Africa Dances

Cover of Africa Dances

 

Ethnomusicologist John Storm Roberts (1936-2009) was an important figure in the popularization of African and Latin-American music in Europe and America. Through his record label Original Records world music became widely available. Some of the first world music in my collection are from this label including Africa Dances that I bought about thirty years ago and still occasionally play. The track Smodern was early on a favorite and when playing the record last year it still stood out as a most exciting track. The compilation record (from 1973) featured many future stars of African pop as well as names already established on the continent. The artists listed as performers, however, have a question mark after their name Miss Smodern. There is no information on the group or song to be found on-line and the only information is the brief introduction in the liner notes written by Roberts that identifies the music as Township Jazz. John Storm Roberts (I believe) recorded all music.