Afro-Haitian Experimental Orchestra - Afro-Haitian Experimental Orchestra (2016)

Spearheaded by the legendary Afrobeat/Fela Kuti drummer Tony Allen, the Afro-Haitian Experimental Orchestra rose out of Allen's 2014 visit to Haiti where he collaborated with some of the countries most notable singers and percussionists. Be warned, this is not a genteel, business-as-usual "fusion" project. Analog synthesisers and raw psychedelic guitars join the mix yielding an unheard and unholy mixture of Haitian voodoo rhythms, Afrobeat drumming and electronic textures. The album is inspired as much by Krautrock and Sun Ra as Lagos or Port-au-Prince. Flying on inspiration and adrenaline, this is roots music for the global future. Seven-and-a-half thousand kilometres of cold ocean separate West Africa from Haiti. But music can cover that distance in a heartbeat, crossing the Atlantic to reunite the rhythms and religion of people torn from their homes to be sold into slavery on the Caribbean island. And on its self-titled album, the Afro-Haitian Experimental Orchestra honours those ghosts of the past even as it walks steadfastly and hopefully into the future. Experimental by name, the band was definitely experimental by nature. The concept started with Corinne Micaelli, the director of the French Institute in Haiti. She wanted to bring drummer Tony Allen, the power behind Afrobeat and one of modern music's towering figures, to the island. A performance with Haitian musicians at a major public concert would be perfect. Allen agreed, and Erol Josue, a singer, dancer, voodoo priest, and director of the Haitian National Bureau of Ethnology, helped to recruit local percussionists and singers. They decided, in order for different strands of Haitian music to be represented, that the musicians would be drawn from a cross-section of the country's foremost bands, including Racine Mapou de Azor, RAM, Erol's own band, the Yizra'El Band and Lakou Mizik, the group of Sanba Zao, one of Haiti's leading percussionists and traditional singers



Tracklist:
1 01. Afro-Haitian Experimental Orchestra - Salilento (05:35)
1 02. Afro-Haitian Experimental Orchestra - Chay La Lou (04:59)
1 03. Afro-Haitian Experimental Orchestra - Yanvalou (04:57)
1 04. Afro-Haitian Experimental Orchestra - Bade Zile (04:43)
1 05. Afro-Haitian Experimental Orchestra - Poze (05:14)
1 06. Afro-Haitian Experimental Orchestra - Pa Bat Kòw (06:45)
1 07. Afro-Haitian Experimental Orchestra - Wongolo (06:10)
1 08. Afro-Haitian Experimental Orchestra - Mon ami Tezin (03:47)