African Groove

Every now and then there's an album of music among the myriad of albums that not only pleases from the get go, but seems to get better with time. Such is the case with the Putumayo collection African Groove. I liked it when it came out in 2003 because it reminded me by turns of Fela Kuti and Angelique Kidjo, but these bands were completely unfamiliar. Now it's one of my top driving albums. The arrangements and the rhythms could power an engine, especially the last five tracks, starting with Dady Mimbo's Bouba followed by the chugging of Thievery Corporation and others with equally strange names... Some of the singing is in French or English, but most beautiful to me are the African laguages of which I know not one word. (image displayed with unending gratitude to Putumayo World Music)