Afro-
funk,
reggae,
samba,
salsa,
gospel,
jazz, Zairean rumba, zouk, and makossa are combined through the music of soulful, Benin-born, Paris-based vocalist
Angélique Kidjo. Since the release of her self-produced debut solo album, Pretty, in 1988,
Kidjo has been embraced by the international press.
Kidjo's albums have been strengthened by contributions from top-notch guest musicians and producers. Parakou, her first internationally distributed album, featured
jazz keyboardist Jasper van't Hof, the leader of Pili Pili, a Holland-based Afro-jazz band with whom
Kidjo had performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1987.
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Afro-
funk,
reggae,
samba,
salsa,
gospel,
jazz, Zairean rumba, zouk, and makossa are combined through the music of soulful, Benin-born, Paris-based vocalist
Angélique Kidjo. Since the release of her self-produced debut solo album, Pretty, in 1988,
Kidjo has been embraced by the international press.
Kidjo's albums have been strengthened by contributions from top-notch guest musicians and producers.
Parakou, her first internationally distributed album, featured
jazz keyboardist Jasper van't Hof, the leader of Pili Pili, a Holland-based Afro-jazz band with whom
Kidjo had performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1987. Logozo, recorded in Miami in 1991 and produced by Joe Galdo of
Miami Sound Machine, featured
Branford Marsalis on saxophone.
Marsalis later performed on
Kidjo's album
Oremi. The album features
Kidjo singing duets with
Cassandra Wilson ("Never Know") and
Kelly Price ("Open Your Eyes").
Kidjo's most ambitious album, Fifa (1996), featured more than 100 percussionists, flutists, cowbell and berimbau players, singers, and dancers from Benin and one track featuring
Carlos Santana.
Kidjo's husband, Jean Hébrail, a French bass player and composer she met in 1987, has played a major role in the recording of her albums.
The daughter of an actress, dancer, and theatrical producer,
Kidjo was born in Quidah, a coastal city in the West African country of Benin. Inheriting her mother's love of performing, she made her stage debut with her mother's theatrical troupe. Inspired by the
rock, pop, and
soul music of
Jimi Hendrix,
Santana,
Miriam Makeba,
James Brown, and
Aretha Franklin, she was singing professionally by her 20th birthday. Although she recorded an album, Pretty, produced by Cameroon-based vocalist Ekambi Brilliant that yielded a hit single, "Ninive," the oppressive political environment of Benin led her to relocate to Paris in 1980. Although modern technology and electronics played an important role in the recording of her first four albums,
Kidjo returned to her traditional roots with Fifa. Armed with eight-track tape recorders and microphones,
Kidjo and a team of engineers traveled to Benin to record traditional musicians, singers, and dancers. The album was completed during recording sessions in Paris, London, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. With her next album, 1998's
Oremi,
Kidjo returned to her futuristic approach. Incorporating elements of
hip-hop and Afro-
Celtic grooves,
Oremi featured a reconstructed interpretation of
Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)."
Kidjo's enthusiastic presence was evident on the video of her international hit "Agolo," from her album Aye (1994). Produced by Will Mowatt of
Soul II Soul and longtime
Prince collaborator David Z, the video was nominated for a Grammy Award.
Kidjo's songs have been featured on the
soundtracks of such films as My Favorite Season, Street Fighter, and Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls. As the new millennium got underway,
Kidjo signed to Columbia and prepped for her major-label debut. Exploring musical elements of her native Benin to that of northeastern Brazil,
Black Ivory Soul was released in 2002. Oyaya!, which featured a collaboration with
Dave Matthews, was issued two years later.
Kidjo then joined forces with Razor & Tie for the May 2007 release of
Djin Djin. ~ Craig Harris, All Music Guide
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