Orchestre Massako

The latest release in Analog Africa’s Limited Dance Edition series throws the spotlight on Gabon’s Orchestre Massako, founded by Jean-Christian Mboumba Makaya – aka Mack-Joss – after he was drafted into the Gabonese armed forces in 1971. Mack-Joss was already a fixture on the Libreville music scene with Orchestre Negro Tropical but it was with Massako that he really made his mark, earning the nickname the ‘Baobab of Gabonese music’ as the band effectively became Gabon’s national orchestra, releasing more than a dozen albums before hitting hard times in the late 1980s when government funding was withdrawn due to an economic crisis. Most of the band’s albums have never been released, although in 2015 Analog Africa issued a collection of 1970s recordings by the Guinea-Conakry singer Amara Touré on which he was accompanied by members of Orchestre Massako.

This welcome follow-up compiles four long, extended tracks, two of which feature the soulful voice of Amara Touré. With their strong Afro-Cuban/Congolese influence, both tracks have an affinity with the slinky dance records Orchestra Baobab were making around the same time in Dakar, where Amara was based for several years as the singer with the Star Band. The tougher edge to the two tracks on which Mack-Joss takes the lead draw on his Bantu heritage and makes for an intriguing contrast.