Some sounds from the past ...
At the Branch Office, Johannesburg (1976) with Johnny Fourie's Sound Department band featuring Johnny on guitar, John Boshoff on bass and Chris Van der Schyff on drums (The band also featured Dezi Ray on vocals). We had some wild nights there!
- Freedom Jazz Dance - (Eddie Harris)
- Stratus (To the Woman in My Life) - (Billy Cobham)
From the album Year of the Tiger recorded in London (1986) in the pre-digital age using a Fostex 250 4-track cassette recorder, mastered onto 1/4 tape and now digitally remastered using SoundForge 9.0. Instrumentation included Rhodes and Steinway pianos, ARP Odyssey, Roland TR606 Drumatix and various hand percussion instruments including congas, bells and shakers.
- Dawn - Images of an African sky
- The Voyage - Return to African soil after 10 years in the UK
- Francistown - Place of music and laughter
- Samora - Eulogy for a fallen freedom fighter
Recorded at The Empress nightclub in Mayfair, London c. 1982. This was an Arab nighspot which was required to employ a British band in terms of Musician Union rules in order to quality to hire an Arab group (and they were hot!), so we played from 7 pm till 9 pm every night to an empty room while the waiters prepared for the 9 pm opening, at which point we went home! These tracks feature John Koen (flute), Richie Dharma (drums) and Earl Lewis (bass and vocals)
- Desert Song - (John Koen)
- Vrededorp - (Payne/Lewis/Dharma)
- Easy Like Sunday Morning - (Lionel Richie)
- Shine on Me - (Payne/Lewis/Dharma)
- Let's Dance - (Payne/Lewis/Dharma)
