Niama Makalou - Kognokoura (12" vinyl)

Sofrito present a unique slice of afro-disco from the celebrated griot, Niama Makalou, recorded in the late 70s.

Descended from a family of griots (traditional Malian praise singers), Niama Makalou moved to France in the mid 70s where she cut this, her one and only vinyl release. At the time Paris (like much the rest of the world) was swept up in disco fever, so along with a group of Malian musicians the date was set to cut a piece of disco, griot style. The resulting mixture of off kilter hand claps, raw string arrangements, Balafon flourishes and Bambara vocals combine with a heavy disco groove to produce a one-off piece of cross-cultural dancefloor mayhem.

On the flip Daphni (aka Caribou) crafts an extended version that distills it into a stripped down and dubbed out groove.

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