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Even though the music business continues to suffer economically, record labels are still releasing lots of old music that’s been re-mastered and tweaked so it sounds fresher than ever.
Columbia is about to re-issue everything Miles Davis recorded for them. 70 CDs in total. But I want to talk about the music of an old band that few people in the west have ever heard of: “Orchestre Poly Rhythmo de Cotonou.”
Cotonou is the capital of the West African nation of Benin. In the 70s, Orchestre Polyrythmo was a household name in Benin. The group recorded dozens of songs and toured all over Africa. But they hadn’t recorded anything in decades.
Then in 2003, a German-Tunisian producer named Samy Ben-Redjeb heard some of the band’s tunes. He fell in love with this song: “Malin Kpon O.”
And he wanted to hear more of the band’s music. Ben Rejeb re-mastered a selection of their songs. This version of “Malin Kpon O ” is from his re-mastered CD. Today there are only 4 surviving members of the original band Orchestre Polyrythmo.
But they added new members and they’ve kept on playing. That’s how Radio France reporter Elodie Maillot heard them live in Cotonou. She liked their sound so much, she decided to help them tour Europe for the first time. But she knew it wouldn’t be easy.
Crazy or not, she went ahead with the plan. She even managed to get the band some badly needed horns, and guitars. This fall, the band did in fact tour Europe, their first foray outside of Africa.
The original members are all in their sixties now, but singer Vincent Ahehehinnou, says that hasn’t slowed them down.
“Just because we’re over sixty doesn’t mean we’re going to stand still on stage,” he says. “We will be grooving for the audience until we draw our last breath. You can count on us.”
I am loving the band. I’ll pick up their music real soon. Thanks (^_<)
Thank you so much for reporting on this amazing band!!! I was feeling frustrated with not being able to think of the right gift for my 3 year anniversary-it seems like my boyfriend has everything when it comes to music. And he’s a drummer, so he’s really picky! But as soon as I turned on the radio, I heard this excerpt and I knew it was the perfect gift! Absolutely unique!
I ended up ordering a cd for my dad’s birthday too.
The World is always a great resource for cultural findings. Thanks so much!
and I like the website too — there’s a “World” radio program from PRI as well…