20th Century Steel Band
In 1976 the 20th Century Steel Band released their debut album ‘Warm Heart, Cold Steel’. This proved to be a landmark album and featured the heavily sampled track ‘Heaven & Hell is on Earth’. The band eventually split up but now, after 30 years, Michael Oliviere and Godfran Moore – original 20CSB members and the previous bands writers, composers and arrangers have reformed the group with a new line-up and are re-releasing their seminal album on Mr Bongo Records.
Afroreggae
AfroReggae is the band from Rio de Janeiro that is part of the cultural organisation of the same name working for social change within the favela communities.
Arakatuba
Group comprising the highly regarded musicians that are Bosco d'Olivera, Oli Albergaria Savill and Tristram Banks. Remixed by the likes of Kenny Dope, Ballistic Brothers, Box Saga, Fila Brazilia, Soul Generation and Faze Action for their album 'Brazilian Explosion'.
Atmosfear
Atmosfear occupy a special place in the history of modern club music; a highly influential band creating a unique sound drawing from the past whilst exploring the future. Their second single in releases in 1979 was the timeless, groundbreakiing, floorshaking and much sampled Dancing In Outer Space, and ensured that this would not be just another band.
Awadi
Didier Awadi is the most prominent artist to have emerged from Africa’s Francophone Rap scene.
Banda Black Rio
Banda Black Rio was created in 1976. At this time there was a natural movement coming: musically it linked soul to samba, but it was not a movement restricted just to music. It had a variety of names: Black Power, Soul Power, and the most famous one, Black Rio. The names are in English, because the idea was to fuse languages, to break down individualism, to open up gaps, to confront the purists.
Bazeado
Bazeado (Brazilian for spliff) was formed by Brazilian soap opera star Pedro Martins in l999. Resident in Brighton, the five-piece ensemble take traditional rhythms like the Baiao, Samba and Batucada to create a dynamic vision of the future of Brazilian music.
Ben Mitchell
As a producer, Ben has worked with such credible artists as Terry Callier, The Lo Fidelity All-Stars and Afrobeat legend Bukky Leo. His own projects include Sao Benitez whose huge remixes of Masters At Work, Paula Lima, Samantha Mumba and Jimmy Smith have all been club anthems in their own right and can be found on the Sao Benitez album ‘Elemental’.
Bukky Leo
Growing up in Lagos Nigeria, Bukky was spotted practising his first saxophone by the original afro-beat drummer Tony Allen. He was immediately ushered into Tony’s newly formed band. Bukky went on to play with the great Fela Kuti where the seeds of afrobeat were being sown.
Charlie Palmieri
Charlie Palmieri was born on 21 November 1926 in New York City of Puerto Rican parents. He was the pioneer of the Palmieri family in the development of the salsa music genre in which his brother Eddie was later successful as well.
Dom Um Romao
Brazilian born Dom Um Romão is considered to be one of the greatest percussionists to have ever lived.
Doris
From Sweden comes the free-wheeling quirky Doris.
Flowriders
Flowriders is the band of Amsterdam based producer, beat maker and keys player Vincent Helbers.
Hanny
Hanny has risen to become Cuba's brightest sonero. Whilst playing as a busker on the streets of Havana at 24 years old, Hanny was discovered by Mr Bongo which resulted in the recording of his album The Voice of Cuba which introduces his unique & highly influential 'son casino' style.
Incredible Bongo Band
Formed by MGM A&R Michael Viner in 1972 to supplement the soundtrack to the virtually anonymous B film 'The Thing With Two Heads', the 'IBB' went from loose studio collective to an instrumental pop covers consortium, interpreting classics of the day in their own inimitable percussive fashion.
Ive Mendes
Ive Mendes, a silky smooth pop jazz diva, was discovered by Robin Millar, the legendary producer of Sade and Everything But The Girl. She has been dubbed 'The Brazilian Sade'; softly haunting, husky notes accompanied by gentle Brazilian beats, seductive guitar strings and sultry percussive rhythms.
Jorge Ben
Born Jorge Duilio Lima Menezes, he initially took the stage name Jorge Ben after his mother's name (of Ethiopian origin), but later changed it to Jorge Ben Jor (commonly written Benjor), in response to an incident where some of his royalties had accidentally gone to American guitarist George Benson.
Jose Conde
Born in Chicago and raised in Miami by his Cuban-immigrant parents, Conde has been living in New York since earning a BA from Berklee College of Music in 1997. After experimenting with jazz, rock, funk, blues and latin music in his first couple of years in New York, Conde realized his musical journey was leading him back to his Cuban roots.
