I was in Brussels last weekend for the 3-day Couleur Café music festival. It was my third Couleur Café – it’s becoming a bit of a tradition.

If you’ve never been you should definitely check it out next year. I think the venue is changing in a couple years, so next year will be your last chance to check-out the festival at Tour et Taxi, a great festival grounds on the edge of Brussels. It’s apparently moving to the Atomium or thereabouts.. we’ll see how that works out. (Is there still that hilariously frightening Charlemagne Palestine exhibit of weird puppets inside the Atomium?)

The music at Couleur Café is always good, the event is well-organized, you eat well, the weather is inevitably sunny – at least every year I’ve been – and Brussels is a very fun place to spend a weekend if you know/meet the right people. A big plus is that Couleur Café, like Solidays in Paris but minus the attitude, is in a city instead of a muddy field somewhere.

The line-up this year was pretty good. You can never see everyone at these festivals, especially if you’re going to survive the million chopes in the uncharacteristically hot, sunny Belgian weather, but I did manage to catch quite a few good shows.

Today we’ll hear some music from some of this year’s highlights including Bibi Tanga, Asian Dub Foundation, Khaled, Alpha Blondy, Patrice, Cesaria Evora and the Kasai All-Stars.

I didn’t know Bibi Tanga before the festival – great show. Asian Dub Foundation put on a good, loud and sweaty set as usual. Patrice really rocked the crowd. Unfortunately for me, the Kasai All-Stars set had some of the worst sound I’ve ever heard. I was really looking forward to seeing them but the show was almost unlistenable due to bad mixing, bad mics.. oh well. Alpha Blondy was, well, an Alpha Blondy show with plenty of smoke in the air and dazed franco-reggae youth in the sun. Cesaria Evora looked like she’d seen a ghost or suffered a stroke, but her music still goes so well with the nice weather. (And no, Hocus Pocus didn’t actually play with her. That’s just a 20syl remix I like.. a nod to the Paris hiphop scene.) And we all know that Khaled is classic.

There was much, much more – some that I saw, much that I didn’t – but that’s enough for a big weekend. I’m still tired but Couleur Café is well worth the trip every year.

Big love to the whole Belgium crew – always a pleasure to see you guys.

PS Happy Canada Day!

Bibi Tanga – It’s The Earth That Moves
Asian Dub Foundation – Flyover
Alpha Blondy – Brigadier Sabary
Cesaria Evora – Petit Pays (20syl remix)
Kasai Allstars – Quick As White
Patrice – Fear Rules
Khaled – Raba Raba

It wasn’t a great BBC quiz week for me. Only 3 right. I guess that’s understandable considering I’ve been working long hours recently, preparing for something I probably won’t do anyway. (I was hoping to do a rugby series on Benn loxo like I did when I was working at the football world cup, complete with pitch-side African classics. We’ll see.)

Anyway, since my work plans for the next six weeks hang in the balance it’s appropriate that I do Benn loxo listener, Fabian, a favour and post a mystery song that he’d like to know more about.

If you know the composer, singer, language or any other detail about today’s song please leave a comment or send me an e-mail.

I’ll also include a second track by Jean Raph Loumbet sent my way by Fabian some time ago. I love the lyrics and the driving beat on this one.

Loumbet and his band, Les Zoulous, were apparently the first Ivoirians to produce Congolese soukous. The style had long been popular in the country, and mixing with a hint of post-Djedje Ivoirianess sounds great. Today’s track comes off his 1981 release, Renaissance Volume 1.

Speaking of Côte d’Ivoire, does anyone have a copy of Eba Aka Jerome’s single, Trahison?

Unknown – Patricia
Jean Raph Loumbet – Mbonge

A few years ago some friends and I had the bright idea to organize a roadtrip from Dakar to The Gambia at 3am. Anyone who’s worked the 7-places circuit around West Africa can tell you that negotiating the price of a bush taxi in the dark corners of a large gare routière is never a good idea in the middle of the night.

We ended up getting partially mugged by a large and rather talentless gang of pickpockets after our first taxi drove us deeper into the dark corners of the station instead of out onto the road. These kinds of situations are rarely dangerous in West Africa but they can certainly delay your departure.

Once we got out of that situation we found another ride outside the station. Unfortunately about 500m into our new trip we had to punch the driver and pull up his parking brake in the middle of the highway so we could escape. You see, he was driving us in a circle, back into the same group of thieves who this time seemed a little more prepared, while trying to physically restrain us from opening the door. We managed to get out and hop over the guard rail where, miraculously, another taxi was coming the other way. Unfortunately this chauffeur was very drunk and demanded a bribe to take us away from the angry, approaching gare routière crew.

A couple quick and loud negotiations later and we eventually made it to a hotel who sheltered us for about an hour while we tried to get the cops to chase away the taxi dudes (patiently waiting for us outside at this stage). However, as so often happens in these situations, the cops were less than helpful. The whole affair lasted until near morning. At the end of it we were out a couple bucks but still had (most) belongings and no injuries. Everyone was in high spirits so, of course, we flagged another taxi, piled in, and drove down to The Gambia as the sun rose.

