Mansa

Mansa is a 13-person Oakland-based psychedelic soul collective named after the medieval emperors of Mali and formerly headed by E.L. Moore. By the summer of 1973 they are touring to support their latest album, Ikenga, after they got onto Soul Train and Don Kirshner's Rock Concert thanks to URIEL’s various tendrils in the media and a certain deal Moore made with the Devil. While not selling out large arena venues, they have managed to book several big theaters and smaller minor-league arenas.

Aside from Moore himself, the band's members are Lilian Macy, Loretta Wise, and Deanna Wrentham (vocals); Clive Xasan (tenor sax, percussion, vocals); Ralph Dorty (clarinet, flute, alto sax); Edwin Bryson (trombone, percussion, guitar, vocals); Charlie Nash (organ, vibes, piano, synthesizer, percussion, clavinet, vocals); Bernard Thandeka (bass, acoustic guitar, percussion, vocals, piano); Memphis Harlow (lead guitar, percussion, vocals); Roderick Jones (drums, percussion, vocals); Cordell Miley (vocals, congas, percussion); Tommy Michaels (vocals, drums, kalimba); and Ed Douglas (production).

Discography

Studio LPs

Mansa, 1970

A debut album with one foot in the psychedelic ‘60s and one in the funky ‘70s, Mansa’s self-titled LP from 1970 is a meditation on paradise, fusing American traditions of utopianism going back hundreds of years through the gospel tradition with the by-then curdling dreams of late-‘60s revolution.

Song of the Griot, 1971

Mansa’s afrocentrism came to the fore on their sophomore release, with more African instrumentation, rhythms, and themes making their way into the psychedelic stew. Minor local Bay Area radio hit with "Open the Cage," the second single, a harder-hitting fuzzed-out funk jam.

Mirrored Sky, 1972

First album to feature cover art from West German surrealist Sebastian Keiner, Columbia famously paid handsomely for reflective material to be used as the titular "mirrored sky" on the cover's surrealist landscape painting on the album's first printing.

Ikenga, 1973

A “flowing, aquatic, brassy” album with a “slow rolling bass, dreamy organ, and overall hypnotic ostinato,” Ikenga is regarded as an instrumental epic that hangs onto that ‘60s psychedelic soul just a little past its expiry date. Side B has all the single jams, including “Muddy Jump,” which got Mansa signed up with Don Kirschner.

Singles

"Easy Times" b/w "Treasure," 1970
"A Singing Heart" b/w "Golden Dusk," 1971
"Open the Cage" b/w "The Lioness" 1971
"Khalam Groove" b/w "Balhib's Riddle," 1972
"Ukerewe (Movement 2)" b/w "Muddy Funk," 1973