angelique kidjo - International Music Network

ANGELIQUE
KIDJO
“Her spirit is irrepressible, and she brings life
to everything she touches.” – Peter Gabriel
With DJIN DJIN, her latest release on Razor & Tie/Starbucks Entertainment, Angelique Kidjo comes home. The
four-time Grammy-nominated, much-celebrated singer, composer, and performer began in the Beninese port village of
Cotonou, where she launched her career at the age of six.
The political turmoil in her country led her to relocate to
Paris, the capital of world music, and then ultimately to New
York City, where she now resides. Her striking voice, stage
presence and her fluency in multiple cultures and languages
won respect from her peers and expanded her following
across national borders. It also earned her access to humanitarians who sensed the passion in the words of her songs, resulting in her long-term dedication to global charity work.
Kidjo has traveled far and mesmerized audiences on countless
stages, speaking out on behalf of the children in her capacity
as a UNICEF and OXFAM goodwill ambassador. She also
just created her own charitable organization, Batonga, dedicated to support the education of young girls in Africa.
With DJIN DJIN and the return to her musical roots, Kidjo
has truly closed the circle in her life as she brings international
artists to the musical world of her native country. As a child,
Kidjo was mesmerized by an iconic album cover of Jimi Hendrix, which led her to follow the African roots of music from the
United States, Brazil and the Carribean. The results were the
Grammy-nominated trilogy of albums, OREMI, BLACK
IVORY SOUL and OYAYA. With DJIN DJIN (pronounced “gin gin”), Angelique Kidjo returns to the soul of Benin
– and, for the first time, shares it with a cast of all-star guests, in
a marriage of cultures that has significance far beyond music
alone. The contributions of stellar guest artists illuminate
Kidjo’s concept. By finding a place for their distinctive talents
within the marriage of African and Western influences, DJIN
DJIN celebrates the beauty of diversity as well as the unity of
cultures that Kidjo achieves through her music.
DJIN DJIN has yielded Kidjo a heap of critical praise, including coverage in Vanity Fair, The Los Angeles Times,
Time, People, USA Today, Le Monde, Global Rhythm
(cover story), The London Sunday Times (feature story) and
many other esteemed outlets. In 2007 alone, she performed (with her incredible band of multi-cultural musicians)
on “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno”, “The
Late Show With David Letterman” and
“The CBS Saturday Early Show,” and DJIN
DJIN wan Best Contemporary World
Music Album at the 50th Grammy
Awards.
Kidjo will return to the studio to record
her next record, tentatively set to
release in winter 2010. In the meantime, she lends her talents to Sing the
Truth, a touring production of Nina
Simone’s incredible artistry featuring
the likes of Dianne Reeves, Lizz
Wright, Kidjo and Simone’s
daughter, Lisa, singing the
legend’s catalogue.
Inspired by the traditions and culture of Kidjo’s native
Benin in West Africa, the title of the album refers to the
sound of the bell that greets the beginning of a new day for
Africa. The diversity represented by Alicia Keys, Peter
Gabriel, Josh Groban, Carlos Santana, Joss Stone, Branford Marsalis, producer Tony Visconti, and the others who
contribute to DJIN DJIN speaks to the lesson of this project: For all the differences in the music of our time, the river
of Africa flows through it all. Kidjo set some of the new material on DJIN DJIN into the languages of Benin, Nigeria, and Togo. She has written and sung extensively in
French and English as well, but for this mission the lyrics
came to her from further back in her history.
www.imnworld.com/angeliquekidjo
www.kidjo.com
278 Main Street, Gloucester, MA 01930 | Tel: 978/283-2883 | Fax: 978/283-2330 | http://www.imnworld.com/ | INTERNATIONAL MUSIC NETWORK
Los Angeles Times: Angélique Kidjo turns Royce aisles into an exuberan... http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/music/la-et-kidjo14mar14,1...
