Song of the Day: Mombasa “Nairobi”

Mombasa is likely a group that you’ve never heard of. In record collecting a “white whale” is a record that has eluded the collector for a number of years. After thirty years plus of collecting I have many white whales. One the ones that I REALLY want is Mombasa‘s 1975 release “African Rhythm and Blues” on the small German label, Spiegelei. Mombasa was a European band put together by the American trombonist Lou Blackburn. Momabasa put out five LPs between ’75 and ’81.

Lou Blackburn was an American trombonist who was born in 1922 and died in 1990. He was a noted West Coast soul jazz player who played with Lionel Hampton in the 1950’s and Cat Anderson throughout the 1960’s.  He also played with Charles Mingus (appearing on several records) and worked with The Turtles and The Beach Boys. He eventually permanently relocated to Berlin, Germany where he continued his career and founded Mombasa.

I first discovered the song featured here on the excellent Racubah! compilation released by Comet Records in 1999. This song has the perfect mix of jazz and African Rhythms with maybe a hint of progressive rock thrown in for good measure. Its funky and deep! If anyone has an original copy of this LP please call me! Enjoy!