General African CD Reviews

 Supposedly AFRICAN PLAYGROUND is for kids, so many adults without children and sub-adults might fail to purchase it: that's too bad, as AFRICAN PLAYGROUND is one of the most enjoyable anthologies I've ever listened to.

 Because it's aimed at kids, all the songs are cheerful - no depressing themes - but only one song out of thirteen sounds as though it may have actually been written with kids in mind.

 There's a great variety in musical styles on AFRICAN PLAYGROUND, with male and female vocalists sharing the bill.

 Ten counties are represented: South Africa, the African country most famous for its vocalists, gets four examples; the other nine countries get one each.

 AFRICAN PLAYGROUND is the type of cd that you can listen to over and over again. It's also the sort of cd you want to send as a gift to all your friends and relatives - especially those with little familiarity with Africa's diverse sounds.

 No, this isn't a crazy, screaming guitar jam on blues riffs such as you'd expect at a guitar summit in the USA or the UK: instead, it's a thoughtful attempt to bring musicians throughout Africa together to listen to each other play their diverse styles, and to see if players from different countries can blend in and perhaps add something to a style very different than what they're used to.

 For the most part AFRICAN GUITAR SUMMIT works very well. The album's slightly misleading, however, as instruments other than guitars are very much involved, as well as voices - yes, glorious voices in every cut: people who speak an assortment of languages actually singing together, sometimes in a common language like English, at others in languages they were completely unfamiliar with - an amazing show of patience and respect.

 How many rock stars could have done something like this? Very few.

 I've often dreamed of having some Congolese guitarists sit in with a Nigerian Jju-ju band, or perhaps have the Hawaiian guitarist from Ebenezer Obey's ju-ju band sit in with a group playing Congolese rhumba; but AFRICAN GUITAR SUMMIT goes way beyond that, with acoustic and electric instruments playing music as diverse as the Manding styles of Guinea with Madagascar musicians mixed with electric guitars from Kenya and a balafon player from Ghana. Musicians mixed with electric guitars from Kenya and a balafon player from Ghana; musicians from Burundi/Rwanda: how was this done?

 Well, the secret is in the common ground known as Canada. All the musicians live at least  part-time in Canada, hence they all have had to adapt to at least one different culture before they met each other.

 Still, it's amazing that they can play together without their egos getting in the way.

 The styles of music change with each tune. Each song benefits from the contribution of the musicians from 'outside' the culture of the song: what a great idea, and what a great achievement.

 AFRICAN GUITAR SUMMIT was created in only three days of rehearsing, then it was a concert at the CBC Glenn Gould Studio, followed by three days of recording this cd.

 The musicians were alternatively amazed at both the differences in their music and the amount of common ground in the concepts.

 At one time the mighty Popo from Burundi/Rwanda exclaimed to Donne Robert, a Madagascan, "show me how you dance to this music."

 Other musicians include Alpha Yaya Diallo, Madagascar Slim, Adam Solomon, Papa Joe, Kofi Ackah, Naby Chamara, and Theo Yaa Boake.

 We can only hope this powerful group goes on tour!

 According to the notes on COTONOU, Julien Jacob writes about inner and outer peace, and his lyrics can be interpreted as you wish, as they're a creation of his own imagination.

 Several popular artists in Europe, the USA and Australia have been inventing their own words or lyrics to their songs the last decade or so: none have been as mellow or mysterious as Julien Jacob.

  Where is he from - somewhere in Africa? Benin, actually - but he's lived most of his life in France: he sounds a little like Geoffrey Oryema and a little like Babacar Troure with some mellower singers from Zimbabwe or the acoustic guitar/singers from West African thrown in. At other times he sounds French with some North African influences.

 The first three songs are so mellow, some listeners will tune out others in favor of the New Age influence, but Cut 4, 'Yacob', features Rachid Taha and has a Middle Eastern feel: though it hardly rocks out, it will wake you up.

  Some sounds, like the sampled voice of Rachid Taha in the background, will remind listeners of that classic Byrne/Eno collaboration MY LIFE IN THE BUSH OF GHOSTS.

 Most of the musicians on COTONOU are known more for their North African or Middle Eastern recordings: acoustic instruments dominate most tracks, but electric bass us used throughout, and occasionally electric guitar sneaks in, but it never screams: COTONOU never gets loud.