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From the Los Angeles Times
WORLD MUSIC REVIEW
Angélique Kidjo turns Royce aisles into an exuberant dance floor
The Beninese singer exudes such energy that the audience can't help but get to its feet.
By Don Heckman
Special to The Times
March 14, 2008
Angélique Kidjo now owns Royce Hall. Or at least she should after the take-no-prisoners performance she gave Wed nesday. Filling the room with a dynamic charisma that would
surely have given Barack Obama pause, she was in full command from the moment she stepped on stage. Nearly two h ours later, with the audience on its feet and the stage filled
with dancing celebrants, Kidjo was still in charge.
A year ago, when she opened for Josh Groban at Staples Center, her brief set brought some in-person energy to the cavernous arena. But the relative intimacy of Royce provided the
perfect environment for a performer whose stock-in-trade is musical and personal connection.
UCLA Live Director David Sefton set the parameters for the evening with an introduction in which he ebulliently pointed out that dancing in the aisles was no longer forbidden; that it
was, instead, mandatory. Despite Kidjo's high-powered dance moves, however, the crowd still seemed reluctant to follow Sefton's mandate and Kidjo's example. But when she
sparked "Djin Djin," the title track from her latest album, with shouts of encouragement, a few brave souls began to make their way to the front of the theater, and many others soon
joined them.
From that point on it was a Beninese/American dance party. A good portion of the program was drawn from "Djin Djin," which just won the contemporary world music Grammy,
including "Papa," "Arouna" and "Mama Golo Papa," as well as Kidjo's startlingly effective version of the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter."
Songs typically reached from the Benin rhythms of her homeland to embrace a seamless array of elements from funk , blues, rock and jazz. Kidjo's stylistic diversity, energized by the
rich emotionalism of her voice, brought it all alive.
The program roared to a close with an audience singalong on "Afirika" followed by Kidjo's jaunt through the aisles, and the all-join-in on-stage dancing on "Tumba" and the encore
"Batonga."
Kidjo interspersed her musical selections with comments about peace, brotherhood and the perils of religious dif ferences -- which had all the more impact because of the sense of
sheer togetherness communicated through her music.
Opening act Dengue Fever featured Cambodian singer Chhom Nimol backed by relatively bland American rock.
If you want other stories on this topic, search the Archives at latimes.com/archives.
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3/14/2008 10:10 AM
World of talent on display in Kidjo's rollicking show - The Boston Globe
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http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2008/03/24/world_of_talent_o...
THIS STORY HAS BEEN FORMATTED FOR EASY PRINTING
MUSIC REVIEW
World of talent on display in Kidjo's rollicking show
By Tristram Lozaw, Globe Correspondent | March 24, 2008
Three songs into her set Friday, Angelique Kidjo felt her audience had been sitting too long. "You've seen me more
than anyone else in this country," she quipped. "You know the rules." That's all it took. The crowd filled the aisles, and
later the stage, dancing away as though the venue was the backyard at a house party. The charismatic showmanship
of the singer from Benin proved irresistible, with the diminutive powerhouse leading her hip, hyperactive band through
a 15-song, 100-minute dance bash that drew from the "Djin Djin" CD.
"Djin Djin," Kidjo's Grammy-winning release with all-star guests, is a tropical, Afro-pop crossover with an easy,
polished, theatrical appeal. Indeed, when Josh Groban sings on a cover of Sade's "Pearls," the song seems a
Broadway tryout. Happily, Friday's show didn't play like "Djin Djin: The Musical," leaning instead toward Kidjo's beefier
Afrocentric strengths, mining her West African roots and adding an urban power surge traceable to her current base of
Brooklyn. A syncopated take on the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter" still replaced the song's menace with over-baked
funky beats. But "Sedjedo," reggae-lite on the album, was earthy and upbeat, jacked up by the rhythms of Kidjo's
sharp quintet of West African and Brazilian musicians as a chorus of tribal harmonies floated over top.
