Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou

Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou "The Vodoun Effect" Funk & Sato From Benin's Obscure Labels 1972-1975 ...

Following the compilation 'African Scream Contest - Raw & Psychedelic Afro Sounds from Benin & Togo 70s' - which featured several tracks by Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou, including the ground-breaking "Gbeti Madjro" - this new Analog Africa collection now focuses entirely on Orchestre Poly-Rythmo.

The producers of those labels were genuine music enthusiasts, some of them, ran these labels as a part time occupation, with very limited budgets. They couldn't afford high-quality recordings - all they had to work with was a Nagra (a Swiss made reel-to-reel recorder) and a sound engineer - courtesy of the national radio station. These sessions were recorded in private homes using just one or two microphones.

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.