Hélélé

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Makwaba Manjongui

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Released: Jan 1, 2007

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Makwaba Manjongui
3:38
4,459 plays
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Hot Cat
3:35
4,156 plays
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Sul Beat
4:15
3,790 plays
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Sanglana
4:21
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Total Plays: 18,029 / Plays Today: 8See All Featured ►

General Info

Genre: Afro-beat / Funk / Jazz
Location Bristol, Un
Profile Views: 51156
Last Login: 5/2/2012
Member Since 3/21/2006
Website www.sul-art.com/helele
Type of Label Major
Bio
Since arriving in Britain from Cameroon in 2001 Alphonse Daudet Touna has worked solidly on building a creative outlet for his musical inspiration and Hélélé is the result. He has played around the world on a journey that has taken him from Cameroon, through France and Italy, to the UK. Now a resident of Bristol, he has formed the band with some of the city's finest session and jazz musicians..... He plays a balafon (an African xylophone) he made himself. The rich balafon melody creates another style of afro jazz through a mix of forest rhythms such as Assiko, Bikoutsi, Makouné, Makossa and Bolobo..... The concerts they play are spontaneous and alive. Full of vibration and energy, the band elevate the crowd through the body language of dance. And for the mind, great solos are weaved within the framework of rare grooves and percussion..... His songs bring messages of peace, non-violence and anti-racism. Stories of migration and asylum. Themes of safety and security in the many places people find themselves living..... Two hot albums produced so far that you can order by emailing alphato@yoahoo.fr In Hélélé, Alphonse is currently joined by other professional musicians, including, Matthew Jones on Drums, Neil Smith on Guitar, James Gardiner-Bateman on Alto Sax and Lisa Cherian on Percussion. Individually they are all great musicians in their own right and are involved in a number of other exciting projects..... Credits include Geoffrey Oryema, Monko Maroc, Papa Wemba, Mario Canonge, Guy Sangé, Tom Yoms, Gilad Atzmon. .. .. ..MyGen.. ..Profile Generator.. ....
Members
..Alphonse Daudet Touna: band leader.. Balafon, Percussion, Vox... ..Neil Smith:.. Guitar.. ..Matthew Jones:.. Drums.. ..James Y2K:.. Alto Sax.. ..Lisa Cherian:.. Percussion.. .. .. You're currently listening to edited versions of our tunes - to download the full versions (they're generally about 12 mins!) click on the link below. www.sul-art.com/helele .. You can by our album by contacting alphato@yohoo.fr .. ...... .. Or, to order a copy of the album click on the paypal link below... ...... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. You can view your shopping cart here: .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ....
Influences
Rhythms and melodies of the Bantou culture - Rain forest - Mountains and sea.
Sounds Like
..Here's what the nice people at Bristol's Venue magazine had to say about our performance at Ashton Court:...... "..Most impressive of all, was Alphonse Daudet's Hélélé Afro-Jazz Band, with Alphonse's rippling Balafon (xylophone) feeding off a throb of tight percussion to launch James Gardiner-Bateman's alto sax. It was great dance music, great jazz and great fun all at the same time...".... ..And in their round-up of 2007's best music:...... "..One local band straddling the jazz/world divide made a real impact this year. Hélélé's tight, jazzed-up Afrobeat won fans by packing dancefloors and fields from Cheltenham to Glastonbury via Ashton Court. Next year should see them get massive...".... ..Glastonbury Jazz Lounge 2008 Review:...... ".....the hypnotic balaphon work of Helele's Alphone Daudet Touna was the perfectly uplifting note on which to close the weekend..." (Mike Flynn)....