Afrocubism

Description

In 1996, Nick Gold, the head of World Circuit, put together a "supergroup" of Cuban and Malian musicians to record in Havana. But due to a lost passport issue, the Africans never made it, and the Cubans recorded the album Buena Vista Social Club alone, which fate led to worldwide success. But what about the original project? What would that interaction have been between the virtuosos of one of Africa's most musically rich countries and their Cuban counterparts, where music draws its origins from Africa and, in turn, greatly influenced the source continent? Today, Nick Gold has finally managed to reunite the originally planned guests, along with a lineup of Cuban and African stars, for a series of inspired sessions, and the great "lost" Afro-Cuban album finally sees the light of day, fourteen years after its conception. Leading the Cuban team is Eliades Ochoa, the singer-guitarist in the cowboy hat who sings Chan Chan as part of the Buena Vista Social Club. The two Malians, considered among the world's best instrumentalists, are Bassekou Kouyaté, the multi-award-winning master of the n'goni lute, and Djelimady Tounkara, the extraordinary guitarist of the Rail Band. With them are Eliades' Grupo Patria, one of Cuba's oldest and most beloved ensembles, Toumani Diabaté, the elusive genius of the kora, Kasse Mady Diabaté, the legendary Malian griot singer, and Lassana Diabaté, an innovator of the balafon. It was as if the musicians had held back their ideas and energy all that time, says Nick Gold, who produced the album with Jerry Boys, the sound engineer of Buena Vista Social Club. After waiting so long, everything came together remarkably easily and spontaneously. The group had never played together before, but the music burst forth and kept flowing. In five days, seventeen tracks were recorded, all the musicians playing together live in the same room. A second session was organized a few months later, yielding nine more pieces. The album's title is very telling: the music resembles a modernist canvas from which Cuban and African elements burst forth, bouncing and intertwining joyfully to form an enchanting fresco. Admittedly, it all took time, but there is no doubt that AfroCubism was well worth the wait.