The World Beat desk has been inundated with new releases in the past few weeks as record labels begin to get back on track. Three outstanding albums from Africa have been playing regularly on the World Beat sound system: Pape Nziengui's Kadi Yombo (Awesome Tapes From Africa); Rokia Kone and Jacknife Lee's Bamanan (Real World); and the Ano Nobo Quartet's The Strings Of Sao Domingos (Ostinato).
Pape Nziengui is a Bwiti harp master from Gabon. The Bwiti harp is used in rituals by the Tsogho people, who live in the heavily forested central region of Gabon. In Libraville, the capital, Nziengui was renowned for his playing. He performed with local stars and foreign musicians like Papa Wemba and Manu Dibango. In 1988, he became the first harpist to release an album, a cassette produced by the French Cultural Center, and he formed a band, Bovenga, with the aim of creating modern versions of his traditional music.
In 1989, he released Kadi Yombo on CD, which became an instant national hit. His band combined traditional music (harp, musical bows, jaw harp, drums and percussion) and choral vocals with electric bass, guitars and keyboards. He toured Gabon in the late 1980s and began to take his music to international audiences. Gabon's music is little known outside the region it comes from and Nziengui is one of the few Gabonese musicians on the international circuit.
