Wganda Kenya

Wganda Kenya were a studio group of Colombian musicians created to offer a homegrown alternative to the increasingly-popular African and Caribbean records arriving on the coast in the 70s. Their name was derived from what they had read of the conflict between Kenya and Idi Amin’s Uganda at the time, the latter country’s name given an orthographic flourish.

This Colombian debut was released in 1976 and is made up exclusively of covers, which makes it easy to see their influences: ‘Yoro’ is their take on a Senegalese makossa by Le Trio African Los Makueson’s; ‘Bayesa’ is a mbaqanga by South Africa’s Soul Brothers; and there are two songs apiece originally recorded by Haiti’s Les Shleu Shleu and Guadeloupe’s Guy Conquette. But what’s astonishing is how they improve each song without making huge changes, amping up the bass and adding psychedelic keyboards to ‘Pim Pom’, enlivening ‘Bayesa’ with boundless percussion, and turning the kitsch original of ‘Por una Negrita’ into a carnival singalong. The fact the band was led by Fruko and featured many Discos Fuentes stalwarts should be no surprise, with these funky, percussion-heavy takes on African and Afro-Caribbean grooves they were well and truly ahead of the curve.