One exploding tire at 120km/h and one large box of red wine consumed by our third and non-evil chauffeur later and we were at the border crossing, safe and sound.

The bottom line: ça dépend du chauffeur. (It depends on the driver.) So much of life in West Africa comes down to small truths like this.

Papson – Ça depend
Lenny Kravitz – Mr. Cab Driver

Today veteran Benn loxo guest poster, ubulujaja, returns with some more hard to find 1970s highlife:

“F. Kenya was born in the Ghanaian town of Asima in the Eastern Nzema District. Trained as a goldsmith, he started singing in the mid 60′s with the Ahamanos band and later joined Kaikaiku’s No. 1 band before going out his own in the late 70′s. He was one of the first popular singers to sing in his native Nzema language and the energy in his vocals and performances made him very popular in Ghana and neighboring Ivory Coast. F. Kenya moved to the Ivory Coast in the early 80′s and did a number of LP’s including the great LP’s Powerhouse Vol 1 and Vol 2. A few F. Kenya tracks have appeared in the Gun and Guitar compilations Vol 1 and 2 put out by John Booker, but nothing else has been available in the West. The song Ngaluka Ngaluka is from a 1977 Essiebon release of the same name. His nephew is the famous Cote de Voire musician Meiway.

Master Bob Akwaboah started out in the early 60′s with Kwaa Mensah’s band, then joined Dr. K. Gyasi’s band as a vocalist before forming the Akwaboah’s guitar band in 1963. A prolific musician he put out more than 50 45′s during the 60′s and a number of LP’s. I first heard his music on one his early 80′s release Hwe Mibi Nako. This LP is worth tracking down because the great Ghanaian trumpeter ET Mensah lends a hand along with Sweet Talks bassist Ralph Karikari. While not as well known in the West as bands like the African Brothers and Sweet Talks he was a integral part of the Ghanaian music scene for three decades and his music is a prime example of the down tempo guitar band sound of Ghanaian music in the 70′s and 80′s and deserves wider recognition. The track Mihune A Anka Manba is from the B-side of an Executive release titled Wayge Wodee Anaa. The record does not list a release date, but I would guess sometime in the late 70′s.”

Thanks again for the music, ubulujaja.

F. Kenya – Ngakula ngakula
Master Bob Akwaboah and his Supreme Internationals – Wayge Wodee Anna (Maye Dada)

Les Elephants de Ivory Coast surprised me by making it to the World Cup. Senegal has traditionally been strong and having lived there for a while they’ll always have a place in my heart. (Remind me to tell you about the time my friend rejected El Hadji Diouf’s advances at a bar.) The lions of Cameroon and Nigeria are also good teams.. but Ivory Coast? Maybe my African football knowledge is just out of date.

Anyway, Ivory Coast’s WC2006 appearance is a great excuse for some Ivoirian Coupé Décalé on Benn loxo.

I admit to not being the biggest fan of contemporary Ivoirian pop music. Generally speaking the songs are repetitive and all sound the same. Ivoirian pop in particular also tends to be quite heavy on the Casio. That said, put enough lager in me and I love to dance to the stuff. Or rather I love being amidst the beautiful West African coupé décalé dancefloor ladies..

You can get today’s track and more Ivoirian dancefloor madness on the fun Ivoir Compil compilations.

Question: do players from both the north and south of the Ivory Coast play on the team? Do they ever play friendlies in Bouaké or is Team Ivory Coast really just Team Abidjan?

Côte D’Ivoire en force!

ps- yes, that’s a picture of Canada versus Côte D’Ivoire

Alexandre – Faroter gourou

I was in the West Bank last week and the strangest thing happened. After a somewhat tense day in Nablus I found myself with a few friends in a “trendy” bar in Ramallah, drinking some Chianti amidst French expats from Lyon and Palestinian night-life folks. My friend, Jake, bet me 5 shekels that the DJ was playing Tiken Jah Fakoly. I called him on it and was totally shutdown – it was. Who knew that Ivoirian reggae was big in West Bank night spots.

So hey, for whatever reason I’ve yet to post a Tiken Jah song on Benn loxo.

I saw Tiken Jah last year in Bruxelles at the Couleur Café festival. He put on a great show. Wonderful memories of dancing beside my friend from Dakar, Xavier, in the hot, Belgian beer-infused summer heat that I so miss while sitting in my cold Paris apartment. I saw Tiken Jah once in Dakar a few years ago, too, but I forget where and when. He always puts on a good performance.

By the way, did anyone catch that supposedly great Kora Jazz Trio concert at the New Morning this past Saturday in Paris? I’m bummed I missed it, but I guess I’ve no right to complain.

In any case, here’s some Tiken Jah Fakoly for your ears tonight. It’s from his 1999 release, Cours d’histoire.

