Kokoroko - Kokoroko EP - 12" Vinyl Record

This is not idle music!

London has long been a hotbed for experimentation for music from West Africa, and it’s into this global-local story that we can situate London’s newest afrobeat innovators: Kokoroko. In the 40’s World War Two veteran Ambrose Campbell and his West African Rhythm Brothers, were enticing Soho music lovers with sweet palm wine sounds. The following decade, a young Fela Kuti (and his Koola Lobitos outfit with drummer Tony Allen), would jam with Campbell, and the seeds for his global Afrobeat revolution were sown.

Drawing as much from nightlife, the musical influences of West African Pentecostal churches, jazz and Western classical, its both in the middle of and beyond this mix of influences that Kokoroko’s self titled EP takes shape.

A precursor to their album, “it’s an honest capture” of the band’s progression and a stunning introduction to their sound.

"The afrobeat-inspired eight-piece drop their hotly-anticipated debut. A horn-fuelled, soul-shaking introduction to the young collective. Their first solo release after featuring on London jazz primer We Out Here. Kokoroko are part of the thriving scene that’s grown out of London’s young, jazz-influenced musical circles. Led by bandleader Sheila Maurice-Grey, their self-titled ep is the group’s first solo release, following their early 2018 debut with 'Abusey Junction', a track that has gone on to accrue over 15 million plays on youtube and 2.6 million on Spotify. Across the EP’s four tracks, the eight-piece deliver on the promise of that memorable introduction, offering a bigger vision of their afrobeat-influenced, soulfully-imbued sound, West African roots shaded with inner London hues." - Brownswood Recordings

1LP Black Vinyl Record. 

Track List: