September 5, 2023
In
released Artists
Mark Ernestus, Jimi Tenor, Gavsborg, Waltraud Blischke, Sascha Todd
-Hedzoleh Soundz remixes
cat.
MEA042
release
EP + Digital
release date
16th of October 2023
mastering
Rashad Becker
distribution
Rush Hour
artist page
Designed by Philip Marshall, February 2023.
Artwork by Tina Todd.
Artwork by Tina Todd.
After reissuing Hedzoleh by Hedzoleh in 2022, a collaborative effort by Meakusma and Soundway, this new 12inch features remixes by Jimi Tenor, Mark Ernestus, Gavsborg and Waltraud Blischke, transporting and transfusing Hedzoleh's tracks into new spheres and circumstances.
Hedzoleh Soundz were one of the first and most original ‘Afro’ bands from 1970s Ghana, playing an unusual mix of traditional music and western rock as part of the West African Highlife scene. The music for the Hedzoleh album was used by legendary South-African trumpeter Hugh Masekela as the backbone to his afro-jazz classic, “Masekela – Introducing Hedzoleh Soundz”.
The Hedzoleh Soundz Remixes 12inch features an eloquent, deep, deeply poppy even, dub by Mark Ernestus, Jimi Tenor taking the original Rekpete track into even more joyous territory, adding some subtly hypnagogic touches at the end, Gavsborg transforming Y Yes Baa Gee Wo into a beat-based drone of sorts, a tool in the right hands, and a majestic experimental twist by Waltraud Blischke, sampling one Hedzoleh track and one unreleased solo track by Sascha Todd, son of Hedzoleh bass player and vocalist Stanley Todd.
This record came about with the support of Ostbelgien.
On the occasion of this release, there will be a night of live performances by Jimi Tenor, Mark Ernestus & Tikiman and Gavsborg and a DJ-set by Waltraud Blischke at Les Ateliers Claus on October 14th, all in the framework of Nuits Sonores Brussels 2023.
Limited amount of tickets available here:
nuits-sonores.be/evenement/nuits-sonores-meakusma-present-hedzoleh-soundz-remixes-release-party/
Hedzoleh Soundz were one of the first and most original ‘Afro’ bands from 1970s Ghana, playing an unusual mix of traditional music and western rock as part of the West African Highlife scene. The music for the Hedzoleh album was used by legendary South-African trumpeter Hugh Masekela as the backbone to his afro-jazz classic, “Masekela – Introducing Hedzoleh Soundz”.
The Hedzoleh Soundz Remixes 12inch features an eloquent, deep, deeply poppy even, dub by Mark Ernestus, Jimi Tenor taking the original Rekpete track into even more joyous territory, adding some subtly hypnagogic touches at the end, Gavsborg transforming Y Yes Baa Gee Wo into a beat-based drone of sorts, a tool in the right hands, and a majestic experimental twist by Waltraud Blischke, sampling one Hedzoleh track and one unreleased solo track by Sascha Todd, son of Hedzoleh bass player and vocalist Stanley Todd.
This record came about with the support of Ostbelgien.
On the occasion of this release, there will be a night of live performances by Jimi Tenor, Mark Ernestus & Tikiman and Gavsborg and a DJ-set by Waltraud Blischke at Les Ateliers Claus on October 14th, all in the framework of Nuits Sonores Brussels 2023.
Limited amount of tickets available here:
nuits-sonores.be/evenement/nuits-sonores-meakusma-present-hedzoleh-soundz-remixes-release-party/
reviews
Luminous, varied styled, rework set of 70s West African Afro Jazz hallmarks – recommended
https://hardwax.com
Mark Ernestus, Gavsborg (Equiknoxx), Jimi Tenor and Waltraud Blischke rework the foundational ‘70s Ghanaian Afro Rock of Hedzoleh Soundz for Belgium’s Meakusma
Hedzoeleh Soundz, led by Stanley Todd, were instrumental in expanding Afrobeat with jazz-funk and rock influences from the late ‘60s, and were famously introduced to legendary South African trumpeter High Masakela by Fela Kuti, before Masakela guested on their eponymous debut LP in 1973. Half a century later Hedzoleh Soundz legacy lives on thru successive generations of Afro-beat fiends and its myriad offshoots in dance music, notably the groove and verve of contemporary Afrobeats.
The remixers here all connect with Hedzoleh Soundz from varying angles. A regular visitor to Werst Africa, Mark Ernestus (Ndagga Rhythm Force, Basic Channel, Maurizio) applies the same sort of lissom, hands-on dubbing to their ‘Kaa Ye Yai’ as found on his work with Senegalese mbalax acts, with vibe but ghostly effect, and Jamaican dancehall don Gavsborg, producer to dancehall and rap royalty, simmers ‘Y Yei Baa Gbe Wo’ to a dusky slow hustle buzzing with what sounds like jaws harp. Finland’s Jimi Tenor does his fruity thing on a bustling version of ‘Rekpete’, and ‘Sasha Todd’s Simplex Meets Hedzoleh!’ is urned into a trampling, psyched out warehouse throw down by Waltraud Blischke.
https://boomkat.com/