3x3: Manu Dibango, Mulatu Astatke, Jojo Quo

Every week, for the past year,  I've collaborated with two other Brooklyn music scenesters on a private social network/playlist called 3x3. The premise was simple. 3 people produce a new playlist of 3 songs every(ish) day at 3pm. I'm using this space to share my selections and the thought process around why I chose each track and artist. Also, the playlist gets deleted every day, so in lieu of posting it here, I will just share the individual tracks. 

It's been crazy watching the deadly toll of the Coronavirus sweep across this planet from the comfort of my own home. Truth be told, I'm lucky enough to still have a job where I can work from home, but some are not so lucky. In addition, the virus is taking a devastating toll on the music industry, and unfortunately we lost a legend in the process.

Manu Dibango - Soul Makossa

You may not know who Manu Dibango is, but rest assured, you have heard the 1972 banger "Soul Makossa" sometime in your life. The funk banger with the sultry sax has been sampled by everyone from Kool Moe Dee to Childish Gambino, and was even involved in a weird three-way lawsuit between Rhianna and Michael Jackson. Legalities aside, this song has continued to be a influential part of DJ playlists and the culture at large. As such, the song may be bigger than the person, especially in the United States, and  most people my self knew little of Manu Dibango until his death due to COVID-19 last month.

Mulatu Astatke - Mulatu's Mood

I figured I would stay in Africa for this one. When I was practicing DJing last week, I started to go a bit deep into the Mulatu Astatke catalog. If you don't know, Mulatu is an Ethiopian jazz composer, who made waves in the 60s and 70s, and was re-discovered by beat heads in the 90s and little known Bill Murray movie. I decided to go with a recent selection from his catalog here, from his Heliocentrics-backed 2010 project Mulatu Steps Ahead.

Jojo Quo and His Challengers - Every Woman Is A Good Woman

Little much is known about Jojo Quo and His Challengers. At all. A Google search comes up with....well not much of anything. However, I liked the idea of this song being a bridge, adding a bit more of West African flavor (I would assume) to the pot. Going with Fela to me felt a bit "basic" here, so it's interesting to see a (possibly) more modern take on the sound.