WOYAYA

Osibisa

Jazz Rock/Fusion

4.05 | 105 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

Sinusoid
Prog Reviewer

Happiness is an angry elephant with wings.

Osibisa have self-professed on their debut album that their music is ''criss-cross rhythms that explode with happiness'' and have promised to make us happy when we listen to their music. For this music lover, mission accomplished. This is by and far the happiest band I've ever come across, even beating out Yes at times. Like the debut album, Osibisa plays upbeat jazz-rock laced with African percussions and rhythms as well as Latin music ideas that spark of Santana. To stress the happiness factor, WOYAYA goes nowhere near the sometimes darker tracks on parts of the debut.

If you've ever gotten curious and listened to ''The Beautiful Seven'', it starts the album very well. The first half is nearly mystic with some of the most gorgeous ensemble vocals I've heard; I can tell that these guys are having fun as well as taking their happiness somewhat seriously. They convince you that they know what they're doing vocally, and that intangible works better on me as a listener than any type of skill. To icing the cake, it segues right into a powerful, flute driven jam that signifies everything great about this group.

Some direct correlations with the debut album are the tracks ''Rabiatu'' (sounds a bit like ''Ayiko Bia'' and ''Phallus C'' combined) and ''Move On'' (sounds like ''Think About the People''; it made sense when I found out Wendell Richardson wrote both). ''Spirits Up Above'' is slightly weaker than the rest due the slow dance pace at the beginning, but it soon picks up. ''Y Sharp'' and the title track are other highlights in this collection emphasizing the happiness attitude with Chicago-esque horn, Santana-like organs and Osibisa's own percussion drives.

WOYAYA is very attached to its predecessor with a bit more happiness added to it. It's a very good companion to OSIBISA that anyone open to world music along with jazz-rock might want to pick up.

Sinusoid | 4/5 | 2011-12-23

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Share this OSIBISA review

Social review comments () BETA

Review related links

Send comments to Sinusoid
Report this review (#595089)
Buy OSIBISA music online with PA partners
Show all OSIBISA MP3/Stream
Go to OSIBISA page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
Go to Woyaya page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
Search the Forum for OSIBISA related discussions