African Fusion

Jazz music community with discographies, reviews and forums

The African Fusion genre at JMA is for music that combines traditional and current African and Caribbean music with jazz, fusion and RnB. Some of the musical styles found here include Afrobeat, Makossa, Juju, Rumba, Highlife, Calypso, South African Township and more.

Elsewhere on the site JMA also includes a separate Dub/Ska/Reggae genre, three different Latin Jazz genres, and a World Fusion genre for cultural hybrid music.

Ultimately, almost any style of substantive jazz music could be considered a form of African fusion.

african fusion top albums

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BALLA ET SES BALLADINS "Objectif Perfection" (aka Reminiscin' In Tempo With Balla Et Ses Balladins)
BALLA ET SES BALLADINS
4.96 | 4 ratings
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ORCHESTRA DE LA PAILLOTE Volume 1 Album Cover Volume 1
ORCHESTRA DE LA PAILLOTE
4.91 | 3 ratings
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OSIBISA Woyaya Album Cover Woyaya
OSIBISA
4.46 | 6 ratings
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FELA KUTI Sorrow Tears and Blood Album Cover Sorrow Tears and Blood
FELA KUTI
4.40 | 5 ratings
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KING SUNNY ADE Juju Music Album Cover Juju Music
KING SUNNY ADE
4.50 | 2 ratings
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FELA KUTI Fela Ransome Kuti & The Africa 70 : Gentleman Album Cover Fela Ransome Kuti & The Africa 70 : Gentleman
FELA KUTI
4.17 | 3 ratings
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FELA KUTI Zombie Album Cover Zombie
FELA KUTI
4.08 | 6 ratings
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CANNONBALL ADDERLEY The Cannonball Adderley Quintet ‎: Accent On Africa Album Cover The Cannonball Adderley Quintet ‎: Accent On Africa
CANNONBALL ADDERLEY
4.05 | 3 ratings
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MAISHA There Is A Place Album Cover There Is A Place
MAISHA
4.04 | 3 ratings
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OSIBISA Osibisa Album Cover Osibisa
OSIBISA
4.00 | 6 ratings
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SHABAKA AND THE ANCESTORS Wisdom of Elders Album Cover Wisdom of Elders
SHABAKA AND THE ANCESTORS
4.02 | 3 ratings
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UTOPIANISTI Reason In Motion Album Cover Reason In Motion
UTOPIANISTI
4.05 | 2 ratings
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This list is in progress since the site is new. We invite all logged in members to use the "quick rating" widget (stars bellow album covers) or post full reviews to increase the weight of your rating in the global average value (see FAQ for more details). Enjoy JMA!

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african fusion Music Reviews

GREGG KOFI BROWN Together As One

Album · 2005 · African Fusion
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FunkFreak75
Produced and performed (and mostly composed) by the Nicolosi Family for Nicolosi Productions at the Nicolosi Studios, obviously this Milanese family cares deeply about helping to keep jazz, jazz-Rock Fusion, and Jazz Funk as living, viable music alternatives. Gregg Brown has distinguished himself by promoting the Afro-beat music of Ghana since the 1980s with the band Osibisa (for 34 years) (as well as Ekomé), Youssou N'Dour, Lauren Hill, Damon Albarn, Bombino, and Billy Cobham.

Line-up / Musicians: - Gregg Kofi Brown / vocals, composer, bass - Novecento / composition, production - Lino Nicolosi / guitars - Pino Nicolosi / keyboards - Rossana Nicolosi / bass - Marco Fadda / percussion - Dora Nicolosi / background vocals With: - Sting / vocals (1) - Dominic Miller / guitars (1, 8), composition (1, 8) - Stanley Jordan / guitar & composition (5) - Airto Moreira / percussion & vocals (6) - Billy Cobham / drums (9) And: - Emanuele Cisi / saxophones [tenor & soprano] - Fabrizio Boss / trumpet - Riccardo Fioravanti / double bass Additonal vocals provided by: - Joe Cang, Lorna Marshall, Patti Boulaye, Teddy Osei, and Tim Hain

1. "Lullaby To An Anxious Child" (featuring Sting) (4:09) sounds like a classic STING song melded with some African traditional elements in the form of the Ghanaese chants. Nice operatic female background vocals behind Sting from (probably) Dora Nicolosi. The only problem with this fine song is the fact that we've already heard so many Sting songs structured and colored just like this one. Nice Dominic Miller-like acoustic guitar performance holding it all together beneath all of the vocalists. (8.875/10)

