Dobet Gnahoré - Djekpa La You (2010)

Review

Dobet Gnahoré is a singer, songwriter, dancer and percussionist who could surely become a new celebrity. She's from the Ivory Coast, the west African state best known for reggae and hip-hop, but has developed a pan-African approach in which local influences are mixed with styles, and languages, from across the continent, and give a western edge thanks to her French guitarist and co-writer Colin Laroche de Feline. Gnahoré has a cool, easy-going vocal style that at times makes her sound classically trained. She switches freely from drifting acoustic ballads to more upbeat pieces such as her tribute to Côte d'Ivoire, in which she is backed by the Gangbé Brass Band from Benin. There's a bit of everything here, from West African highlife to South African vocal harmonies, and Gnahoré's joined by singers such as the South African star Vusi Mahlasela, and her own father, a well-known Abidjan musician. It's an impressively varied, classy set, if a bit lacking in excitement. But Gnahoré is said to be dynamic on stage, where she shows off her dance and percussion skills, so we can judge when she appears at Womad in the summer. --Guardian

This ambitious set from Ivorian singer and dancer Dobet Gnahoré looks outward from her corner of west Africa to the whole continent. Her collaborator, Colin Laroche de Feline, sets the instantly-memorable songs amid guitar parts that conjure up South Africa on Kokpa , with Vusi Mahlasela s silvery voice shimmering behnd Gnahoré s, or Senegal with the djembe ricochet of Nfeloun , or frame the double-speed sabar erupting out of the jazzy piano of Beussem . Benin s Gangbé Brass Band punch through the snare drum tattoo on Cote D Ivoire . FIVE STARS --Financial Times

Tracklist:
1-1 Dobet Gnahoré - Boudou [3:56]
1-2 Dobet Gnahoré - Nfletoun (feat. Fatoumata Diawara) [4:37]
1-3 Dobet Gnahoré - Samahani [3:26]
1-4 Dobet Gnahoré - Kokpa(feat. Vusi Mahalasela) [3:56]
1-5 Dobet Gnahoré - Cote D'Ivoire [3:25]
1-6 Dobet Gnahoré - Beussem [3:28]
1-7 Dobet Gnahoré - Mouziguie [3:02]
1-8 Dobet Gnahoré - Wigue [0:47]
1-9 Dobet Gnahoré - Evigne [4:12]
1-10 Dobet Gnahoré - Deka [3:35]
1-11 Dobet Gnahoré - Salde [2:28]
1-12 Dobet Gnahoré - Nko [3:54]
1-13 Dobet Gnahoré - Chilouva [2:21]