Joyce
Joyce, in her international career, has recorded 21 solo discs and has had almost 300 recordings of her songs by some of the greatest names in Brazilian and international music, such as Flora Purim, Milton Nascimento, Elis Regina, Gal Costa, Maria Bethânia, Elizeth Cardoso, Simone, Wallace Roney, and others.
Kaori
Kaori is the voice behind the cover version of the Inner City House Classic "Good Life" that was released on Disorient Records.
Kev Luckhurst
Kev Luckhurst (formerly Phat Kev) is a turntablist DJ and producer from London, UK. His eclectic style covers a multitude of different genres spanning soul, Hip Hop, disco, Jazz and related.
Labi Siffre
Labi Siffre is an English poet, songwriter and singer.
Lekan Babalola
In addition to having a pretanatural sensibility for percussion in post-modern improvisational music, Lekan Babalola is a curator at heart. Founder of the Ifa-Yoruba Contemporary Arts Trust, his singular passion has been to elucidate and bring full forward the culture and arts of the Yoruba, encompassing the wide range of its expression in Africa and the diaspora.
Lenine
Lenine's career began at the age of 18, when he moved to Rio de Janeiro to compete in a music festival. In 1982, he released his first LP, Baque Solto, with partner Lula Queiroga. Ten years later, he released his second album, Olho de Peixe, with percussionist Marcos Suzano. Lenine's first solo record, O Dia em que Faremos Contato, was released in 1997, featuring a mixture of electronica, northeastern Brazilian rhythms and samba. Two years later, he released Na Pressão. In 2001, Falange Canibal was released. This album attracted international attention due to the appearance of the U.S. group Living Color performing with him on the song "O Homem dos Olhos de Raios-X". His next album In Cité (2004) was recorded live at the auditorium of the Cité de la Musique (City of Music) in Paris.
Lonesome Echo Production
Lonesome Echo Project is a unit of two, Yasushi Ide and his favourite partner, the famous female engineer named Yoko Ota. In his native Japan, Ide is one of the most influential DJ/producer's alongside Shinichi Ohsawa (A.K.A. Mondo Grosso), Konishi Yasuharu (A.K.A. Pitzzicato Five) and Tomoyuki Tanaka (A.K.A. Fantastic Plastic Machine).
Lula Cortes & Ze Ramalho
Writers Cortez and Ramalho are both from Pernambuco in the North East of Brazil.
Marcelo D2
Marcelo D2 started his career in music as the leader and singer of the band Planet Hemp and has gone on to become a full blown superstar in his native country of Brazil, recognised as the creator of the Samba Hip Hop sound
Marcos Valle
Marcos Valle was a composer from the so-called "second wave" of Bossa Nova musicians. His swingy, dance-driven style, supported by inventive grooves, easily fit the European dance floors, where his music became popular in the 90s, in the midst of the drum’n’bass fever, helping to create a new style, Drum’n’Bossa.
Mitchell & Dewbury Band
A collaobartion between legendary DJ and music industry figure Russ Dewbury and producer/percussionist Ben Mitchell.
Mr Hermano
Mr Hermano is the production and writing duo of Ben Mitchell (Can Can Studios) and Chris Fitzgerald (Laws Of Motion Recordings).
Novalima
Novalima is a production collective formed by four Peruvian musicians/DJs based in Lima and London: Ramon Perez Prieto, Grimaldo Del Solar, Rafael Morales, and Carlos Li Carrillo. Its music is heavily driven by Afro-Peruvian and Latin percussions, blended with dub, broken and house beats.
Os Ipanemas
Os Ipanema's are a Brazilian band consisting of Astor Silva (trombone), Marinho (bass), Wilson das Neves (drums), Rubens Bassini (percussion) and Neco (guitar).
Paula Lima
Paula Lima, the diva of swing, started in the music world with a group called Unidade Bop (ex- Unidade Móvel) that played acid jazz. After that, she went on to do backing vocals for the Brazilian legend Jorge Ben Jor, sang in the hit parade “Senhor Tempo Bom” for the rap duo Thaíde and DJ Hum, took part in the Zomba group and finally became the singer of Funk Como Le Gusta, a Brazilian black music group, in which she stood out singing a new version of “Meu Guarda-chuva” (Jorge Ben Jor's musical lyric from the time he was simply known as “Ben”).
