Release Date: Friday 23 February 2018
In true Putumayo fashion, you will be taken on a musical journey through different regions of Africa, guided by a selection of relaxing and uplifting acoustic songs that will inspire and raise your spirits.
The album starts out with sounds of Senegal in Yoro Ndiaye's poignant "Namm Naa Leen," in which a subtle mbalax influence flows under the heartfelt lyrics of remembering loved ones. The album then transitions to a slower tempo with a warm guitar introduction to Toto Bona Lokua's "M'aa Kiana." Cameroon's Richard Bona, Congo's Lokua Kanza, and France's Gerard Toto have been dubbed Africa's Crosby, Stills & Nash, and this track proves why. Listeners are quickly swept in to a gentle rhythm as the group delivers a moving ballad.
African Café turns up the energy with tracks by longtime cultural icon Oliver "Tuku" Mtukudzi from Zimbabwe; becomes intimate with Senegal's sibling group (including the country's only professional female bassist) Takeifa; and ends by taking listeners on a trip back in time to the 70s with Congolese legend Franco et le T.P.O.K. Jazz.
A Kahawa coffee recipe is also included - a nod to Africa being the home of the origin of coffee and one of the world's largest tea producers.
Tracks:
1.Yoro Ndiaye - Namm Naa Leen (Senegal)
2.Toto Bona Lokua - M'aa Kiana (Cameroon/Congo/Martinique)
3.Oliver Mtukudzi - Mukana (Zimbabwe)
4.Jaja Bashengezi - Ndule (Congo)
5.Takeifa - Yeke Yeke (Senegal)
6.Les Frères Guissé - Jikko (Senegal)
7.Winyo - Odongo (Kenya)
8.Rokia Traoré - Laidu (Mali)
9.Ray Lema with Ballou Canta, Fredy Massamba, and Rodrigo Viana - Leila (Congo/Brazil)
10.Franco et le T.P.O.K. Jazz - Likambo Ya Ngana (DR Congo)
