Ray Lema
Kinshasa-Washington D.C.-Paris
Celluloid (France) 1983
CEL 6658 (LP)
sleeve : VG+(SRW,SPSE roughly 2cm top split, some wear on side/corners, label A:SOC)
media : EX-/EX-(slight surface noise due to light scratches, B4: 2 light clicks)
This is the 2nd album by multi-musician Ray Lema, originally from Congo, Africa, and active in France, released in 1983 on the French Celluloid label. He has a rather unusual style, fusing various elements such as jazz, R&B, and reggae into highlife, and he became a leading figure in the world music movement that flourished in the 1980s. On this album, he presents light African music incorporating synthesizer sounds into live instruments. However, what is truly wonderful are tracks B3 and B4. B3, with its humming chants and chorus layered over berimbau and piano, is reminiscent of ECM works like Codona and Bengt Berger's "Bitter Funeral Beer." B4, with its polyrhythmic percussion intertwined with freely soaring piano and horns, evokes Hermeto Pascoal. Both tracks have an excellent ethnic jazz flavor. (Chee)
B3: Sahara
B4: Black Atlantis
Kinshasa-Washington D.C.-Paris
Celluloid (France) 1983
CEL 6658 (LP)
sleeve : VG+(SRW,SPSE roughly 2cm top split, some wear on side/corners, label A:SOC)
media : EX-/EX-(slight surface noise due to light scratches, B4: 2 light clicks)
This is the 2nd album by multi-musician Ray Lema, originally from Congo, Africa, and active in France, released in 1983 on the French Celluloid label. He has a rather unusual style, fusing various elements such as jazz, R&B, and reggae into highlife, and he became a leading figure in the world music movement that flourished in the 1980s. On this album, he presents light African music incorporating synthesizer sounds into live instruments. However, what is truly wonderful are tracks B3 and B4. B3, with its humming chants and chorus layered over berimbau and piano, is reminiscent of ECM works like Codona and Bengt Berger's "Bitter Funeral Beer." B4, with its polyrhythmic percussion intertwined with freely soaring piano and horns, evokes Hermeto Pascoal. Both tracks have an excellent ethnic jazz flavor. (Chee)
B3: Sahara B4: Black Atlantis