Rating: * * * * *
Verdict: Rare Caribbean sounds get a new life. Essential.
If the joyous and spirited sounds on this album are anything to go by, the 60s and early 70s would have been a golden age to be partying on the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique.
Released on Soundway - a label dedicated to uncovering forgotten music from around the world, and which put out the excellent Nigeria Special series - Tumbele! ... focuses on the years when the likes of traditional Congolese, Puerto Rican, Cuban and Haitian music combined with the local biguine sound to create tumbele, which is unique to Guadeloupe and Martinique.
It's the biguine tracks, a mostly clarinet and trombone driven style of music with a political slant, that dominate and stand out here.
The dulcet rumble of opener Jeunesse Vauclin, by Barel Coppet, a renowned Martinique clarinetist who played with greats Duke Ellington and Count Basie in France during the 50s, and guitarist Mister Lof, sets a rousing tone for what's to come.
La Vie Critique is a frenzied orchestral biguine; there's the beautiful trance-inducing calypso of Colas-La which, at just two minutes, is a devilish tease; and the clanging and celebratory Latin spirit comes through on L'Ensemble Abricot's cool Chonga.
However, the true highlight is the tumbele D'Leau Coco by seven-piece Martinique band Les Leopards, a song with incessant yet adorable tin-pot percussion and a flurry of keyboard grooves, which will have you sashaying and conga-ing around the backyard all summer long.
From the packaging, to the enlightening sleeve notes, to the jubilant and inspired music within, this is a must-have experience.
