Keyboard - Hungry Man

We're set to release Keyboard's rare and much sought after record 'Hungry Man' on 28th July. Available on limited LP and digital formats, it is the first time the record has been released for 35 years. Originally recorded for the EMI Nigeria label and produced by legendary producer Odion Iruoje 'Keyboard' was a one-off studio project formed by Brodricks Majuwa and Isaac Digha from circa 1978. These two session men were often used at the EMI studio and played in multiple recordings that Iruoje produced throughout the era.
This extremely scarce and obscure record features amongst others Ignace de Souza of the Black Santiagos from the city of Cotonou, Benin and Jonni Wood from the band SJOB movement.
Lilting, laid-back, solid, soul-funk grooves and beautiful horn arrangements with synth effects combine for a unique sound but one that is unmistakably from the sound forge of Odion Iruoje and his two front-line studio engineers Emmanuel Odenusi and Kayode Salami. The album is licensed directly from Broderick Majuwa (hailing originally from the Delta region of central southern Nigeria) who played with many bands in the 1970s: starting out with The Severe 7 (a Santana-influenced rock band from Benin City) followed by The Thermometers with Emma Dorgu who cut one 45 for Afrodisia records. Later on he had stints with more famous Nigerian artists Ebenezer Obey and Bongos Ikwue amongst others.
The LP is strictly limited to only 1000 vinyl copies.
Pre-order on any format on the Soundway Store now to receive in instant free download of 'Peaceable World'.
- See more at: http://www.soundwayrecords.com/article/new-reissue-keyboard---hungry-man#sthash.hlitBtpi.dpuf

We're set to release Keyboard's rare and much sought after record 'Hungry Man' on 28th July. Available on limited LP and digital formats, it is the first time the record has been released for 35 years. Originally recorded for the EMI Nigeria label and produced by legendary producer Odion Iruoje 'Keyboard' was a one-off studio project formed by Brodricks Majuwa and Isaac Digha from circa 1978. These two session men were often used at the EMI studio and played in multiple recordings that Iruoje produced throughout the era.

This extremely scarce and obscure record features amongst others Ignace de Souza of the Black Santiagos from the city of Cotonou, Benin and Jonni Wood from the band SJOB movement.
Lilting, laid-back, solid, soul-funk grooves and beautiful horn arrangements with synth effects combine for a unique sound but one that is unmistakably from the sound forge of Odion Iruoje and his two front-line studio engineers Emmanuel Odenusi and Kayode Salami. The album is licensed directly from Broderick Majuwa (hailing originally from the Delta region of central southern Nigeria) who played with many bands in the 1970s: starting out with The Severe 7 (a Santana-influenced rock band from Benin City) followed by The Thermometers with Emma Dorgu who cut one 45 for Afrodisia records. Later on he had stints with more famous Nigerian artists Ebenezer Obey and Bongos Ikwue amongst others.

The LP is strictly limited to only 1000 vinyl copies.

Pre-order on any format on the Soundway Store now to receive in instant free download of 'Peaceable World'.

soundwayrecords.com

We're set to release Keyboard's rare and much sought after record 'Hungry Man' on 28th July. Available on limited LP and digital formats, it is the first time the record has been released for 35 years. Originally recorded for the EMI Nigeria label and produced by legendary producer Odion Iruoje 'Keyboard' was a one-off studio project formed by Brodricks Majuwa and Isaac Digha from circa 1978. These two session men were often used at the EMI studio and played in multiple recordings that Iruoje produced throughout the era.
This extremely scarce and obscure record features amongst others Ignace de Souza of the Black Santiagos from the city of Cotonou, Benin and Jonni Wood from the band SJOB movement.
Lilting, laid-back, solid, soul-funk grooves and beautiful horn arrangements with synth effects combine for a unique sound but one that is unmistakably from the sound forge of Odion Iruoje and his two front-line studio engineers Emmanuel Odenusi and Kayode Salami. The album is licensed directly from Broderick Majuwa (hailing originally from the Delta region of central southern Nigeria) who played with many bands in the 1970s: starting out with The Severe 7 (a Santana-influenced rock band from Benin City) followed by The Thermometers with Emma Dorgu who cut one 45 for Afrodisia records. Later on he had stints with more famous Nigerian artists Ebenezer Obey and Bongos Ikwue amongst others.
The LP is strictly limited to only 1000 vinyl copies.
Pre-order on any format on the Soundway Store now to receive in instant free download of 'Peaceable World'.
- See more at: http://www.soundwayrecords.com/article/new-reissue-keyboard---hungry-man#sthash.hlitBtpi.dpuf

