Jantra lives near the border of Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia – a disputed area called Fashaga – where he is creating some of the best dance music anywhere in Africa. Known in some circles as “Jaglara,” – which translates as “craziness” – the Sudanese maestro whips his crowd into a frenzy.

Slaying devotees with his trusty blue Yamaha keyboard, Jantra joins a wave of synthesiser auteurs across Africa who are revolutionising the electronic sound of the continent. Jantra freestyles a combination of his melodies incessantly for hours on end, acting as a live producer and DJ for emphatic crowds. It’s even known to inspire the odd gunslinger to raise his pistol in the middle of the dance floor, ready to fire away a few shots into the air when the build up reaches climax.

These street side raves are thrown in his home town of Gedarif, near the Sudan-Ethiopia border. His new album – Synthesized Sudan – Astro-Nubian Electronic Jaglara Sounds from the Fashaga Underground – for Ostinato now reveals to the world this underground music.

A lead single such as Makhafi is a perfect example of the cosmic trip that transports you to the heart of rural Sudan – with drum machines and whirring keyboards customised for the sounds of North East Africa. The intro sounds like early pioneering outings from Detroit techno luminaries.

His Yamaha keyboard, like most keyboards, is not made in Africa and not tuned to cater to Sudanese rhythms or melodies. It required special tweaks from legendary keyboard mechanics in Omdurman Market, outside of the capital Khartoum, who service and maintain these synths to work for their wizards.

For more from this award-winning label – click to their Bandcamp here.