Bwana ~ Nicaragua

---10/6/07

You can practically count the number of great progressive / psych albums from Nicaragua on one finger. And here it is. But their sole representative isn't only good, it's nothing short of amazing. I suppose it comes as no surprise that the major influence here is Santana. In particular the first two albums. The organ tones are not as heavy and the guitarist doesn't have near the chops as Carlos (though he's no slouch either). And while vocals exist on Bwana, they aren't a key to the sound. And when it's time to get indigenous, they naturally raise the sounds of pre-Colombian South America versus Mexico. So at this point you may be thinking we have a watered down version of Abraxas, but that's not the case at all. Where Bwana gains ground is in their use of percussion, which is more varied and is also a feature rather than an accent. There's also a tribal voodoo element going on throughout, making me wish I knew of other groups coming out of Nicaragua during this era. Six long tracks, totaling over 45 minutes, and not a dud amongst them.

---11/7/26

When I wrote that review, I thought Bwana were from Colombia, which was the prevailing theory at the time. It was some years later that a couple of members corrected the facts, and it turns out they were from Nicaragua, a considerably more impoverished country. I substituted the countries above.

While listening to the album last night, I started to think I may have rated it a point higher than my current feelings about it. Perhaps I was giving it an "obscure country" bump. As noted on the Gunesh review, these albums contain sounds not usually heard anywhere else, which makes it that much more exciting. But that's not really the case with Bwana, where the music is without a doubt influenced by Santana and other bands operating in that field. What was missing, I noticed, is the lack of high quality songwriting that we often find in the Latin rock genre. Santana, Malo, and Chango all come to mind here.

However, another aspect I tend to reward is the sound itself. And this is a big draw for Bwana. The entire organ, guitar, bass, and multiple types of percussion still resonates large with me. By the second straight listen, I was fully engrossed into the contents. As I said, you can count rock albums from Nicaragua on one finger (Alfonso Lovo was archival), and for them to get it right on one try is very impressive.

As the years have gone by, we've now learned the album was released in six different countries, many without much history for pressing rock records: USA, Venezuela, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Dominican Republic. No domestic pressings have yet to surface (and probably won't). Here in the States, it's not unusual to find albums on Caytronics (sometimes in thrift bins), a label dedicated to Latin music. But I've never seen Bwana, to this day.

Ownership: 2001 Acid Symposium (CD). This is an unauthorized release. At the time, little was known about Bwana, and I hadn't even considered if it was legit. I wasn't so focused on that topic too much back then. Acquired in 2002.

The album never has been reissued properly. So it remains on the CDRWL.

2002; 10/6/07 (review); 11/7/26 (update / new entry)