Orlando Julius with the Heliocentrics: Jaiyede Afro CD review – rousing new set

Orlando Julius is one of the heroes of Nigerian music. A saxophonist, singer and songwriter, he began fusing African influences with American R&B and soul in the 60s, and was a major influence on Fela Kuti and Afrobeat. He's still in rousing form on this new set, recorded with London's the Heliocentrics, whose previous African excursions have included work with Mulatu Astatke. Julius is a master of the simple, stomping riff, as he proves with the opening Buje Buje, in which he hammers home a hypnotic R&B theme for more than five minutes against a wash of keyboard effects, before breaking away for a solo. Elsewhere, he moves from the funky Love Thy Neighbour to the breezy title track and to Be Counted, a rumbling, chanting Afrobeat work-out, written in the US in the 70s. I look forward to the live shows next year.