Francis Bebey
Super Bebey - Vingt Plages Ensoleillées

A record-book proposition:- A 7inch vinyl record by Terakaft, produced by Justin Adams (Robert Plant, Brian Eno, Tinariwen…)- A novel by Philippe Brix written in English and French.Welcome to the fascinating world of Terakaft, one of the most legendary bands from the acclaimed Desert Blues / Tuareg Rock scene that’s been nurturing in the Sahara desert for the last two decades.A world made of light, dust, goats, tree shadows, gas, tea and fire.A world where teenagers don’t dream of being footballers but guitarists like Ibrahim of Tinariwen, like Sanou of Terakaft, or like Ousmane of Tamikrest.A world made of constant stuggles, of war zones, where getting a visa to tour is nearly impossible, where covering your face and head with tuareg turbans to face the desert winds will turn you into a potential islamist when boarding an airplane.A world that Philipe Brix knows damn well: he’s been managing those guitar heroes for the last two decades. 'Jagwar' is his coming-of-age story, a tale of resilience, of doom, of family, of utmost tensions and unrivaled peace, the adventure of a life time.His journey will take you from the deepest deserts of Mali, Morocco and Mauritania to the biggest music festivals all accross Europe and America.

The reissue of Udu’s sole LP “Sound of the People” originally released on Love Records (Nigeria) in 1976. The band took their name from the Igbo word for a large clay jug normally used to carry water. The jug has a regular opening at the top with an additional hole on the side. In addition to being used to carry water the jug was also played by Igbo women in traditional ceremonies.It was in Lagos the Udu trio met musician, producer and owner of Love Records: Alex Tony Okoroji. The debut release on the label is Alex Tony Okoroji’s own LP Super Sure (Love Records, 1976). Today, Chief Tony Okoroji is a legend of the Nigerian music scene, but back in 1976, just like Udu, he was just starting his recording career…Both the Udu and the Alex Tony Okoroji records where recorded at legendry Arc Studio in Lagos. A studio facility initiated by Cream drummer Ginger Baker in 1972, eventually opening in January 1973. The engineers who worked on the Udu recordings had previously worked on a number of Fela Kuti Records (No Bread, Expensive Shit, Everything Scatter); whilst production and writing duties were in the hands of Alex Tony Okoroji…All of the tracks have a fairly loose, almost conversational arrangement both in the music and the lyrical delivery… For the most part the pace is relatively laid back… it’s by no means chilled-out… there’s always an element of movement…Four of the six tracks have an unexpected and subtle dance floor air: “The Chant", "Sound Of The People", “Nwanyalubi” and "New Bride Song" all have a fairly distinct and uniquely hypnotic build that once you get is seriously foot friendly from a sunrise perspective.It would be easy to say the record is psychedelic, but at times that’s an overused term for a broad spectrum of music which suggests something, but doesn’t define anything in detail… it might be better in this instance to suggest the record has an other-worldly ambience, folk in essence and potentially devotional from a regional perspective; something possibly alluded to in the both the bands’ name and the title of the record… whatever musical genres the record crosses it’s a genuine shame that it’s taken just over 40 years to reach the ears of a wider audience outside of the few people who would have heard the record at the time…Answering the question as to why the record has remained so unknown until now… although the record was recorded at Arc Studios, it was released on a fledgling independent label… in addition, musically speaking, the record doesn’t fit easily to one of the popular genres of the period. It may have been too subtle for the time and the place… falling through the cracks between Afro-Rock and Afro-Funk…