Kidjo's silky voice, clear and soaring, led the frenetic celebration through "Arouna," an Africa-meets-Middle-East slink,
and "Mama Golo Papa," carrying Kidjo's message of one God of "love, compassion, forgiveness, and tolerance." The
rhythms were insistent even on the slow dance of "Iemanja" and guitar ballad "Malaika."
The dance party hit another level when Kidjo jumped into the audience to plead for compassion in "Afrika" and peaked
when several dozen fans were invited onstage for "Agolo" and an extended "Tumba," during which percussionist
Ibrahim Diagne helped a long procession of fans shake their stuff center stage. The night ended with the sweet guitar
and soft bossa nova of "Emma," Kidjo sending us home with a lullaby to help ease us back into the modern,
non-dancing world.
© Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
3/25/2008 12:13 PM
-
Tuesday,
JUly3,2007.
AngeliqueKidjo
Djin Djin
***~ RIVErlNG
AFRO-POP
ANDBEYOND
The Benin-born singer deliversa thoroughly
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collection of songs thaftap int()
both her African roots and a
wide range of popular styles;
With the help Qfsuchgugsts
as Josh Groban; Alida'Keys,
Branford Marsalis, Carlos Santana, Peter GabrieLZiggy Marley and JOsSStone, she- spans
musical cultures with her
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mesmerizing vocals. The tide
translates to "seize ,the day."
and Kidjo seizes your attention and then ke~ps younveted. - JQ!.1es
»Download: DjinDj!n,Gi1l)me
Shelter, Pearls, Mama CO/oPapa,
Lon/on (Ravel'sBo/ero)
»Skip:
nothing
---
Angelique Kidjo's Sizzling Hot
Performance
Fourth Annual Jazz In The Gardens
Press Release by: Alice Meikle
Venue: Dolphin Stadium Grounds (Miami Gardens, Florida)
March 29, 2009
On Sunday, March 29, 2009, patrons gathered on the grounds at the Dolphin
Stadium for the Fourth Annual Jazz In The Gardens and in the process, they were
treated to the musical stylings of Angelique Kidjo. The Grammy Award winning
Angelique Kidjo who performed following the red hot Jonathan Butler, is herself a
sizzling hot singer-songwriter who was born in Contonou, Benin. She brought her
show to the people of South Florida with her high energy stage presence,
mezmerizing voice and a barrage of fancy footworks. Kidjo danced her way through
her set and invited the crowd to participate likewise. She belted hits after hits in her
native language and had about 40,000 screaming fans singing the hooks from songs
like Senamou and Gimme Shelter. Angelique, who says she grew up listening to
singers like James Brown , Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix, Steve Wonder and Carlos
Santana, did not disappoint the fans as she showcased her versatality and soulful
swagger. She paid tribute to the Rolling Stones displaying her ability to hang with
the bad boys of rock and roll. Concert goers were treated to her diverse musical
renditions, which ranged from rock and roll, reggae and even salsa. By the end of
her performance, she was already a household name in South Florida. This diva
came to play and held nothing back.
Kidjo’s musical career tells a story of one determined individual who fought for her
name and fame. By the time she was six, Kidjo was performing with her mother’s
theatre troupe, giving her an early appreciation for traditional music and dance. She
started singing in her school band Les Sphinx and found success as a teenager with
her adaptation of Miriam Makeba’s “Les Trois Z” which played on national radio. She
recorded the album Pretty with the Cameroonian producer Ekambi Brilliant and her
brother Oscar. It featured the songs Ninive, Gbe Agossi and a tribute to the singer
Bella Bellow, one of her role models. The success of the album allowed her to tour all
over West Africa. Continuing political conflicts in Benin prevented her from being an
independent artist in her own country and led her to relocate to Paris in 1983.
While working various day jobs to pay for her tuition, Angelique studied music at the
CIM, a reputable Jazz school in Paris where she met and married musician and
producer Jean Hebrail with whom she has composed most of her music. She started
out as a backup singer in local bands. In 1985, she became the frontsinger of the
known Euro-African jazz/rock band Jasper van’t Hof’s Pili Pili. Three Pili Pili studio
albums followed: Jakko (1987) Be In Two Minds (1988, produced by Marlon Klein)
and Hotel Babo (1990). By the end of the 1980s, she had become one of the most
popular live performers in Paris and recorded a solo album called Parakou for the
Open Jazz Label.
