Salif Keita "Folon" [The Past] (1995)

Folon [The Past]
release date: 1995
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,78]
producer: Wally Badarou
label: Mango Records - nationality: Mali

Track highlights: 1. "Tekere" (5 / 5) - 3. "Africa" - 4. "Myanyama" - 5. "Mandela" (4 / 5) - 6. "Sumun" - 7. "Seydou" - 8. "Dakan-Fe" - 9. "Folon"

4th studio album by Salif Keita released on Mango (sub-label of Island Records) and produced by Wally Badarou (Jean-Philippe Rykiel produced tracks #5 and #9).
The album was one of the first I listened to with Keita. The track "Tekere" is absolutely great and has the same wonderful up-tempo African / Mandé style that I had discovered on various releases from the early 1980s with African traditional folk music. Keita doesn't play any instruments himself but composes and sings, and he has a brilliant and warm singing voice, which sounds like... no one else. Most often his music is referred to as world music, which I consider an extremely poor label to music produced and / or released in Africa, Asia, Scandinavia, or South America. Keita makes Mandé folk music and African popular music inspired by local traditions and western popular culture, and combining elements from jazz, reggae, blues and folk-based singer-songwriter. On top of that, he often adds a style variation of dance. Now why is there no musical style labelled 'folk dance'? Because that's really what this is... also. Despite being an album with (African, Mandé) lyrics that I absolutely do not understand any word of, I've read that the wonderful track "Tekere" is a song "about jealousy, about too much jealousy is easy turning into maliciousness". Anyhow, the music here is quite original and absolutely wonderful.
Recommended.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Angélique Kidjo "Djin Djin" (2007)

Djin Djin
release date: May 1, 2007
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,55]
producer: Tony Visconti
label: Razor & Tie - nationality: Benin

Track highlights: 1. "Ae Ae" - 2. "Djin Djin" (feat. Alicia Keys & Branford Marsalis) - 3. "Gimme Shelter" (feat. Joss Stone) - 4. "Salala" (feat. Peter Gabriel) - 5. "Senamou (C'est l'amour)" (feat. Amadou & Mariam) - 7. "Sedjedo" (feat. Ziggy Marley) - 8. "Papa" - 10. "Awan N'La"

10th studio album by Angélique Kidjo is a very fine but totally overlooked release. I think a lot of people only think of her 90s hit "Agolo" when hearing the name Kidjo. This is just better. Iconic producer Tony Visconti (Marc Bolan, David Bowie, Lou Reed) has produced - in addition several prominent gueats star on the album, including Alicia Keys, Joss Stone, Branford Marsalis, Amadou & Mariam, Carlos Santana, Josh Groban, Peter Gabriel, and Ziggy Marley. The album gave Kidjo a Grammy for "Best Contemporary World Music" album and a *"NAACP Image Award" for Outstanding World Music album.
*(National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)

Lira "Return to Love" (2011)

Return to Love
release date: Jan. 31, 2011
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,16]
producer: Robin Kohl
label: SME Africa - nationality: South Africa

Track highlights: 1. "When I Dance" - 3. "Call Me" - 4. "Love to Love" - 11. "Get Into Action"

4th studio album by South African (model and) pop artist Lira, who makes music in a more traditional contemporary jazz-inspired r&b and pop-style. Her second album Feel Good from 2006 was met as a great success in South Africa, where she was nominated in 5 categories at the Grammy Music Awards in 2007. Lira has a crisp, soulful, and velvet-like singing voice, not unlike that of Sade, and she varies the single compositions from singing in African tongue and English, which seems her preferred singing language.

Angélique Kidjo "Oyaya!" (2004)

Oyaya!
release date: 2004
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,05]
producer: Alberto Salas, Steve Berlin
label: Columbia Records - nationality: Benin

Track highlights: 1. "Seyin Djro"

9th studio album by Angélique Kidjo is a another combo of fon music - African pop and vocal jazz, just without the truly fine tracks one will find on her 2002 album.

Angélique Kidjo "Black Ivory Soul" (2002)

Black Ivory Soul
release date: Mar. 19, 2002
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,28]
producer: Bill Laswell
label: Columbia Records - nationality: Benin

Track highlights: 1. "Refavela" - 2. "Tumba" - 3. "Les enfants perdus" - 6. "Iemanja" - 7. "Afirika" - 13. "Iwoya" (feat. Dave Matthews) (live)

8th studio album by Angélique Kidjo who continues her fon music, which has become less orchestrated (except from on the title track) or perhaps less pop-minded, at least seen from a Western perspective. This has a nice warm vocal jazz feel to it, and I I generally like this more than her Ayé dance-pop, which tended to be a little over the top - production-wise.

Angélique Kidjo "Keep on Moving - The Best Of" (2001)

Keep on Moving - The Best Of (compilation)
release date: 2001
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]
producer: various
label: Wrasse Records / Columbia - nationality: Benin

Best of compilation by Angélique Kidjo.

Angélique Kidjo "Ayé" (1994)

Ayé
release date: 1994
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,18]
producer: David Z
label: Mango Records - nationality: Benin

Track highlights: 1. "Agolo" (live) - 2. "Adouma" - 4. "Tatchédogbé" - 6. "Lon Lon Vadjro" - 9. "Yemandja" - 10. "Tombo"

5th studio album by Angélique Kidjo and her major breakthrough album in Western Europe and in America. This is 'Westernized' African pop or: fon music, which in my mind, betters contemporary artists like Tina Turner, Madonna, Janet Jackson, Prince and the like. I remember this release from my then sister-in-law, who used to play it a lot, or whenever she didn't play Suzanna Vega, or: The Guide (Wommat) by Youssou N' Dour, released the same year. It's still quite enjoyable, although, it was never a really big favourite of mine.

Zap Mama "Supermoon" (2007)

Supermoon
release date: Aug. 7, 2007
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5]

Zap Mama has released albums since the debut, Zap Mama in 1991. She's obviously inspired by African music - this one is however, more contemporary neo-soul and r&b, although one may hear world and / or African style on several tracks, and a few are almost entirely much more African world, like: track #8. "Gati", and track #9. "Kwenda". Also, there's vocal jazz inspiration on some of the slower tracks. It's really not bad, it's just not unforgettable.

"Sound d'Afrique" (1981)

Sound d'Afrique (compilation)
release date: 1981
format: vinyl (MLPS 9697) / digital (1989 reissue)
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer: various
label: Mango / Island Records - nationality: various African countries

Tracklist: A) 1. Mekongo President "Me bowa ya" - 2. Eba Aka Jerome "Massoua mo" - 3. Kambou Clement "Dounougnan" - - B) 1. Pablo "Bo mbanda" - 2. Etoile de Dakar "Jalo" - 3. Menga Mokombi "Moboma"

Compilation album later aka Sound d'Afrique, Vol. 1 with six different artists and only six tracks but it's not just a Mini-Album as it has a running time of 44 minutes playing time. The six artists come from [as listed on back cover]: Cameroun, Ivory Coast, Upper Volta, Zaire, Senegal, and Congo.
This is perhaps the first African compilation album I have come across, and I think I must have found it at the library around 1982 or '83. I just fell for the energy and wonderful original songs. The first track just... makes me feel happy, I guess. The original vinyl album was re-issued on cd in '89.
Highly recommended.