 Tika Ngai Ndagukunda Tshane Composer, singer, and producer Lokua Kanza made his name in Parisian Afro-pop circles with a smooth, acoustic style that ran counter to the pummeling synthesizers and dance beats favored by most. On Toyebi Té Kanza bends the light and sweet into a compellingly stark dreamscape that's surely one of the most expressive African albums to come along in quite a while. Opening with his own multi-tracked a cappella vocals framing jazz harmonies over the barnyard sounds of an African morning, Kanza freely mixes urban and rural references, nesting sparkling vocal and instrumental lines in open-air recordings, juxtaposing contemporary R&B with African folk drumming and guitar. The intimate atmosphere, bolstered by close-miked voices, deep gourd drums, and hushed strings, belies Kanza's hands-on approach -- he plays nearly all the instruments, sings lead and harmony vocals, and arranged everything, apart from the string orchestra expertly deployed on the R&B-styled "Come Back to Me." Mixing languages, from African tongues to French and English, as well as styles Western and non-, Toyebi Té has plenty of appeal for fans of albums such as Manu Chao's Clandestino -- it's a more elaborately produced cousin, telling the stories of immigrants and their struggles from the African perspective. Kanza's lyrics are full of hope, faith, and folk wisdom, but it's the slinkiness of his grooves, juxtaposed with supremely moody atmospherics, that will deservedly attract attention. Mark Schwartz |