Unite is Ogun Afrobeat’s new album, where the band keeps on expanding its musical horizons without losing touch with the roots of Afrobeat and Nigerian music. In this album Ogun’s music goes East, with Ethiopian and Middle Eastern influences, and West, to America, focusing on the African diaspora in the Caribbean. You can also feel the presence of Afro-American music: jazz, funk, R&B. The result of blending these ingredients is a party where you can't stop dancing. Unite features some very special guests, from Nigerian Afrobeat’s legend Dele Sosimi to the renowned Spanish woodwind player Javier Paxariño, from Ethiopian singer Sara Habasha and Iranian multi-instrumentalist Kaveh Sarvarian to Cuban singers Alejandro Gutierrez and Carla Vicens.

Below is information on each of the tracks on UNITE.

1 Orísun - It means "origin" in the Yoruba language. The Yoruba culture, from which Akin Onasanya, drummer, singer and author of this song, hails, is one of the main historical cultures of Nigeria and neighboring countries such as Benin and Togo. This theme is inspired by the deepest roots of the music of this culture, represented by the rhythms of the batá drums, which are mixed with harmonies and contemporary melodies of Nigerian music and jazz.

2 Pastorita - Pastorita is a neighborhood in the Cuban city of Matanzas, the capital of rumba. It is the neighborhood of Frank Santiuste, trumpeter and author of this song where Afro-Cuban music and Afrobeat come together harmoniously, through the same African root that crosses the Atlantic. It is the first song by Ogun Afrobeat sung in Spanish, in the voices of two fabulous Cuban singers: Alejandro Gutiérrez and Carla Vicens.

3 Benefit for All - It has the presence of a true legend of Afrobeat, the Nigerian keyboardist, arranger and singer Dele Sosimi, musician and musical director in the band of Fela Kuti and Femi Kuti. This song composed by the guitarist Carlos Leal is an irresistible invitation to dance from the first second, with an unstoppable rhythm of Afrobeat and some powerful brass.

4 Afroshark - Theme inspired by colors and modes of Ethiopian and Middle Eastern music with a hypnotic afro rhythmic base. After a free introduction in dialogue between the voice of the Ethiopian singer Sara Habasha and the sax of Pablo Hernández Ramos, author of the song, the guitar takes us on a journey through new regions in Afrobeat. Afroshark has two other exceptional guests: the Iranian multi-instrumentalist Kaveh Sarvarian on tombak (Iranian percussion) and ney (Persian flute) and the great Javier Paxariño on flute.

5 Ashiri Dudu - This theme composed by Akin Onasanya is inspired by another great culture of Nigeria, the Igbo culture, and more specifically in a musical style called oguene. In a 12/8 rhythm, he tells us about the importance of respecting the generations that have preceded us and not losing that ancestral knowledge. The title of the song means "black secret"

6 Gnawa - On this occasion, Akin approaches the other great culture of Nigeria, the Hausa culture. Inspired by gnawa music, which is the music created in North Africa by the descendants of black slaves, this music is very close in its sounds and rhythms to a part of Hausa music. From here Akin and Ogun Afrobeat take us on a sidereal journey near the sounds of the desert and the Sahel

7 Injustice - Finally, this theme, also by Akin, is the closest to African-American music, influenced by funk, jazz, gospel and even disco music. To not stop dancing, although with a message that reminds us of the injustices suffered and suffered in this world.

Click here to see a video of OGAN AFROBEAT! 

 

Personnel on the album include:

Akindimeji Onasanya – drums, vocals
Pablo Hernández Ramos – alto sax
Frank Santiuste – trumpet
Costanzo Laini- baritone sax
Marcos Ortega- trumpet
Roberto Lorenzo Elekes- trombone
Carlos Leal- guitars
Denis Bilanin- keyboards
Enzo Apicella- bass
Shango Dely – percussion
SPECIL GUESTS:
Dele Sosimi (vocals on 3)
Alejandro Gutierrez (vocals on 2)
Karla Vicens (vocals on 2)
Sara Habasha (vocals on 4)
Javier Paxariño (solo flute, piccolo on 4)
Kaveh Sarvarian (tombak, flute, ney on 4)
Raquel Montes, Luis Regidor, Cris López, Adrian Garzia (backing vocals)