#Orchestre Polyrythmo de Cotonou

[sonicandvisualsurprises]

70's

Biography excerpt from Last.fm :

Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou is arguably West Africa’s best-kept secret. Their output, both in quantity and quality, was astonishing. During several trips to Benin, Samy Ben Redjeb managed to collect roughly 500 songs which Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou had recorded between 1970 and 1983.

The cultural and spiritual riches of traditional Beninese music had an immense impact on the sound of Benin’s modern music. Benin is the birthplace of Vodun (also Vodoun, or, as it is known in the West, Voodoo), a religion which involves the worship of some 250 sacred divinities. The rituals used to pay tributes to those divinities are always backed by music. The majority of the complex poly-rhythms of the vodun are still more or less secret and difficult to decipher, even for an accomplished musician. Anthropologists and ethnomusicologists agree that this religion constitutes the principal “cultural bridge” between Africa and all its Diasporas of the New World and in a reflection of the power and influence of these sounds many of the complex rhythms were to have a profound impact on the other side of the Atlantic on rhythms as popular as Blues, Jazz, Cuban and Brazilian music.

[abelkia]

La playlist de l'émission de ce jeudi matin sur Radio Campus Bruxelles entre 6h30 et 9h : Alice Coltrane "Andromeda's Suffering" (Lord of Lords/IMPULSE/1972) Barney Wilen "Tindi Abalessa" (Moshi/Saravah-Souffle continu records/1972-2017) Van Dyke Parks & The Esso Trinidad Steel Band "Aquarium" (7"/Bananastan Records/1972-2011) Tom Waits "Table Top Joe" (Alice/Anti Records/2002) RIchard Dawson "Museum" (The Ruby Cord/Weird World/2022) Greg Weeks "The One True Song" (Awake Like Sleep/Alice In Wonder/2002) Luster "Out of Time" (Luster/Morctapes/2022) John Cunningham "While They Talk of Life" (Fell/Microcultures/2016) Françoiz Breut "Contourne-moi" (Une Saison Volée/Caramel Beurre Salé/2005) Saint Etienne "Don't Back Down" (Sound of Water/Sub Pop Records/2000) LEM "La bombe sonore" (Vanitas/Slouch Hat/2022) Mirwais "V.I. (The Last Words She Said Before Leaving)" (Production/Naïve/2000) Beck "Round the Bend" (Sea Change/Geffen Records/2002) The Cure "From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea" (Wish/Fiction/1992-2022) Michel Cloup "Lacher prise" (Backflip au-dessus du chaos/Ici d'ailleurs/2022) The Pastels "Wake Up" (Wake Up EP/Surf City Recordings/1985) Palace "Gezundheit" (7"/Hausmusik/1995) The Living End "Brigitta" (Ghost Riders/EFFICIENT SPACE/2022) Blossom Dearie "Comment allez-vous ?" (Blossom Dearie/Public Domain Recordings/1957-2022) Claude Nougaro & Jean-Claude Vannier "Grain de folie" (Soeur Âme/Philips/1971) Pierre Tchana & T.P. Orchestre Polyrythmo de Cotonou "Il n'est jamais trop tard" (Africa Boogaloo: The Latinization Of West Africa/Honest Jon's Records/1976-2009) L'International Challal d'Hamed Gazonga "Les jaloux saboteurs" (Golden Afrique/Network Medien/1983-2017) https://www.instagram.com/p/CmMJ2zZN4GC/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[liulka]

Trylikta, kairiarankių diena

Garsas> Šiandien prisiminiau, kad gi turiu bent kelis Benino afro-byto grupės Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou albumus. O kaip jie smagiai ir judančiai šėlsta. Tiesiog negali atsilaikyti nepajudindamas nors kurios kūno dalies. O šiandien rodau vieną iš tų kelių superinių gabaliukų La La La La iš pirmojo albumo "The 1st Album"(1973). Niekad nejutau tokios psichodelinės "bugio" energijos, kokią sukelia šios mistinės grupės muzika.