2. "Live As One" (featuring Novecento) (5:08) a great, laid-back groove that is built over a smooth jazz African-pop sound palette. It sounds very, very much like something SEAL could've done. (Is that Seal singing the lead vocal?) Incredible percussion play in the conga solo during the fourth and fifth minutes. (9.5/10)

3. "World Spirit" (featuring Novecento) (5:30) this song sounds very much like a continuation or alternate take of the previous song: groove, percussion, melodies, everything seems to be based on the elements of "Live as One" except for more layers (keyboards, guitars, bass, percussionists, and horns). The lyrics seem to borrow and vary Steve Miller's "Fly Like and Eagle." Nice smooth sax solo in the fifth and sixth minutes. (9/10)

4. "Wake Up The Morning" (featuring Des'ree, Gabrielle) (5:24) a gospel-like SEAL world anthem. Amazing energy and spirit! Definitely like a SEAL song--one co-created with KIRK FRANKLIN. I absolutely LOVE the African village sounds, noises, and chants throughout the song in the background, forming the background choir chants! I can definitely see/hear how Gregg could've been part of Ekomé. This is what music can do! (10/10)

5. "Sky Flower" (featuring Stanley Jordan) (4:51) I haven't heard Stanley Jordan since he first skyrocketed onto the scene with his solo two handed finger-tapping style in the late 1970s. After a very loose and seemingly-disorganized intro of tribal chants mixed with guitar, flute, and electronica sound magics over the first minute, everything suddenly gels into an awesome drum, bass, and Fender Rhodes groove over which Stanley Jordan soars and daredevils like a swallow. Great vocal from Gregg though the lyrics are totally lost on my cuz I'm so busy being astonished at the skills and melodies of all of the instrumentalists weaving beneath him. Wow! A song worth many listens. I can't fathom giving this anything less than full marks! So glad to have this reminder of the incredible talents of Mr. Jordan! (10/10)

6. "Aya A" (featuring Airto Moreira) (6:07) a percussion dream circle with both Gregg and Airto providing vocals (some worded, most chanted in a language that is not English). This is another song that sounds familiar--as if it came from (or was borrowed by) Sting on one of his mega-hit albums. (The descending chord progression and main melody here seems to imitate a pattern Sting used in constructing many of his famous songs. Perhaps he was a student/admirer of Ghanaese music & melodies.) (8.875/10)

7. "Midnight Flyer" (featuring Novecento) (7:00) an awesome, mostly-instrumental, whole-band, Latin-infused Jazz-Rock Fusion jam. (13.375/15)

8. "Tender Eyes" (featuring Dominic Miller) (4:48) with the gorgeous jazz-electric guitar of Dominic Miller we get a great jazz-pop song (with awesome background vocals) with a voice that sounds like the late great BILL WITHERS singing over music that is a cross between NARADA MICHAEL WALDEN, EARTH, WIND & FIRE, and GEORGE BENSON. (9.75/10)

9. "Shadow" (featuring Billy Cobham) (4:59) I don't know who wrote this song (Gregg, Pino and Lino) but it is one heckuva groove with quite the musicianship from top to bottom. This could easily be a huge pop hit (I'm not sure why it hasn't been)! The organ and bass parts are incredibly infectious and the jazz guitar is awesome as well. (10/10)

10. "Je Fre Me Kofi" (6:46) a little Acid Jazz in this one! A composition of Pino and Lino's, this one is as infectious as any of the grooves and melodies It's an instrumental which begs the question: who is playing what? What is Gregg Kofi Brown's instrument (besides voice)? (15/15)

Total time:

I find it interesting that the only "weak" song on this album happen to be the one "featuring" the most notable/famous guest.

A/five stars; an absolute masterpiece of beautifully-blended Jazz-Rock Fusion, Jazz-Funk, Smooth Jazz, Jazz-Pop, and African pop influences. This music makes me so happy! Definitely one of the best albums (much less Jazz-Rock Fusion albums) of the Naughties.

UTOPIANISTI Reason In Motion

Live album · 2024 · African Fusion
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FunkFreak75
Markus Pajakkala is back (finally!) with an album of music inspired by his explorations of African music and rhythms. He has even employed a bunch of Temperi, Senegalese, and Mauritanian musicians as collaborators to go along with his usual rhythm section of Anssi Solismaa, Jaakko Luoma, and newcomer Ville Hatanpää on drums!

