を購入したおりに同時に購入したのがこのＣＤです。前者はレコードと比較すると、イマイチ・・このＣＤに入っている「Osibisa」は録音レベルが高く、分離も良くレコードで聞いていたときの感動が蘇ります。

It was so great to hear these two classic Osibisa albums in CD quality. A brilliant band whose sound was so unique. I think I smiled from start to finish listening to both of these albums. If you’re an Osibisa fan at all you need this.

まだエスニックなポップスやロックがなかった時代の珍しさから、前から欲しかった。

Recorded in London (by `Django' Johnny Punter) and produced (not brilliantly, it has to be said) by Tony Visconti, their debut remains truest to their African and Caribbean roots. Whilst it's been freshened up a bit with digital remastering, it's still a bit soft in the bass (which, apparently, was never an area of particular priority in the Visconti sound book ~ check out the sleeve notes of the reissue of T. Rex's Electric Warrior to see why).In this original incarnation, Osibisa was a sonically rich and culturally diverse seven piece band, the conventional foundation of guitar, bass, keyboards (including the magic Hammond B3 ~ yo!) and drums augmented (not entirely unpredictably) to great effect by lots of percussion with fruity tenor sax and trumpet. Sounds good, doesn't it? The flying elephants cover pic courtesy of Roger Dean tops off the package a treat, perfectly of its time and thus timeless. After this, they never really got back to where it all started, due in no small measure to founder Teddy Osei's ongoing battle against the record company executives pressurising him to commercialise their sound and ditch what he'd always wanted the band to be about. Parts of Osibirock (yeah, yucky title) came close and its recording quality was much better, but this one remains the definitive Osibisa album. And, funnily enough, I never heard another band stalking this particular musical territory with anything like the authority of Osibisa. Oh well, a piece of history. Akwaaba, which opens, S.2 remains one of my all time fave tracks ~ it really flies.By comparison, Woyaya just didn't cut the mustard but, as you get it here for free, that doesn't really matter.