Osumenyi

Temperaturewise I don't think it is a good time to post this record, - or at least in this part of the world. This lp is more suited for a sweaty tropical evening, relaxing with friends after a good meal. In the village of Osumenyi, in the Nnewi South region of Anambra State in south-eastern Nigeria, perhaps....

I can just imagine the scene: Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe and his Nigeria Sound Makers International have been invited to entertain at the Freedom Social Club. All the right people are there. Osadebe, himself a native from Anambra State and born in Atani, is politely greeting the functionaries of the club, who in return, at the mention of their name and the recognition of their importance, discreetly - but nevertheless sufficiently open - hand the national artist the equivalent of a month's salary of one of the waiters who are inobtrusively serving the gathered dignitaries. The music is pleasant and all the guests are happy and content.

Later in the evening, there is room for a dance, - a merengue even. Osadebe style, of course. So the ladies can show off their dancing skills without making a fool of themselves. Halfway down the song changes pace, and even the elder members of the club can't help themselves and are bending their knees at the rhythm. Even the royal visitors invited for this special occasion are on the dancefloor now. Osadebe points at the guitarist who carefully guides the by now wildly dancing mass into a state of musical bliss.

Doctor of Hypertension?
Yes.

Polydor POLP 092, 1982