1. "Greenwash" (4:48) with the odd combinations of sounds--squishy, spacey synths, weird organ, African percussion, et al. --I'm not even sure what I'm listening to! In the end it's really a fairly typical West African jazz-rock cake that happens to have frostings from the crazy imaginings of a crazy Finn covering the top and filling the layers in-between. It's fun and entertaining, at times reminding me of the spirit in DON PULLEN's "Kele mou bana." (8.875/10)

2. "All Whale Panel" (4:06) a song that is trying to project the feeling of a being a live song from an outdoor all-night rave or dance party from some celebrated Tiesto-like DJ. Definitely a top three song. (9.125/10)

3. "Yegaa Intro" (1:35) 4. "Yegaa Nu Betaa" (4:33) expressing an easy joy that is not only infectious but danceable. A top three song for me based solely on the spirit invoked by Ismaila Sané's vocal calls. (8.875/10)

5. "Cleptocrats" (4:24) nice, infectious grooving instrumental music that feels like the musical soundtrack to a travel montage. More of the horn section interplay with Markus' weird organ. Could've been a top three. (8.875/10)

6. "Jaa Di Burung" (5:35) slowed down grooviness with enough space to really hear and focus on individual instruments--all of them! Really well constructed and rendered. Markus' baritone sax play really shines here. My other top three song. (9.125/10)

7. "Hit It With The Pinky." (4:05) starts out sounding like a Mario Brothers video game soundtrack stuck in some kind of pause mode, but then the "big" band jumps on board (8.75/10)

8. "No Culture, No Soul" (8:26) a near-Jamaican groove stuck on repeat while Ozrics-like "space jungle" noises flit in and out of the sonic field. Coordinated horns step in from time to time to take over the lead but then disappear for longer spans of time allowing the baseline groove to continue to pacify and hypnotize us into a ganja-like stupor. Impressive musicianship and sound engineering throughout. (17.5/20)

9. "Kakistocrats" (5:08) aside from the farfisa organ, this one taking us back into a more traditional (or just old) sounding Afro-jazz-rock fusion. Nice trumpet soloing in the second and third minute from Olli Helin which is then followed by Inari Ruonamaa's delicate alto sax and Ismaila Sané's percussion work in the fourth. Is Makus trying to reproduce Ray Manzarek's organ sound from the earliest days of The Doors? (8.75/10)

10. "Le Nuit Des Morts-Vivants" (9:50) a percussion-based tune that sounds like something familiar despite also traipsing into the territory of old-fashioned spy-detective movie soundtracks. It's laid back, and the foundational groove is definitely (surprisingly) simple, allowing for the solos to shine a little brighter--of which guitarist Matti Solo gets a nice one to fill the fourth minute before Olli's effected trumpet takes a turn. IN the end, the song is really a vehicle in which to display Markus' inventive engineering of a song around Ismaila Sané's surprisingly sneakily- polyrhythmic percussion play. With almost every band member getting a turn in the spotlight this is really a more traditional jazz song. And the solos are pretty good! (17.5/10)

Total Time: 52:34

The music, though definitely fun and entertaining, seems often more simplistic and slowed down (for the benefit of the musicians?) than I was expecting. (Markus Pajakkala music is usually anything but slow and simple!) This allows for a surprisingly easy listen. Also, it seems at times that Markus is creating this music more for the display of the talents of his bevy of international musicians. I'd love to hear these guys really break out: play at top notch, breakneck speeds (as I suppose they're capable). Maybe that will come with a future album release. B/four stars; an excellent collection of African-infused jazz-rock.

EZRA COLLECTIVE Dance, No One's Watching

Album · 2024 · African Fusion
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snobb
Londoners Ezra Collective were the first jazz band to receive the prestigious Mercury Prize. For their third studio album, "Dance, No One's Watching," the promotional campaign for the album started months before the release date, quite unusual for a jazz release. One of the very first singles, released before the album's release, neo-soul "God Gave Me Feet For Dancing" with Yazmin Lacey's vocals, became a hit in its own right. Not surprisingly, right after the release the album received massive press, mostly very positive.