Tiken Jah Fakoly – Ohba Ohba

I’ve been meaning to post this song for a while, at least ever since Benn loxo listener, Ian, started trying to get me to post more Ivoirian music on this site.

Today we have a meeting of old and new. Some previously posted Ernesto Djedje and some Petit Denis, both from Ivory Coast. The Petit Denis song is about an Ernesto Djedje imitator who’s got the looks, got the voice, but just doesn’t have the talent. If you can understand French have a listen to the lyrics.. they’re pretty funny.

Petit Denis is an Ivoirian new-style zouglou musician popular with with the club-types in Abidjan and other parts of West Africa. I remember hearing his music being played in a couple bars in Abidjan back a few years ago. Today’s track comes off his 2001 release, Securité, which you can buy here.

ps- note the new Flash MP3 preview links I have to the left of every track. Just click on the play icon and the song will be automatically streamed your way. Not sure if I’m going to keep this feature on the site. What do you think? Useful?

Petit Denis – Ziglibity
Ernesto Djedje – Ziglibithiens

Yeah, it’s been just over a year since I started this audioblog deal. 160 posts and over 34,000 words, not to mention all the great feedback. I think things have gone pretty well. We average about 1000 unique viewers a day and easily plough through 100gb of transfer per month. I’ve learned a lot, met loads of interesting people, and grown my African music collection exponentially. Thanks to all of you who have read, listened, donated and spread the word. I look forward to another good year.

I’ve been away and/or too busy to write for the last couple weeks, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been collecting some great tracks to post on the site. I wanted to come back with a b-bang, so today we’re going to hear some rocking late 70s Chadian music to get us back on track. It follows nicely after the Ernesto Djedje stuff we listened to recently. ..and I’ve lined up about 10-20 posts for the next couple weeks, so stay tuned.

Though today’s track was recorded in Abidjan, its singer, Maître Gazonga, is actually from Chad. His style incorporates Nigerian/Cameroonian/Chadian quick drum rhythms into that oh-so-sweet late 70s / early 80s Ivoirian pop sound.

Like the song, Abidjan must have been a pretty incredible place to be around 1980. The place was just starting to really boom with the first oil and gas discoveries, plus a maturing cocoa sector. The city was growing almost too quickly, and people from all over the continent were heading that way. Pop-styles were being fused en masse with traditional sounds brought to the city by the thousands of migrants seeking work or fun.

Today’s track comes courtesy of Zim – thanks a lot. Great stuff. You can get it on the 2005 re-release compilation, Golden Afrique Volume 1 on the Network Medien label..

Maître Gazonga – Les Jaloux Saboteurs

In another concerted effort to get more Ivoirian music onto the site, here’s Benn loxo listener, Ian, with a guest post:

“After Cote d’Ivoire gained independence in 1960, Abidjan became the center of the francophone African music industry. Huge stars from all over the continent recorded there. Like many other French-speaking African countries, CI was mostly dominated by Afro-Cuban salsa, Ghanaian highlife and Congolese soukous; for the most part, local styles were overshadowed by the slick, studio-produced music of big-name artists.

Ernesto Djedje, from the Bete ethnic group of southwest CI, was originally a school teacher. He played guitar in his spare time, mostly copying American soul and Congolese rumba. Seeing the lack of a “native” Ivoirian pop style to rival those of neighboring countries such as Guinea and Ghana, he was inspired to modernize a traditional Bete rhythm called “ziglibithy.” He combined a traditional rhythm section with a modern arrangement of guitars, bass and horns to develop the unique sound that is considered to be CI’s first original pop style. It was a huge hit that dominated the airwaves and discos for much of the late ’70s.

Unfortunately, Djedje’s success was short-lived. He released only two records, then died in 1983 of a mysterious stomach ailment blamed, inevitably, on sorcery. Some lesser-known Bete artists continued to play ziglibithy with some success, but the style was overshadowed in the ’80s by zouglou and, especially, the reggae of megastar Alpha Blondy.”

Thanks for the great music, Ian. I really enjoyed this pick. You can buy these tunes on the 2001 release, Le roi du ziglibithy available at Stern’s.

Ernesto Djedje – Assouna
Ernesto Djedje – Zibote

While biking home today some Ivoirian music popped into my head. So many of you have been asking for it, so…

This track is a big shout-out to my good friend in Dakar, Ed. Ed is many things: a sweaty salsa breakdancer, Dakar party scene prime motivator, confidante, and the reason why I am where I am today. Thanks again, Ed.

If you’ve never been to Chez Diamy in Dakar, you’re missing out. It’s the place where Meiway was our soundtrack and chicken dibi and West African beer were our staples. Several “generations” of Dakar folks spent at least a night or two here, from Thomas the raging Norwegian to Elo the shady Guinean (and soon to be proud father? Say what, Elo?)

While upon hearing a Meiway song some may say, “what’s with the synth accordian, guy?” We say, “encore des Gazelles, waye!”

From Abidjan direct to your living room, here’s some music from the kings of the zoblazo sound.

Meiway – Miss Lolo (link now fixed)