About seven years ago, Congolese guitarist
Papa Noel visited Cuba for the first time. It was a deeply emotional experience for him, because Cuban music had been hugely popular in the Congo of his youth and it was the music that his mother played for him at home as a child. That experience led to
Noel becoming one of the major players in a Congolese rhumba revival in his home country, and led also to the Cuba-Congo musical summit meeting documented on this joyful, gorgeous album,
Cafe Noir, The music is unbelievably danceable with ever being aggressively funky, or really, aggressively anything. The rhythms pile up in layers until they achieve an irresistible combination of complexity and earthiness. The horn arrangements are sometimes astoundingly pretty (notice them in particular on "Africa Mokili Mobimba") as are the vocal harmonies (notice them in particular on "Democratic") and there are moments when the groove seems completely unbound by gravity, as on the charmingly light "Soleil." Almost every track on this album is a complete joy -- only the harmonically static "Sandokan" and the slightly too self-referential "Soukous Son" fail to really take flight. Very highly recommended overall. ~ Rick Anderson