Vaizdas> Ką reiškia būti graiku? Tuo kasdienę graikišką realybę matančiu asmeniu...kažkuo niekuo neypatinga graikiška kasdienybė dar prieš prasidėjusias 2008-ųjų riaušes tikrai buvo kasdieniškai sunki ir panaši į mūsiškę. Įkvėptas riaušių pradžios, filmas "Wasted Youth"(2011), pasakoja graikiškos "revoliucijos" herojų paskutinę taikos dieną. O ji lygiai tokia pati kaip ir diena prieš tai, prieš savaitę, mėnesį ar dar anksčiau. Diena, kai žmonės būna savo gyvenimuose, nepatirdami per daug įvykių ar pakitimų. Tiesiog diena, kai graikai būna graikais. Ta būtis(kaip anti-įvykis), prieštaraujanti vakarų kino suformuotai įvykių prezentacijai, čia ir yra pagrindinis atmosferinis rodiklis. Filme dvi paraleliai pasakojamos istorijos atskleidžia dviejų pasaulių - penkiolikmečių riedlentininkų ir naktinių pamainų policininkų - rūpesčius ir kasdienybę. Pasakojimo naratyvas, kaip ir patys personažai, nėra per daug gilūs ir įdomūs, bet jų kasdienė atmosfera puikiai perteikta per vizualinį ir garsinį dramatizavimą. Ta nepastebima pilka kasdienybė čia pateikiama žiūrovui ant kocentruotos, sulėtintos, puikiu garso takeliu paskanintos juostos. "Wasted Youth" nėra žiūrovui, kuriam kinas yra durys pabėgt iš savos realybės. Tai nėra vienas iš modernaus graikiško kino "Keistosios Bangos" filmų, po kurių bent trumpam lieki socialiai deformuotas. Ir nėra jis labai kaustantis dėmesį. Tai tiesiog gražiai pateikta graikiška būtis, kurios kasdieniai žmonės netikėtai ir per klaidą tampa pasaulio dėmesio centru.

[therakyatpost]

New Post has been published on The Rakyat Post

New Post has been published on http://www.therakyatpost.com/lifestyle/2014/03/30/west-african-funk-band-mounts-stunning-comeback/

West African funk band mounts stunning comeback

THEY were huge in the early 1970s, playing alongside some of the greatest names in African music, then faded into obscurity after a communist revolution destroyed nightlife in their homeland.

Many in the tiny west African country of Benin even thought most of the members had died but the Orchestre Polyrythmo de Cotonou is enjoying a remarkable comeback.

The band’s renaissance has been compared to the Buena Vista Social Club, the veteran Cuban musicians rediscovered in the 1990s who were the subject of a hit documentary film and successful album.

Since their revival — helped by a young French journalist — the Orchestre Polyrythmo de Cotonou has performed in Barcelona, Paris, New York and at the prestigious Barbican in London.

The New York Times has even said they were “on the very short list of the world’s greatest funk bands”.

“We been all over the world,” lead singer Vincent Aehehinnou said. “The only place for us to discover is Asia.”

‘Marxism and Khadafi’

The orchestra was formed in 1968 and played in clubs across West Africa, lining up alongside the likes of South Africa’s Myriam Makeba and the legendary father of Afrobeat, Fela Kuti of Nigeria.

They also recorded at a frantic pace, churning out an astonishing 400 albums in 10 years, but political turmoil cut short their success.

In 1972, military general Mathieu Kerekou seized power in Benin, one of many coups in west Africa after the dismantling of colonialism in the early 1960s.

From 1974, Kerekou rolled out rigid Marxist policies that gradually led to the closure of nightclubs and music halls across the former French colony, which had been famous for its vibrant nightlife.

Dictatorships elsewhere in Africa also contributed to the band’s demise, notably that of Moamer Khadafi in Libya.

While touring Libya in 1982, the authorities accused band members of possessing narcotics and destroyed their instruments one-by-one, apparently in a search for drugs.

They returned to Cotonou devastated and fell further into obscurity.

‘A chance discovery’

French journalist Elodie Maillot was preparing for a trip to Benin in 2007 when she came across some old vinyls from the band in the record library at Radio France Internationale in Paris.

Once in Cotonou, she began investigating.

“I made a quick tour of the clubs that remained…and when I asked questions about Polyrythmo people answered, ‘We haven’t seen them in years. They are probably dead’,” she recalled.

Maillot then travelled to the town of Abomey, where various local bands were performing to celebrate the anniversary of Benin’s independence.

“There, at nearly 2:00 am, they went on stage and started playing ‘Angelina’, a song that I’m a fan of,” she said.

Despite the poor sound quality and clear lack of rehearsal, Polyrythmo still had the funk — and the crowd went wild.

She interviewed the band members and returned to Paris to broadcast a story about them. Before leaving Benin, she promised to try to help them achieve their dream of playing in France.

‘Funk, blues and voodoo’

No promoter was prepared to take on the financial risk and logistical hassles of bringing 11 west African musicians to Europe for a concert.

None of them had passports and they had hardly performed together for more than three decades.

