Review: Ferry Djimmy's life sounds hard to believe - a schoolteacher and boxer in the late 50s in Benin, he wound up in Paris as a policeman on missions alongside Jacques Chirac, and it was there he recorded his first two singles. They didn't quite make a splash but when he returned to Benin he caught on with the country's authorities and was given a budget to start a label to inspire the youth towards the Marxist-Leninism direction the ruling party had taken. Taking his cues from Fela Kuti, he recorded most of the music himself and now the sound of Revolution Records represents Afrobeat at its most vital, just outside the established lore of the Nigerian hub. Djimmy's heavy brand of funk comes to life on this dedicated collection on Acid Jazz, with 16 tracks which rank as the most authoritative overview of his work to date.
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