The Funkees

In the world of music, '70s Nigeria will undoubtedly always belong to Fela Kuti, but few know that his Afrobeat sound was a genre amalgamation mostly taken from the highlife and Afro rock scenes. One of the premiere Afro rock bands, the Funkees, managed to burn just as brightly and quickly as an "Africa '70" horn sting. Thankfully, British label Soundway has collected a selection of the sextet's 45s, along with tracks from their two long-out-of-print LPs, on Dancing Time. Over 18 impassioned fire-eaters, the Funkees fluently blend traditional African beats with stiff, Booker T-style grooves ("Onye Mmany"), James Brown's unbridled fury ("Dancing Time") and Steely Dan's quirky guitar noodling ("Mimbo"). Although Dancing Time would have worked better as a complete collection, the Funkees are proudly represented as not just an important document of '70s African music, but as innovators of the era's still fertile rock scene.