World music review 2007

From zouk and zouglou to reggae and rumba

Paris 

28/12/2007 - 

The world music scene was a-buzz in 2007 with all sorts of surprise comebacks, potential-confirming releases and exceptional live shows. While the record industry continues to suffer from the threat of piracy and illegal downloads, world music artists have soldiered on regardless, displaying amazing fortitude and extraordinary creativity.

It has always been tempting to compare and contrast the fortunes of Tiken Jah Fakoly and Alpha Blondy, two militant reggae stars from northern Ivory Coast. The former has been billed as the new reggae challenger on the up, while the latter has all too often be dismissed as the former champion about to throw in the towel. The prize fight finally got to happen in 2007 with both protagonists emerging in the music ring with new albums released around the same time. Tiken was first off the mark with L’Africain and Alpha defended his crown a few weeks later with Jah Victory. Both reggae stars packed a powerful punch on their albums and fans in both camps claimed victory. Ironically, Alpha the "foulosophe" made his comeback with an album recorded with a huge helping hand from Tyrone Downie - the former Wailer who produced Françafrique, the album that won Alpha’s rival, Tiken, the RFI World Music Award back in 2000! This is not exactly designed to improved strained relations between the two reggae rivals any time soon. The real winners in Ivory Coast right now are Magic System, a group currently cresting the wave of ‘zouglou’ success on their new album, Ki Dit Mié? The Kings of Zouglou, who hit upon a chart-topping formula with their dance smash Bouger Bouger, look set to continue their reign on dancefloors at home and abroad.

Tiken Jah Fakoly	Alpha Blondy

Another group who enjoyed a long, unrivalled reign on the dancefloor back in the early ‘70s was Orchestra Baobab, who enjoyed their heyday in Dakar when Latin American rhythms were all the rage. The Senegalese outfit ended up going their separate ways, but then in 2001, after a fifteen-year absence from the music scene, Baobab reformed and made a surprise comeback. The African music veterans are now back on the road, touring the songs from their excellent new album, Made In Dakar, proving they have lost neither their energy nor their charm. Another bunch of music veterans who made a notable comeback in 2007 were the Bantous de la Capitale. The album Bakolo Mboka confirmed the resurrection of the legendary Congolese group, formed in Brazzaville in pre-independence days, whose exquisite mix of rumba and salsa is just as good as it was when they first started playing it almost half-a-century ago now. And speaking of veterans, the Cameroonian sax star Manu Dibango celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of his career this year in style performing a concert with a host of guest star friends at Le Casino de Paris. He also brought out a new album entitled Manu Dibango joue Sidney Bechet. The sprightly seventy-something recently hit the road on tour with the Congolese pianist Ray Lema, who is currently branching out in a new direction as part of a jazz trio on the album Paradox.

Angélique Kidjo, the divine African diva from Benin invited an impressive list of international guest stars into a New York studio with her to record her new album, Djin Djin. Delving into the musical heritage of her homeland, Ms. Kidjo teamed up with the likes of Alicia Keys, Carlos Santana, Peter Gabriel and the Malian duo Amadou & Mariam. Meanwhile, thirteen years after his world music smash Seven Seconds, Youssou N’Dour teamed up with Neneh Cherry once again on Wake Up, a duet featured on his new album Rokku Mi Rokka devoted to the music of northern Senegal. The Cape Verdean guitarist Tcheka embarked upon his own transatlantic collaboration getting the Brazilian star Lenine to produce his new album, Lonji. Tcheka won the RFI World Music Award back in 2005, the year the Guinean kora-player Ba Cissoko emerged as one of the favourite finalists. Cissoko also appeared in the music news in 2007 with a brilliantly inventive new album, Electric Griot Land. Meanwhile, the Madagascan valiha-player Rajery has been busy exploring similarities between the sound of the kora and the Madagascan valiha and promises to take his exploration further on a future album after his current offering, Sofera (devoted to the musical heritage of his native isle).

Angélique Kidjo	Ba Cissoko

Ten thousand kilometres away in the French West Indies, Kali continued to re-emphasise the importance of his own musical heritage on the fifth volume of his Racines Caraïbes (Caribbean Roots) series. Meanwhile, the Martinican trumpet-player Jacques Coursil experimented with a more poetic vein on his new album, Clameurs, exploring the condition of blacks through the ages. And what, we hear you ask, about zouk in 2007? Well, the success of a certain Medhy Custos in that domain proves the genre is full of commercial potential. The old zouk guard proved they have not lost their foothold on the charts either! Patrick Saint-Eloi re-emerged with Zoukolexion and his former bandmates in Kassav finally hit the studio again to record All U Need Is Zouk.

2007 was certainly not lacking in live highlights. One of the most outstanding events of the year was the ‘grand bal’ RFI organised on 13 July as part of Bastille Day celebrations. More than a dozen big-name music stars from Africa and the French West Indies, including Lokua Kanza, Ismael Lô, Jacob Desvarieux, Mory Kante, Amadou & Mariam, Ba Cissoko and Alpha Blondy, shared the open-air stage erected on the Place de la Bastille, in Paris, and got the crowd dancing all night long. Another musical highlight of 2007 was the contemporary African opera, Bintou Wéré, l’Opéra du Sahel, directed by Wasis Diop. After a successful ‘avant-première’ in Bamako at the start of the year, the all-African cast took to the stage at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris in October. The opera sounded a highly topical note, recounting the story of a caravan of young Africans who embark upon a perilous trek across the desert in the hope of making a new life for themselves in Europe.

Bintou Wéré, l'opéra du Sahel	Desert Blues

Sand dunes also played a central role in Michel Jaffrenou’s ambitious multi-media show Desert Blues staged at the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris. The show featured musical contributions from the all-female Tuareg group Tartit, Afel Bocoum and the Malian guitarist Habib Koite. The latter has assured an extremely busy schedule over the past twelve months, touring non-stop with his own group and Acoustic Africa, but still finding the time to record a new album, Afriki, released in September 2007. Senegalese rap star Didier Awadi has also been a busy man. Awadi spent four years working on his new album, based on speeches made by Africa’s founding fathers and influential thinkers from the African diaspora. Awadi presented Présidents d’Afrique as a music and multimedia show at Le Bataclan, in Paris, in October. But his ‘political history through hip-hop’ lessons will also be available in album form soon. So keep your eyes, your ears and your mind open in 2008!

Bertrand  Lavaine

Translation : Julie  Street