jembaa groove: be a lover ep
Francisco Espregueira
After turning heads globally with full-length projects like Susuma and Ye Ankasa | We Ourselves, the Berlin-based outfit Jembaa Groove is entering a fresh chapter. Founders Yannick Nolting and Eric Owusu have been championing contemporary Afro-jazz, and now they return to Agogo Records with the Be A Lover EP. For this latest release, they consciously stripped back their usual seven-piece live ensemble to focus strictly on a collaborative studio experience. Expanding their sound beyond, they tapped directly into the Lagos music scene. The result is a soulful Afrofusion project. It was born out of a chance meeting with Nigerian highlife revivalists The Cavemen at the 2023 Supersonic Jazz Festival in Amsterdam.
The music reflects this diasporic network, offering a seamless blend of organic percussion, horns, and steady grooves. The musical brothers essentially stepped in to co-produce most of the tracklist. They take center stage with traditional vocals on the highlife cut "Obi." Across the remaining songs, an impressive cast of international talent joins the fold. East London-based Azekel lends his R&B-leaning voice to the opener "No Pain No Gain." Lagos artist Tim Lyre then delivers the title track's message to choose love over fighting. To close things out, Malian icon Fatoumata Diawara trades vocal lines with Owusu on the rhythmic closer "Waka." The band is currently gearing up for a 2026 tour featuring Ghanaian multi-instrumentalist Kwame Yeboah. Together, they prove that musical magic happens when cultures freely collide. Available on vinyl.