Na Teef Know de Road of Teef

Audio Remasterer: Steve Berson.
A virtually unknown Afro-funk rarity, deservedly rescued from obscurity by the good people of Daptone Records, NA TEEF KNOW DE ROAD OF TEEF is the work of Fela Kuti sideman Nicholas Addo Nettey, featuring several of his Africa 70 bandmates and recorded at the same Lagos studio (run by Cream's Ginger Baker) where Kuti cut many of his prime '70s sides. It's no great surprise, then, that Kuti's output of this era is the obvious touchstone here, and Fela fans will find this material immediately familiar, right down to the format of the album: four lengthy, intricately rhythmic, jam-heavy grooves, alternating between gritty call-and-response vocals and extended instrumental passages. Soulfully grooving, if sometimes more hypnotic than danceable, and handsomely presented with the eye-popping original sleeve art intact, NA TEEF KNOW DE ROAD OF TEEF makes a welcome addition both to the Daptone catalog and to the shelf of any discerning Afro-beat collector.