Mark Ernestus, Gavsborg (Equiknoxx), Jimi Tenor and Waltraud Blischke rework the foundational ‘70s Ghanaian Afro Rock of Hedzoleh Soundz for Belgium’s Meakusma

Hedzoeleh Soundz, led by Stanley Todd, were instrumental in expanding Afrobeat with jazz-funk and rock influences from the late ‘60s, and were famously introduced to legendary South African trumpeter High Masakela by Fela Kuti, before Masakela guested on their eponymous debut LP in 1973. Half a century later Hedzoleh Soundz legacy lives on thru successive generations of Afro-beat fiends and its myriad offshoots in dance music, notably the groove and verve of contemporary Afrobeats. s The remixers here all connect with Hedzoleh Soundz from varying angles. A regular visitor to Werst Africa, Mark Ernestus (Ndagga Rhythm Force, Basic Channel, Maurizio) applies the same sort of lissom, hands-on dubbing to their ‘Kaa Ye Yai’ as found on his work with Senegalese mbalax acts, with vibe but ghostly effect, and Jamaican dancehall don Gavsborg, producer to dancehall and rap royalty, simmers ‘Y Yei Baa Gbe Wo’ to a dusky slow hustle buzzing with what sounds like jaws harp. Finland’s Jimi Tenor does his fruity thing on a bustling version of ‘Rekpete’, and ‘Sasha Todd’s Simplex Meets Hedzoleh!’ is urned into a trampling, psyched out warehouse throw down by Waltraud Blischke.