Details
Track Listing
1. Agolo - (African Languages) :: Please - (African Languages)
2. Adouma - (African Languages) :: Come And Get It - (African Languages)
3. Azan Nan Kpe - (African Languages) :: A Day Will Come - (African Languages)
4. Tatchedogbe - (African Languages) :: Touch Wood - (African Languages)
5. Djan-Djan - (African Languages) :: Sound Of A Rhythm - (African Languages)
6. Lon Lon Vadjro - (African Languages) :: Come On My Love - (African Languages)
7. Houngbati - (African Languages) :: Push Them - (African Languages)
8. Idje-Idje - (African Languages)
9. Yemandja - (African Languages)
10. Tombo - (African Languages)
Album Notes
Personnel: Angelique Kidjo (vocals); David Z (guitar, programming); Paul Peterson, Glenn Nightingale, Joao Mota (guitar); Chris Davi (saxophone); John Thirkell (trumpet); Neil Sidwell (trombone); Lester Mendez (piano, Hammond organ, Wurlitzer, synthesizer, programming); Jean Hebrail (keyboards, bass, programming); Will Mowat (keyboards, programming); Julian Crampton (acoustic bass); Andy Gangadeen, David Fall (drums); Carol Steele, Luis Jardim, Jacques Largent (percussion); Ingrid Matsidisi Webster, Damel Carayol, Julie Imani Payne, Enyonam Gibesemete, Lamya Al-Mugheiry, Claudia Fontaine (background vocals).
Engineers: David Z, Brian Poer, Arabella Rodriguez, Eugenius Ellis.
Recorded at Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, Minnesota; Harry Son Studio, Paris, France; Britannia Row and Soul II Soul Studios, London, England.
In the continuum of African music, Angelique Kidjo is a decidedly non-traditional practitioner, and she wouldn't have it any other way. A synthesist of remarkable savvy, Kidjo brings together radio-friendly pop, soul-diva stylings, and contemporary club production with vocal motifs and rhythms from her native Benin. AYE is a further step in the artist's efforts to blend these disparate elements.
Recorded half at Minneapolis's Paisley Park studios (with sessions produced by Prince collaborator David Z), and half in London at Soul II Soul studios (with sessions produced by Soul II Soul's Will Mowat), AYE's reflects the eclectic yet streamlined pop aesthetics of those respective camps. The album's single, "Agolo," leads off, and establishes the bright Afropop sound that dominates the rest of the disc. The harder-edged "Adouma" and the expansive, soaring "Djan-Djan" help mix things up, making AYE an adventurous listening experience.
Industry Reviews
...a spellbinding one-world statement, a collection of songs that arrive from various intercontinental points of origin but share her singular perspective....if this music starts from a place familiar to techno-rave enthusiasts, it soon becomes a vehicle for Kidjo's virtuosic feats....Kidjo treats her voice like it's a percussion instrument....
Vibe (03/01/1994)
...when she slows down or stretches out, Kidjo makes her strongest emotional connections....
Musician (03/01/1994)
3 Stars - Good - ...a new slant on global dance that embraces kicking rhythms and bubbling vocals, raucous bass lines and some western hooks and choruses....A polished attack on the mainstream....
Q (02/01/1994)
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