Odion Livingstone

Fresh from touring with Hugh Masekela (“The Boy’s Doin’ It”), Gboyega Adelaja goes into the lab to drop heavy keyboard science on his Moog and Fender Rhodes. Its Joe Sample meets the Afro Funk of BLO. With names like Jake Sollo on guitars, Mike Odumusu (BLO, Osibisa) on bass guitar and Gasper Lawal on percussion. This is a top quality, Afro-Funk, all-stars affair that shines from the inspired interventions, masterly arrangements to the sublime production.Additional Notes:“I was already following Hugh Masekela when I met him, he was an outstanding musician and I knew of his collaboration with Hedzoleh, that band brought him nearer to many of us, because he was playing authentic African melodies with the Hedzoleh sound which was mostly percussion oriented. Yes I knew about Hugh’s music before I met him. Infact when we started playing together, he insisted that I stay with him in our three bedroom apartment, other members of the band had their own apartments, but Hugh and myself shared the same 3 bedroom apartment”.“We were touring, under Casablanca owned by Neil Boggart, we toured as professional musicians, flying to our gigs. There was a time when we were touring with George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic we had two luxury buses deployed for our use. We made many friends where ever we went to play, we met many big and popular musicians who came to watch our shows, the Spinners came to see us in Detroit, we met Wayne Shorter of Weather Report, Freddie Hubbard, we played a gig with Herbie Hancock at the Carnegie Hall New York City, we toured almost all the 50 States of the US.”

Amazing collection of Disco Music released in the 80s (1980-84) on the Nigerian label Duomo Music Ltd. and reissued here for the first time.The late 70s, the thrust of mainstream music had changed from the indigenous highlife to a more international funky disco sound. Keyboards and drum machines were the key components of the new sound. The implications on sales was real as names like Bunny Mack, Chris Okotie, Christy Essien, Jide Obi replaced Osita Osadebe and the Oriental Brothers on the charts. It was in this effervescent climate that Duomo Sounds Ltd was established by Mr Humphrey Aniakor, a business man with no prior investment in the industry. It was simply the in-thing for a young monied businessman. The name suggested European sophistication, modernity and a little abstraction. D U O M O Sounds, the kids loved it. The first release was Bassey Black’s “Someone to love” (DSL 001) which sold over a 100,000 copies, a big hit at the time. The success of the album attracted several artists the most influential of which was Mike Umoh. He aimed for the pop market with accessible, funky arrangements. However his affinity for funk and disco has made him a reference for collectors worldwide. His LP entitled, “Honey, Honey” (DSL 002) was the label’s second release and his most successful album. Also produced the labels 19th release, Bindiga’s, “No More Starvation” (DSL 019), an afro-boogie funk masterpiece. The album in its original format is very sought after by collectors and djs and changes hands for huge sums. Its been described by many as cosmic funk at its finest. Christy Ogbah´s disco soul/highlife records on Duomo are also very highly sought after. This new Livingstone Studio release presents the best of Duomo Sounds Ltd. for the first time.

Odion Livingstone present another essential reissue from the Nigerian archives, the frst ever international release of The Apples’ essential Afro-funk LP rarity ‘Mind Twister’. As part of the St Gregory’s student band scene in Lagos during the late ‘70s alongside Ofege, Grotto and more, Apples were picked up and produced by legendary EMI Nigeria producer Odion Iruoje who added overdubs to the album at Abbey Road in London with Curved Air keyboardist Francis Monkman.The band met and formed in Lagos. Bandleader Frank Ikpefuran teamed up with Georges Vieira from the American School and brothers Clifford and Gerard Nagi who were studying at “St Greg’s” in Lagos, and remembers, “I must have been 19 years old when I met Clifford. We used to hangout on Victoria Island, watching bands play and jamming with them. That’s how we met Georges. We all listened to Jimi Hendrix, Santana, Idris Muhammad and the Beatles.” “We started jamming with Clifford on the guitar, his brother Gerard on the bass and Georges on the guitar. We chipped in with song ideas, with the group contributing arrangements and refning things until we were satisfed. The band had a natural sound, which stemmed from the chemistry we had. It was a strange chemistry, we were an odd combination from different backgrounds but when we played, something happened…”After landing a residency at Tee Mac’s club in Surulere, Apples auditioned for Odion Iruoje who arranged recording dates and cut the record. For a young band, Iruoje was surprised by the quality of the band, adding in extra keyboard parts from Lemmy Udofa and Francis Monkman, founder of Curved Air and session man for Kate Bush, Sky and music libraries like BBC Music, Bruton and KPM. Iruoje remembers, “their playing added a layer of sophistication and sheen without encumbering proceedings.” This defnitive edition of Apples’ ‘Mind Twister’ features new interviews with bandleader Frank Ikpefuran and producer Odion Iruoje and has been fully remastered by The Carvery.- First ever offcial reissue of rare Afro-funk LP from 1978- Restored by See Why Audio and remastered by The Carvery- All formats include rare photos and a new interview with bandleader Frank Ikperfuran + producer Odion Iruoje- All formats include full original EMI Nigeria artwork- 1LP IN SINGLE SLEEVE, 12” INSERT SHEET