Prince Fatty
Prince Fatty is a group put together by producer and engineer Mike Pelanconi, (whose recent credits include Lilly Allen's smash ‘Alright Still’ for Regal/EMI and ‘Little Barrie’ Stand your Ground for Genuine/PIAS) for the purpose of recording a limited-edition single for Stussy to celebrate their 25th anniversary. ‘Ninas Dance’ became an underground smash, enjoying 8 plays on Radio 1, and by popular demand Mr Bongo secured Fatty's recording services for the follow up album titled ‘Survival of the Fattest’.
Rubin Steiner
In 1989, Frédérick Landier (Rubin Steiner) was to be found hard at work hand-recording home tapes of the Dead Kennedys, Rapeman, Cult Hero, Mule, The Pixies, Nirvana, Stereolab and Fugazi for his schoolmates. Rubin’s passion for hardcore, uncompromising, unexpected genres naturally won him airtime on the local radio station (Radio Béton), where he presented a light-hearted, serious programme called Nuisances Sonores (Sound Nuisances).
Sao Benitez
Sao Benitez is one of the many aliases of producer Ben Mitchell. Previous Sao Benitez releases include remixes for Masters At Work, Samantha Mumba and Hammond organ legend Jimmy Smith. He is also the founder of Mr Hermano with Chris Fleming
Seu Jorge
Seu Jorge is an elegant, stylish man, the kind to stand out in the middle of a crowd. A tall, dark figure, he has the ability to turn a tee-shirt into a dinner jacket or a dinner jacket into a tee-shirt.
Seun Kuti
Seun Kuti is Fela Anikulapo Kuti ‘s last son. Seun’s father, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, was Nigeria’s most beloved popular musician and most acerbic social critic until his death in 1997.
Slum Dunk
Slum Dunk is a musical collective made up of Brazilian artists residing in London. Slum Dunk currently operates a weekly radio programme of the same name that airs in London every Tuesday from 1-2 pm on Resonance FM 104.4 (also available on www.resonancefm.com) and covers all aspects of Brazilian music from the hills and beyond. At the core of Slum Dunk is the electronic duo Tetine made up of Eliete Mejorado and Bruno Verner that produces electronic music, soundtracks and art performances.
Su Paka Pooh
Su-Paka-Pooh are Japanese duo Hidehiko Murao and Ishizuka Chikashi. Murao plays the saxophone and programs, while Chikashi is a superstar DJ in major Tokyo night spots as The Room and Yellow. He also has a legendary radio show on Shibuya FM which has been going since 1989.
Tenth & Parker
Astride the corner of Tenth & Parker in Berkely, San Francisco squats the Fantasy Studios. Inside a grizzled old hepcat sits in the vocal booth, wearing green Wellington boots and munches on a meatball sandwich in between harmonising with his tuning pipe and poring over his indecipherable notebook of lyrics. Behind the desk sit three young men, excited yet slightly apprehensive. The hepcat is legendary jazz vocalist Mark Murphy, and the three young men are Brent Newitt, Kieron James and Dave Wallace.
Terry Callier
Terry Callier is an American Jazz, Soul and Folk guitarist singer-songwriter from Chicago, Illinois. Callier, a childhood friend of Curtis Mayfield, began recording in 1963 but never reached stardom despite a series of regional hits in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1983, he gained custody of his 12-year-old daughter and decided to retire from music to look for a steadier income. He took classes in computer programming and landed a job at the University of Chicago in 1984.
The Mothers
Philani is a community-based child health and nutrition organisation operating in the township and squatter communities of Cape Town, South Africa where poverty, unemployment and violence are dominant. Established in 1980 on the initiative of the women health-workers in Crossroads, it is an independent non-profit making organisation.
Tumi & The Volume
Tumi and the Volume - arguably South Africa’s most electric performers. The group has managed to create a distinct musical accent that includes blends of samba, swing, hip hop, reggae combined with poetry that speaks the unique reality of the South African experience and still relates to the world.
Waltel Branco
Waltel Branco (Paranaguá/PR, Nov 22, 1929) is teacher, composer and Brazilian conductor with more than 20 albums to his name. Aside from that Branco arranged or participated in some way, in approximately 1000 Brazilian records.
Wild Style
The true roots of rap, Wild Style released originally in 1982, captured the hard core South Bronx scene at its birth. The stars of Wild Style form the pantheon of hip hop’s pioneers: DJ’s Grand Master Flash, Grand Wizard Theodore, D.St. plus rappers Grand Master Caz and The Cold Crush Bros, The Chief Rocker Busy Bee, Double Trouble, Fantastic Freaks and RAMMELLZEE and B-boy champions The Rock Steady Crew.
