Orlando Julius With The Heliocentrics - Jaiyede Afro

Strut present a limited transparent vinyl pressing of the seminal album by one of the all-time legends of Nigerian music, the late, great Orlando Julius, in a mouth-watering collaboration with London super-group The Heliocentrics, originally released in 2014. Starting with his club residency in Ibadan in the mid 60s, Orlando Julius set the blueprint for a whole generation of Afrobeat and Afro funk stars, going on to play with Louis Armstrong, The Crusaders, Hugh Masekela and Lamont Dozier among others, famously co-composing the classic ‘Going Back To My Roots’ in 1979 whilst based in the USA.  

For ‘Jaiyede Afro’, Julius went back to his own roots, revisiting several compositions from his early years which had never previously been recorded.  

Recorded at the Heliocentrics’ fully analogue HQ in North London, the band take Orlando’s sound into new, progressive directions, retaining the raw grit of his early work and adding psychedelic touches and adventurous new arrangements. They also contribute live favourite, the James Brown cover ‘In The Middle’ and a series of memorable shorter interludes.