Salum Abdallah and Cuban Marimba Band

• old-school tip-on cover

• lyrics in Swahili and English

Beautiful sounds from the short-lived musical legacy of Salum Abdallah and his Cuban Marimba Band -- a group from Tanzania, but one who play with lots of influence from Latin Music -- as you might guess from their name!

And yet, unlike some of the larger, fuller Latin-influenced groups that were springing up on the West African scene of the 60s, this combo has a sound that's pretty stripped-down -- often just heavy percussion and work on guitar -- which appears to be a unique hybrid of the Cuban style of the instrument, which gets plucked and inflected in great ways next to the vocals! The well-done set might be the best we've seen so far from the Domino Sound label.

TRACKS:

• SIDE A
• A1. Marumba Cha Cha
• A2. Kindimwanga
• A3. Beberu
• A4. Masikitiko
• A5. Asiye Bahati Duniani
• A6. Moyo Koma

• SIDE B
• B1. Cuba Cha Cha
• B2. Kutenda Maovu
• B3. Ngoma Iko Huku
• B4. Njoo Harak
• B5. Naumiya
• B6. Macho Laini