Various - Nigeria Soul Fever: Afro Funk, Disco & Boogie / West African Disco Mayhem! 2LP

Following their excellent Nigeria Freedom Sounds! compilation, which covered the newly independent country's early-'60s era, Soul Jazz delivers another gem, this time chronicling Nigeria's vibrant late-'70s disco and funk scene. As highlife and calypso acts slowly gave way to the influence of American R&B and funk, the West African nation suffered a horrific civil war in 1967. When the dust tentatively settled, a new breed of young bands had emerged in the capital city of Lagos, ushering in a new decade of music that melded traditional Yoruban rhythms with soul, funk, reggae, rock, and disco. By the mid-'70s, however, a countrywide ban on "luxury goods" was imposed, which included the import of records, leaving the Nigerian music scene to gestate and develop purely on a local level. Over the span of two extremely funky discs, Nigeria Soul Fever: Afro Funk, Disco and Boogie: West African Disco Mayhem! shines a light on this era when artists like Joni Haastrup, Christy Essien, and Te