Issa Juma and Super Wanyika Stars
World Defeats the Grandfathers: Swinging Swahili Rumba 1982-1986
Sterns ( www.sternsmusic.com)

Keith Richards and Mick Taylor. Muddy Waters and Jimmy Rogers. Duane Allman and Dickie Betts. Johnny Marr and himself. Add to this brief and selective roster of great guitar duelists Adam "Adamu" Solomon and Abbu Omar Prof. Jr. Who might they be, you may reasonably ask, and why am I including them among the ranks of stellar axmen?

Adamu and Abbu are the guitarists featured on most of the tracks on World Defeats the Grandfathers, a compilation of recordings made between 1982 and 1986 by Issa Juma, a Tanzania-born vocalist and bandleader who became a star in Kenya. Juma, a key figure in the creation of Kenyan Swahili rumba, scored numerous hits with the band Les Wanyika. After leaving the band in the early 80s, he led a number of successful ensembles, all with some variation of Wanyika in their names - Wanyika Stars, Super Wanyika Stars, Waanyika, Wanyika Super Les Les.

Whatever the band name, Issa Juma stretched the boundaries of Swahili rumba, adding Congolese flavor and elements of Kenyan benga to the mix. Still, the tracks collected on this delightfully, if puzzlingly titled collection, don't vary greatly in format or style, despite having been recorded in five different sessions with varying personnel. The sound is rhythmically supple, guitar-driven, and relaxed; every track runs eight to nine minutes, giving the players generous (and sometimes excessive) space to stretch out.

And it is the ensemble sound that's the main draw, more than the titular star. Some have likened Juma's voice, a husky baritone, to that of reggae's Toots Hibbert. I don't really hear it, but regardless, Juma, who died in the early 90s, was a strong vocalist who grounded his bands' lengthy workouts, weaving in and out of the dense mix of guitars, bass, percussion, horns, and backing vocalists. The songs, with their simple, two-part harmony melodies, serve mainly as launching pads for the band's improvisations.

World Defeats the Grandfathers focuses on Juma's later recordings with the Super Wanyika Stars, which accounts for the consistency of the sound, despite the fact that the tracks were recorded in different sessions. Musicologist Douglas Paterson, whose other efforts include the essential East African collection, The Nairobi Beat, compiled the album. He has selected a number of Juma's biggest hits, as well as some previously unreleased recordings. Kudos to him and also to Sterns Africa for a superb job of restoring and digitizing the vinyl originals so that the tracks sound clean and free of surface noise but not sterile or compressed.

The opening track, "Barua" (The Letter) highlights the finger-picked guitars that provide much of the album's pleasure. At about two and a half minutes in, Juma drops out and the fretmen take over for the rest of the ride. On the surging "Ma Eliza" (Mother Elizabeth) - one of the heretofore-unreleased numbers -- an (uncredited) saxophonist takes a bleating, whinnying solo but he's swallowed up in the warp and woof of the unstoppable twin guitars.

"Mpita Nija" (A Passer-by), from 1982, distills all the best elements of the Juma sound - the leader's earthy vocalizing, the distinctive percussion combining high hat rhythm patterns with conga beats, and, oh yes, those tremendous guitars. "Utalia na nani" (Who Will You Cry With") makes its theme literal with the sound of a crying baby, a distraction that, though annoying, doesn't (entirely) ruin the performance. "Mony," the plaint of an abandoned lover, abandons its warm, folky melody at about the three-minute point for an extended call and response vocal section that segues into an exhilarating pas de deux between guitarists Adamu and Abbu.

There's a lot of dazzling music on World Defeats the Grandfathers, especially if you love the sound of two great guitarists working in tandem. But at nearly 80 minutes, with every track running eight to nine minutes, it can be a bit wearying over the long haul. For me, aural fatigue set in about halfway through. But even if you don't take it all in at one hearing, this compilation of "swinging Swahili rumba" has so many glorious moments that it qualifies as a must-have for African music aficionados. - George de Stefano

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