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Afro-Haitian Experimental Orchestra by Afro-Haitian Experimental Orchestra

Afro-Haitian Experimental Orchestra

Afro-Haitian Experimental Orchestra

Release Date: Jul 22, 2016

Genre(s): International

Record label: Glitterbeat

67

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Album Review: Afro-Haitian Experimental Orchestra by Afro-Haitian Experimental Orchestra

Very Good, Based on 3 Critics

PopMatters - 80
Based on rating 8/10

Only one absolute exists in music: there is no beat so good that Tony Allen can’t make it better. Pushing 80 and in no way slowing down, the last few years have seen the original master drummer and Afrobeat founder release another of his own solo albums while popping up on albums with artists located everywhere from London to Rio. Now, he’s crossed the Atlantic once again, playing with musicians from all over Haiti, including members of top local groups like Lakou Mizik and the Yizra’El Band.

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The Guardian - 60
Based on rating 3/5

This energetic, sometimes chaotic fusion set results from a visit that Africa’s finest percussionist – the Afrobeat hero Tony Allen – made to Haiti to perform in the main square of Port Au Prince alongside Haitian and western musicians. It wasn’t an easy gig – the band had just five days to rehearse, and the concert was not recorded as planned. These recordings were made at rehearsals, with overdubs added later, and are dominated by chanting Haitian vocals and massed percussion, driven on by Allen’s subtle, always understated playing.

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The Observer (UK) - 60
Based on rating 3/5

The eponymous title accurately reflects this 2014 superjam, staged in Port-au-Prince with Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen mixing it with the elite of local groups in what proves an almost seamless fusion. Allen and his core group lay down Afrobeat’s familiar loping grooves, and Haitian musicians weigh in with call-and-response chants and invocations from the vodou tradition. Less expected is the strain of futurism, with France’s Olaf Hund adding sinuous synth lines and Glasgow-born guitarist Mark Mulholland alternating between chattering James Brown riffs and storming psych solos.

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