So, Maillot did it all herself, securing a gig at France’s Villette Jazz Festival and returning to Benin to help get the band to France.

Arriving in Paris for the first time in 2009 “was unbelievable”, said Aehehinnou. “It was a dream come true.”

In 2011, Polyrhythmo released an album called “Cotonou Club”, which included prominent guest performances from two members of Scottish rockers Franz Ferdinand and Angelique Kidjo of Benin.

Lately, they have been rehearsing two to three times per week, typically gathering at a private home in Cotonou to refine their sound.

Drifting out from under a tin roof is funk blended with soul, blues, latin notes and the occasional voodoo chant — a nod to a form of worship which is still powerful in their home country.

‘Fisherman, salesman…musician’

Aehehinnou said the group was currently waiting to confirm the dates for their next international tour.

He was animated talking about the band’s early success, including the release of their 1968 hit “Gbeti Madjro” as well as a performance at the Africa shrine, Fela Kuti’s famed music hall in Nigeria’s largest city, Lagos.

Band members may miss the days when they first found success, playing in bustling clubs each weekend in Cotonou and recording an album or two each week.

But music isn’t the only thing they do. When they’re not rehearsing or performing, band members can still be found working as fishermen or selling satellite dishes.

Previously in the 1960s and 70s, Polyrythmo could only dream of one day performing anywhere outside of Africa. Now they can travel the world.

[newsdock]

They were huge in the early 1970s, playing alongside some of the greatest names in African music, then faded into obscurity after a communist revolution destroyed nightlife in their homeland. Many in the tiny west African country of Benin even thought most of the members had died but the Orchestre Polyrythmo de Cotonou is enjoying a remarkable comeback. The band's renaissance has been compared to the Buena Vista Social Club, the veteran Cuban musicians rediscovered in the 1990s who were the subject of a hit documentary film and successful album. Since their revival -- helped by a young French journalist -- the Orchestre Polyrythmo de Cotonou has performed in Barcelona, Paris, New York and at the prestigious Barbican in London. Source: AFP

[aye130]

O R C H E S T R E P O L Y R Y T H M O D E C O T O N O U

rip mélomé clément!

[liulka]

Vasaros antra

Garsas> Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou - Minkou E So Non Moin, iš naujai perleisto septinto dešimtmečio albumo "Echos Hypnotiques"(2009). Šis Benine susiformavęs afrobeat'o ansamblis savo laiku bent dešimtmečiu išsiveržė iš tuometinės aplinkinių šalių muzikos. Naujoviška "krūta" melodija akomponuojama dar "krūtesniu" balsu. Kol kas vienintelis ir geriausias žinomas Benino band'as.

Vaizdas> Kultiniai kontraversiškų teisinių siužetų rašytojai Abby ir Myra Mann'ai išgarsėję parašę klasikinį filmą "Judgment at Nuremberg"(1961), vėliau parašė dar ne vieną kontraversiškų bylų ekranizaciją. Tarp jų ir televizijai kurtą "Indictment: The McMartin Trial"(1995). Šį filmą režisavo į televiziją koncentravęsis Mick Jackson, kurio, neabejoju, matėt ne vieną filmą. Tai tikros istorijos apie McMartin'o bylą dramatizacija. Ši, turbūt brangiausia Kalifornijos valstijoj įvykusi viešo intereso byla bendrai sprendžia "nekaltų" žmonių kaltinimą vaikų žaginimu. Svarbiausia ir įdomiausia šios istorijos dalis yra medijos intervencija ir jos formuojama viešoji nuomonė, dėl kurios iššauktos masinės isterijos keli iš kaltinamųjų turėjo praleisti šešis metus kalėjime. Kad ir kaip filmas taikliai ir savi-kritiškai duria pirštu į medijos subjektyvumą, tokia kontraversiška istorija čia pateikta labai subjektyviai ir vienapusiškai. Aišku iš beveik dvidešimties metų senumo televizinio filmo ir nesitikiu teisinių gilių analizių, bet kūrėjai galėjo pasistengti bent kurdami opozicijos (prokurorų) pusės personažus, kurie atrodo pasiklydę ir visus įkalčius išgalvojatys. Jei bendrai taip atrodo kad paviršutiniškai nupiešti personažai čia pešasi pagal jausmais ir emocijom grįstus įkalčius. Tikrai neskamba kaip kontraversiškiausia ir vis dar iki galo neištirta Kalifornijos byla. Nors ir tikrai su malonumu sužiūrėjau, negaliu nepaminėt, kad tai buvo akivaizdi pigi televizinė devyniasdešimtųjų kokybė visomis prasmėmis.