This project had been in my head for a few years as I was looking for a singular way to thank a long time friend, Catherine Loudes. The idea was to pay a tribute to Catherine, for her audacious work as a record producer and for the warm and spontanious behaviour with which she has welcomed me into her house and family since we first met in 2004.

This Akwaba Abidjan music compilation is about dancefloor funk and afrobeat recorded in the 1970's by Catherine Loudes.

Akwaba Aibdjan is about family. It's a tribute to Abidjan city and its inhabitants whom have always warmly welcomed foreigners in the past, and given solid opportunities to music artists from abroad.

Akwaba Abidjan compiles long lost recordings produced by Ivory Coast based Société Ivoirienne du disque (SID). The SID was owned by French American producer Catherine Loudes, assisted by her brother Albert, another good friend, whom passed away a few years back.

Together with a pool of virtuoso studio musicians originating from the US, Central and West Africa such as Greg Skelton, Moussa Doumbia, Cheikh Mohammed Smith or Francis Kingsley, the SID team gave birth to what a lot of funk heads and afrobeat fans worldwide consider to be the rawest and funkiest recordings from French speaking West Africa.

Tracklisting includes what is also identified as some of the hardest to find recordings made in Ivory Coast, as most of the funky/afro fusion SID releases were pressed in small quantities, usually 500 copies. Check below for our full compilation track listing : Back_cd-1483972040

For the vinyl issue, we did the best to provide you an excellent sound quality by working with genius vinyl mastering and cutting Frank Merritt from the Carvery company in UK.

The sound is as fat, heavy, raw and nasty as funk & afrobeat should be in the 1970's, but with that clear, kick ass, 2017 sound to make sure you rock the dancefloor while deejaying, be it home or in a club !

Greg de Villanova

AKWABA ABIDJAN COMPILATION