She was then discovered in Paris by Island Records founder Chris Blackwell who
signed her in 1991. She recorded four albums for Island until Chris Blackwell’s
departure from the label. In 2000 she was signed in New York by Columbia Records
for which she recorded two albums. Her musical influences include the Afropop,
Caribbean zouk, Congolese rumba, jazz, gospel, and Latin styles; as well as her
childhood idols Bella Bellow, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Jimi Hendrix, Miriam
Makeba and Carlos Santana. She has made her own renditions of George Gershwin’s
Summertime, Jimi Hendrix’s Voodoo Child, and The Rolling Stones’ Gimme Shelter,
and has collaborated with the likes of Dave Matthews and the Dave Matthews Band,
Kelly Price, Branford Marsalis, Robbie Nevil, Carlos Santana, Herbie Hancock and
Cassandra Wilson. Kidjo’s hits include the songs “Agolo”, “We We”, “Adouma”
“Wombo Lombo” “Afirika”,”Batonga” and her version of “Malaika”. Kidjo is fluent in
Fon, French, Yoruba, and English and sings in all four languages; she also has her
own personal language which includes words that serve as songtitles such as
Batonga. Malaika is a song sung in Swahili language. She often utilizes Benin’s
traditional Zilin vocal technique and jazz vocalese.
Jazz In The Gardens took Angelique on a journey to Miami Gardens, which was
rather fitting, as she recorded her first album entitled “Logozo” for Island Records
between Miami and Paris, working with Miami Sound Machine drummer Joe Galdo.
That album featured Branford Marsalis and Manu DiBango on saxophones. it was
released worldwide in 1991 and reached number one on the Billboard World Music
chart. Music videos for the singles We We and Batonga were released and Angelique
made her first world tour, appearing at many festivals and headlining the Olympia
Hall in Paris on October 31, 1992.
In 2002 Angelique traveled to Salvador de Bahia to start recording the Axe
percussion grooves for this album inspired by the Afro-Brazilian culture. She worked
with famous songwriters Carlinhos Brown and Vinicius Cantuaria. On the Brazilian
version of the album, Gilberto Gil joined her on Refavela and Daniella Mercury on
Tumba. Dave Matthews appears on the song Iwoya.
Angelique Kidjo released an album titled Djin Djin on May 1, 2007. Many guests
appear on the album including Josh Groban, Carlos Santana, Alicia Keys, Joss Stone,
Peter Gabriel, Amadou and Mariam, Ziggy Marley, and Branford Marsalis. The title,
Djin Djin, refers to the sound of a bell in Africa that greets each new day. The album
is produced by Tony Visconti, who is known for his work with David Bowie, Morrissey,
and T. Rex, among others. Djin Djin won a Grammy for Best Contemporary World
Music album and a NAACP Image Award for Outstanding World Music album
For more information: http://www.jazzinthegardens.com
Photo by: © www.kidjo.com
talk, and that music is the universal tongue.
"Music has been a communication tool since
humankind has existed, · she says. .Music I
is a healer. a unifier. It breaks all the barriers
between different nations. It relieves despair. I
It dampens war. Because when you listen to
music, your brain is following your soul. I'm
not scared by any genre, any musical background that is different from mine, because I
I know it's the same language."
Kidjo's ideas have never been better expressed than on her latest album, Djin Ojin,
released last month. The IS tracks, which :
address fundamental themes like birth, love,
alienation and hope, are sung in a variety of '
languages-from West European (English
and French)to West African(Eweand Fon).