Odion Livingstone present another essential reissue of a rare gem from the Nigerian archives, Grotto’s lost Afrorock classic from 1977, ‘At Last’.Formed at “Greg’s” (St Gregory’s college in Ikoyi, Lagos), Grotto came up at the same time as several other in?uential student bands based there, including Ofege. “As Grotto, we played a rock/funk fusion. We were probably aged 15, 16 or thereabouts and we were heavily into music, we listened to Jimi Hendrix, Carlos Santana and lots of rock bands,” explains lead guitarist Soga Benson.Their debut album is a heavyweight trip, drifting from psychedelic workouts to crunching breaks and funkier directions. “Odion Iruoje was the A&R manager at EMI at the time and he auditioned us, liked the material and signed us. He also produced our recordings,” continues Benson. “Most of us were boarders and the school encouraged music and had instruments so we had time to jam and really gel together. The group still continued after we left Gregs. We had to juggle A-Levels with gigs and we used to skip school whenever we had a show, rehearsal or a recording date.”While many Nigerian student bands were studio-based projects, Grotto was an active live unit during the ‘70s. “We played at The Shrine with Fela, with Tee Mac at Batakoto, with Sonny Okosun at Kakadu, Segun Bucknor at Granada Hotel.”This frst international reissue of Grotto’s debut album comes with a full interview with Soga Benson and producer Odion Iruoje + a selection of rare and previously unseen photos of the band. The album is fully remastered by The Carvery.

Brand new label Odion livingstone, based out of Lagos, Nigeria, presents its debut release, a reissue of the sought after Nigerian disco LP rarity ‘Friday Night’ by Livy Ekemezie. “I was just out of senior secondary school and I wanted to make an album,” recalls Ekemezie. “I was into disco and funk at the time and I was looking for a bassdriven funky sound. The entire idea was to make an album that sounded like something made in London or the U.S. I tried to sound “American” but we ended up with something else: a mix of American and Nigerian.” ‘Friday Night’ was recorded at Goddy Oku’s Godiac 24-track recording studio in Enugu, one of the best studios available in Nigeria at the time. “It took about 9 months to a year to make the album,” continues Ekemezie. “I financed it by myself so I had to resort to friends helping out with loans for session men and studio time. The original LP was released on blue vinyl and that idea came from William Onyeabor. We used his pressing plant and he sold the idea to me. It was different so I said ‘why not?’” The LP has been picked up by many in recent months as the demand for Nigerian disco originals has grown with the track ‘Delectation’ receiving an unofficial edit and DJs like Motor City Ensemble dropping the album into their sets. This first ever reissue of the LP remains faithful to the original issue, remastered and pressed on blue vinyl. It features full original artwork along with new interviews with Livy Ekemezie and contributing musician Jules Elong by Odion Livingstone’s Temi Kogbe.- First ever reissue of sought after Nigerian disco original LP- Blue vinyl edition, echoing the original release which was pressed at William Onyeabor’s vinyl plant- Includes the DJ track ‘Delectation’- New package features all original artwork and new interviews with Livy Ekemezie and musician Jules Elong