We're set to release Keyboard's rare and much sought after record 'Hungry Man' on 28th July. Available on limited LP and digital formats, it is the first time the record has been released for 35 years. Originally recorded for the EMI Nigeria label and produced by legendary producer Odion Iruoje 'Keyboard' was a one-off studio project formed by Brodricks Majuwa and Isaac Digha from circa 1978. These two session men were often used at the EMI studio and played in multiple recordings that Iruoje produced throughout the era.
This extremely scarce and obscure record features amongst others Ignace de Souza of the Black Santiagos from the city of Cotonou, Benin and Jonni Wood from the band SJOB movement.
Lilting, laid-back, solid, soul-funk grooves and beautiful horn arrangements with synth effects combine for a unique sound but one that is unmistakably from the sound forge of Odion Iruoje and his two front-line studio engineers Emmanuel Odenusi and Kayode Salami. The album is licensed directly from Broderick Majuwa (hailing originally from the Delta region of central southern Nigeria) who played with many bands in the 1970s: starting out with The Severe 7 (a Santana-influenced rock band from Benin City) followed by The Thermometers with Emma Dorgu who cut one 45 for Afrodisia records. Later on he had stints with more famous Nigerian artists Ebenezer Obey and Bongos Ikwue amongst others.
The LP is strictly limited to only 1000 vinyl copies.
Pre-order on any format on the Soundway Store now to receive in instant free download of 'Peaceable World'.
- See more at: http://www.soundwayrecords.com/article/new-reissue-keyboard---hungry-man#sthash.hlitBtpi.dpuf

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Hungry Man is a record with a modest mythos surrounding it. The LP is a one-off studio project between musicians Broderick Majuwa and Isaac Digha along with titan producer Odion Iruoje 'Keyboard' at EMI Nigeria.

The exact recording date of Hungry Man is unknown, though thought to be sometime around 1978, and physical copies have been in short supply for over 35 years. The same could in fact be said of a plethora of exciting Nigerian records from the 60s and 70s that have all but been forgotten and out of reach for decades. However, thanks to the efforts of Soundway Records and similar record companies, some of these albums are now being pulled back out of obscurity.

Hungry Man is amongst these. It is made up of six tracks written and performed by Majuwa and Digha along with a selection of West African stars such as Ignace de Souza of the Black Santiagos and Jonni Wood from the SJOB movement.

The result is a cleanly-recorded, funk-heavy afrobeat journey that at times brims with madcap exuberance and at others sits back in the groove. The crisp guitar production allows each strum to be heard and contribute to the swirling funk drive, while Keyboard’s producing skills, as well as those of his sound engineers Emmanuel Odenusi and Kayode Salami, are undeniable as he ensures Hungry Man sounds resplendent, giving every instrument space amidst tight rhythmic hooks.

The most outstanding feature of the record, however, is the use of brass arrangements that sit high in the mix. Majuwa and Digha use trumpets to lead songs rather than as mere window dressing, and soaring brass performances appear in every track. The trumpet solo on ‘Peaceable World’ is especially jaw-dropping, roaring above the slick hooks put together by the bass and drums.

Keyboard seems happy to let the bass heavy grooves just run, which is to the record’s strength. The tracks are relatively lengthy − the shortest is just over four minutes − affording Majuwa and Digha the space to experiment with sounds and textures. Laconic synths seep through some songs. The second track ‘I Wish You Know’ is perhaps the best demonstration of this, but there is noodling too. In moments on ‘Peaceable World’ the synthesiser drops into an undulating pitch-shifted solo that keeps the mellow, drowsy feel to the song despite its frenetic energy.

The song-writing is solid, though ultimately it comes across as perhaps a little too careful. Moments of excess feel conspicuously planned. Solos end quite abruptly, and some of the songs lack the effervescent energy that could make them readily and immediately revisitable.

The vocal delivery is intuitively close to the music and lyrics are not always audibly clear, but the singing itself is a positive addition to the whole record. Without greater context, the distinguishable lyrics on the record come across as a series of spacey reflections and cogitations: “I wish you know what is my mind, my man” becomes a mantra on 'I Wish You Know'. Yet with closer inspection, the lyrical themes are more profound. The song titles ‘A Big Mess’, ‘Peaceable World’ and, most of all, ‘Tomorrow We Can’t Say’ suggest Keyboard’s broader concern with their place in the world, its state and an uncertain future. But amidst the reverb, the more sincere themes contained in the song titles are, at times, obscured.

By contrast, however, the meaning of the music itself is clear for all to hear and, whatever the deeper lyrical meaning of Hungry Man, its message is one of frenetic fun and glossy, infectious funk.

thinkafricapress.com

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Lilting, laid-back, solid, soul-funk grooves and beautiful horn arrangements with synth effects combine for a unique sound but one that is unmistakably from the sound forge of Odion Iruoje and his two front-line studio engineers Emmanuel Odenusi and Kayode Salami. The album is licensed directly from Broderick Majuwa (hailing originally from the Delta region of central southern Nigeria) who played with many bands in the 1970s: starting out with The Severe 7 (a Santana-influenced rock band from Benin City) followed by The Thermometers with Emma Dorgu who cut one 45 for Afrodisia records. Later on he had stints with more famous Nigerian artists Ebenezer Obey and Bongos Ikwue amongst others.

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