Tales of Mozambique

Album review

The triple LP Grounation is generally considered the essential Count Ossie set, but that shouldn't sway the listener from checking out Tales of Mozambique. They are, after all, very similar recordings. Grounation, as it turns out, was the first session -- save for some sporadic field recordings -- to really give nyahbinghi drumming a quality recording date. It was the first LP of its kind produced for public consumption aside from, again, releases on labels like Folkways or UNESCO, which do not generally find their way to the Jamaican or U.K. public. As a result, it holds a sacred place in Jamaican music history that later recordings, regardless of their comparable quality, simply cannot live up to (rather, it seems, like any fusion recording Miles Davis made after Bitches Brew; many of them are of equal or better quality, but the first one is the one that sticks in the minds of the people). That said, Tales of Mozambique, like its predecessor, combined traditional Rastafarian drumming with chanting vocals and, on occasion, horns. The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari was essentially Ossie's crew of drummers and Cedric Brooks' Mystics band. The result is a traditional nyahbinghi group augmented by bass and horns. On some numbers, like "Selamnnwawadada (Peace and Love)," the addition of the Mystics is hardly noticeable, but on others, such as "No Night in Zion" or "I Am a Warrior," an almost free funk tendency emerges. Fans of Sun Ra's early Saturn work (e.g., Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy/Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow) or certain Art Ensemble of Chicago records (e.g., Certain Blacks) will find a great deal to enjoy here. These are very loose, loping arrangements that should, with any luck, find a new home with modern beat-conscious fans.
© Brandon Burke /TiVo