"Dance, No One's Watching" is an excellent danceable album, combining some better components from London's new jazz scene of the New Millenium. Predominantly up-tempo, it offers Afro-beat, Caribbean, Latin, and South African music, mixed with today's London sound and melted in a never-ending dance fest. True, there are not many new ideas or sounds, and very often drums/rhythm are closer to popular danceable music than jazz (in moments the album's music recalled an excellent example of clever danceable music from the past - Sofie Ellis-Bextor's "Murder On The Dancefloor"). The whole sound is quite polished and safe, still, that way the album's music can attract a much wider listeners circle, not just jazz lovers, that's for sure.

One of the better albums this year for feet, not for the head. Dance, God Gave You Feet For Dancing.

MOMBASA African Rhythms & Blues

Album · 1975 · African Fusion
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FunkFreak75
53-year old expat trombonist Lou Blackburn was living in Germany when he was wooed into trying to lead a band into adventuring in the new world of Jazz-Rock Fusion while, at the same time, celebrating the musical history and forms of Africa.

1. "Nairobi" (7:33) wah-wahed bass with drums and multiple percussion tracks creating an infectious groove over which trombonist Lou Blackburn solos. In the fourth minute trumpeter Charles Jefferson joins Lou for some harmonized horn banking before launching out on his own to dominate the fifth minute. Despite the electric bass, this song follows more of a traditional jazz form and sound. The play of the two soloists is solid but containing nothing to write home about whereas the bass and percussionists (and vocal leader) are pretty flashy. (13.5/15)

2. "Massai" (8:04) an okay song that feels more like an educational test for the band's unified syncopation and less of a dance or pop tune. (12.75/15)

3. "Holz" (4:23) Donald Coleman's bamboo flute plays over a slow, spacious weave of African percussion instruments. Nice for an African processional, not much else. (8.25/10)

4. "Kenia" (6:49) electric line sets up the African melody that the group chants with an African choir vocal until about 45-seconds in the band kicks into what sounds like it could be full Juju music but then it takes a few turns and feels more Caribbean or Santana-like as active bass, cowbell, congas, and Charles Jefferson's flugelhorn take us into the Carnival. Muted trumpet and trombone join together for a few coordinated bank bursts before a round of African chanting signals a turn toward full Santana-like Jazz-Rock Fusion for Lou to solo over. All throughout Gerald Luciano remains quite nimble in dancing over the fretboard of his electric bass and drummer Cephus McGirt as well on his rock-expanded kit throughout the song. The song finishes with a minute of all percussion (and some chanting) with Gerald's dancing electric bass. (13.25/15)

5. "Makishi" (2:36) bass, drums, and percussion (including clapping) provide a base for African call and response vocals. (4.375/5)

6. "Shango" (7:48) an African melody line is presented by Gerald's bass, within which Donald Coleman's congas and the two horn players weave their instruments. The musical weave smooths out so that the horn players can take turns soloing. The bass play takes the lead over the course of the song, really stepping into it in a jazzy Motown fashion, especially shining in the final two or three minutes. (13.5/15)

Total time: 37:15

The players are experienced and seasoned but the music of this first expedition is rather prosaic, more like simple jams based around traditional African rhythms and melodies from different regions and cultures of the continent. While Africa is trying to be celebrated here, it's really the electric bass, American brass, and variety of percussive instruments that should take the bows.

B/four stars; a very interesting if under-developed idea for musical project. I look forward to a little growth as I move forward from this band's debut.

NDUDUZO MAKHATHINI uNomkhubulwane

Album · 2024 · African Fusion
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snobb
"uNomkhubulwane" is the new album from South African pianist Nduduzo Makhathini, dedicated to the Zulu Goddess uNomkhubulwane, and contains beautiful spiritual music. Different from some of Nduduzo's previous albums, the music here is played by a more minimalist collective - a traditional all-acoustic jazz trio with South African/American double bassist Zwelakhe-Duma Bell le Pere and Cuban drummer Francisco Mela.

The music itself is a three-movement suite, combining traditional South African jazz, well-known from works of Abdullah Ibrahim, with American bop tradition and even touches of European chamber piano jazz. Being not only a musician, but the "sangoma" - a shaman and healer - as well, Nduduzo adds a strong spiritual feeling to his music.

Nduduzo not only plays piano, but he adds poetic spoken words and sings African folk too. The album is of slow to mid-tempo music and demonstrates the great beauty of quiet intense spiritual jazz. True sounds of relief in today's world full of drama.

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