Styles range from Beninese to Brazilian to
Bowie-a touch addedcourtesyoflegendary
producerTonyVISconti.And the album features a dazzlingly diverse set of collabora
tors-among them Alicia Keys, Branford
Marsalis,Peter Gabriel,Mali'sAmadou and
Mariam, Ziggy Marley,German singer Joy
Dena!aneand ItalianCarmtn Consoli.Some
tracks almost seem designedto explain why
lhey call il world music. Pearls,for example,
15a.Beninese cover of a.Sa.de OtiV,inaltha.t
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{
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opens with the guitar and maracasofCarlos
MUSIC
Redemption Song. Beninesesinger and
Ci\.tlP ~t
~',
r ~1..11qucKidio behe\ges ill ~~lt
power of mUSICto heal and unIte
BY ALEX PERRY
A YEAR AGO, AT A CONCERT
IN HARARE,
Zimbabwe, Angelique Kidjo broke off in
midperformance, walked to the front ofthe
stage and declared; "I can't understand
someone who is burning his own country
and abducting his own people. Not being
able to take care of your own people, becoming the worst nightmare, doesn't make
you a leader.It makes you a monster. If you
live by violence, you die by violence."The
crowd was stunned. Berating Robert
Mugabe. the 83-year-oldautocrat who has
overseen his country's implosion, was an
invitation to be deported,jailed,even killed
Agentsfrom his fearedCentral Intelligence
Organization (CIO)pushed through the
crowd, making for the stage. And then, as
one, the audience erupted. cheering and
clapping Kidjo and blocking the CIOmen.
Kidjo was bundled out of the venue and
next morning, displaying uncharacteristic
caution. she left on the first flight.
BeingAfrica'spremierdiva is not a crown
60
------.
that Kidjo wears lightly. As an African. she
says. she comes from a place with problems.
But as a musician, she argues, she can solve
them. Kidjo first came to prominence in the
I98os, a time when BobGeldof was fashioning Live Aid around the idea that music
could be charity. Kidjo had an even more ambitious idea, which drew on her voodoo roots
in the old African slave port of Cotonou,
Benin, where she grew up: music is "the ultimate power," she explains over lunch in
Paris, her adopted home in the 1980s and
1990S before she moved to New York City.
"Listening to music, the color of a person disappears, language disappears. Even enemies
listen to the same music."
Her beliefs led Kidjo to a twin-track
career. There is Kidjo the composer and
singer-four of her seven albums have been
nominated forGrammies. And there is Kidjo
the activist: she is a UNICEF
goodwill ambassador and has founded her own aid group,
Batonga, which works to improve women's
education in Africa. At the foundation of all
her endeavors is a conviction that it's good to
Santana, who is then joined by the American
balladeer Josh Groban and Kidjo, in duet,
singing: "There is a woman in Somalia."
It doesn't always work. Mixing Groban's
operatic voice with African rhythm and
Spanish guitar feels like several fusions too
far. But Kidjo's African dance-hall cover of
the Rolling Stones' Gimmt Shtltuwith Joss
Stone is as irresistible as the original. And
Lon/on,an African folk a cappella adaptation
of Bo/o'o,might have pleased even RaveL
At 46, Kidjo shows no signs of mellowing. If anything, her travels with UNICEF
and
her gathering fame have only strengthened
her faith in music as the great unifier.
Running through a sales report for her last
album, she was amazed to discover that
she's a hit in Malaysia, a place she says she
can hardly envision. She was just as aston.
ished to be contacted by an American sci
entist studying the effect of music on the
brain who told her that when he played her
music to Inuit fishermen. they registered
thought patterns indicating overwhelming
serenity. "Two years ago," she adds, "I was
playing Houston, and this lady came up on
stage and sang with me, as sometimes hap-
pens. She was crying. And I said, 'Are you
hurt? What's wrong?' And she replied:'I'm
crying for joy.I was diagnosed with breast
cancer a few years ago and my sister
brought your music to play me. And Ihung
on to your music all through my illness.
Now I'm in remission. I'm safe Kidjo
exhales in wonder. -I mean, what more
proof do you need?"
8
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