Le Sato

When Dahomey (now known as Benin) gained its independence in 1960, the country saw a surge of artistic creativity in which every city had its own crack dance band. The most significant and enduring of them was Orchestre Poly-Rythmo, who dominated the scene in Benin’s largest city of Cotonou, recording an estimated 500 tracks between the late 1960s and the early 1980s. This album was originally recorded and issued in 1974 on the Albarika label, with whom Acid Jazz last year signed an exclusive licencing agreement. Its release follows Acid Jazz’s recent reissue of Poly-Rythmo’s 1978 set Segla, with the promise of plenty more to come.

The album takes its name from the huge sacred sato drum measuring 1.5m in height and which is traditionally used in vodoun (voodoo) rituals and ceremonies. The four extended tracks mix trance-like vodoun rhythms and chants with Afrobeat tropes, traditional highlife, James Brown-influenced funk grooves and Hendrix-styled psych guitar pyrotechnics. The sound quality is far from hi-fi but it barely matters when the energy is so visceral and the effect so hypnotic.