Wapi Po by Lokua Kanza
Kanza was born in Zaire, but went to Paris for conservatory training. On this album, Kanza does not intend to feed the sterotypical "African music" preconception: there is no wild shouts, little call-and-response vocals, and hardly any drumming. Kanza's sensitive musical arrangement (drawn largely from classical instruments such as piano, flute, strings and harp) puts at the center spot his delicate voice and delicate guitars.
Wapi Po is multilingual; Kanza sings in his native tongue, in French, in English (he got a language coach, but his English is still off), even collaborated with a Japanese lady for a Japanese song. Yet the African elements of his music still seep through: the rhythmic ripples of his guitar, the placid song breaking briefly into a frenzied plea. From the beautiful, innocent female chorus that opens the album, to the wacky sound collage (featuring prominently a banjo!) at its conclusion,
Wapi Po is a dream-like river of songs.