African Party - Deluxe Edition

Description

A very special and historically significant record on the label, Impressive Collective by Greg Boramans. The story of the percussionist, conductor, teacher, and club owner Ginger Johnson and his album African Party is a fascinating tale whose importance is only now being recognized. Born George Folurunsho Johnson in Nigeria in 1916, of Yoruba descent, Ginger lived in London in the late 1940s and made an immediate impact by playing and recording with British jazz legends Ronnie Scott, drummers Phil Seaman and Tony Crombie, pianist Victor Feldman, and Kenny Graham's Afro-Cubists. In the 1950s, he was the featured percussionist of the Edmundo Ros Orchestra and also released several of his own 78s and 45s for Melodisc, which were among the first examples of African music recorded and broadcast in Great Britain. From his base in Pimlico, Ginger became the linchpin of the African and Caribbean expatriate music community, notably as a mentor to a young Fela Kuti upon his arrival in London in 1957. By the mid-1960s, Ginger was the most prominent Afro-Cuban percussionist in Europe, with the "talking drum" being his specialty, which led him to participate in all styles of recording sessions, from pop to jazz, also appearing in films, children's television shows, and live at the Royal Variety Performance, and he also played a key role in the creation and expansion of the Notting Hill carnival.